Sunday, May 10, 2009

A Jury of Her Peers. . .

I've always been a fan of Elaine Showalter's work and her monumental study of American women writers, A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx is my current bedside tome, although I admit I'm savouring it slowly and am still residing in the 19th century. Have a notebook handy when reading this as you'll inevitably want to jot down a number of intriguing authors and their works to look up later. It's fascinating stuff and I'm looking forward to the chapters on two of my faves - Edith Wharton and Willa Cather. The Guardian has just published this very engaging and interesting piece by Showalter on why women writers are so often neglected or not given the equal review attention and admiration of their male counterparts. She also highlights who she thinks are the top eight American women writing today. You can read the full article here.

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