Women Writers: A Brief History

1. Women Writers: A Brief History Arleta High School Social Justice SLC In Celebration of Women’s History Month

2. Women Writers Throughout History • It was not until the 20th century that women won the right to vote and have equal access to educational opportunities. • Women writers were often marginalized, or pushed to the sidelines, and not given as much attention or respect as male writers. • Through this presentation, you should learn some facts about women writers throughout history, and their contributions to writing and the world.

3. The World’s First Novel • In the year 1007 a Japanese noblewoman, Murasaki Shikibu, wrote the world’s first full novel. Called “The Tale of Genji.” • It tells the story of a prince looking for love and wisdom. • In its English translation it covers 54 chapters over 1000 pages of text! Source: http://didyouknow.org/firstnovel/

4. Margery Kempe • Kempe was born in 1373 in England. • Although she was born into a wealthy family, she did not receive an education. • She married John Kempe and had fourteen children. • After she was married, she started to have religious visions, and went on a long religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem. • When she returned to England, she dictated her life story to scribes. • Margery Kempe thus became the first woman to write an autobiography! Source: http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/margerykempe.html

5. Marguerite of Navarre • Marguerite of Navarre was born in France in 1472. She received an excellent education, as her family was very wealthy. • Marguerite of Navarre wrote religious verse (poetry) and short stories. • Marguerite's collection of 72 stories -- many about women -- was published after her death under the title L'Hemptameron des Nouvelles, also called The Heptameron. Source: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/writersmedieval/p/margaretnavarre.htm

6. Anne Bradstreet • Anne Bradstreet's book of poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, was published in England in 1650, making her the first published American woman writer. • Bradstreet was a settler in the Massachusetts colony. • Her most famous poem is “Lines Upon the Burning of Our House.” Source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womensfirsts1.html#ixzz1oeCIQhfD

7. Phillis Wheatley: The First African-American Woman Writer • In 1761 Phillis was purchased as a personal slave in Boston by Susannah Wheatley. She was evidently around 7 years old at the time. • She learned to speak and write English very quickly, taught by Mary Wheatley, the 18 year old daughter of her owner; within 16 months she could read difficult passages in the Bible. At 12 she began studying Latin and English literature, • Wheatley’s was restricted by her status as a slave, although a privileged one. Though superior to most white colonists in her intellectual and literary accomplishments, she was never allowed to be their equal. • When she was 20, Phillis visited England with the son of her owner, and published a book of poetry there. • Wheatley was freed upon the death of her owner. Source: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Wheatley/philbio.htm

8. Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Little Lady Who Started a Big War • Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) published more than 30 books, but it was her best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin which catapulted her to international celebrity and secured her place in history. • Stowe believed her purpose in life was to write. Her most famous work exposed the truth about the greatest social injustice of her day, - human slavery. • When Stowe met President Abraham Lincoln, he supposedly said to her: “[So this is] the “little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.” • Stowe believed that it was her duty to use her writing talents to create social change. Sources: http://wraabe.wordpress.com www.Harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/

9. Zora Neale Hurston: Novelist of the Harlem Renaissance • Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most important writers of twentieth-century American literature. Hurston was closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance and has influenced such writers as Ralph Ellison,Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. • Her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, tells the story of Janie Crawford’s, quest for identity, during which she learns what love is, experiences life's joys and sorrows, and come home to herself in peace. • When first published in 1937, this novel about a proud, independent black woman was generally dismissed by male reviewers. Their Eyes Were Watching God has become the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. Source: http://zoranealehurston.com/books/

10. Laura Esquivel: Combining a Love of Writing and Food • Born on September 30, 1950, in Mexico City, Mexico. Esquivel began writing while working as a kindergarten teacher. • Esquivel often explores the relationship between men and women in Mexico in her work. • She is best known for Like Water for Chocolate (1990), an imaginative and compelling combination of novel and cookbook. The novel’s title is a metaphor for the boiling emotions of love. • The novel is formatted by the month, with each month containing a recipe that is featured in the action of that chapter http://www.biography.com/people/laura-esquivel-185854

11. Amy Tan: Giving a Voice to Voiceless Women • Amy Tan was born in Oakland, California in 1952, several years after her mother and father immigrated to the San Francisco Bay area from China. • Her first novel (originally written as linked short stories) The Joy Luck Club was published in 1989. • Later books include The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Bonesetter’s Daughter. • Her novels give a voice to characters who, as Chinese women, were often marginalized and unheard. Source: http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/amy-tan