By Maria DiPasquale, Staff Writer, Emerson College
I’m writing this article on the border between Black History Month and Women’s History Month. The purpose of these months is to highlight the achievements of minority groups that are consistently treated as the “other” in American culture. Cue my favorite joke: “but what about white history month??” History is white male history. It always has been. And black women have always been shut out, even within their own movements. They were too feminine for the black liberation movements and too black for the women’s rights movements. Black women continue to live in the shadow of those sisters and brothers with whom they have shared experiences of oppression. In many of my experiences celebrating Black History Month and Women’s History Month, black women get lost in the background. The great black men and great white women of American history tend to dominate these months. Sadly, this says a lot about the oppression in both American history as a whole and in the history of American liberation movements.
In the spirit of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, I wanted to shift the conversation toward representation in literature. As a writing, literature, and publishing major, I am sick of having to take classes like American Women Writers or African American Literature in order to read books penned by anyone besides white men and the two upper class white female authors the professor tossed in to make the syllabus seem slightly more diverse.
But before I look at some amazing black feminist writers, I first want to take a look at the conversation surrounding Black History Month as a concept. A few years back, Morgan Freeman famously declared on 60 Minutes that he was against black history month. “You’re going to relegate my whole history to a month?” he asked. He declared that black history is American history. All true. And yet, many black people still see a need for Black History Month.
Because we continue to live in a racist society, we still look at our history through a white male lens. Therefore, months like Black History Month and Women’s History Month still serve a purpose. They exist because we do not recognize the historical achievements of these minority groups every day. In the history textbooks from which I was taught, there were always little subsections dedicated exclusively to updates on the progress of minority groups. Things are getting a little better for women and racial minorities? Cool, okay, now back to our regular programming. Of course we should celebrate black and women’s history every day of the year. We all wish we were there already. But we just aren’t.
With that being said, I wanted to provide a guide to a slew of insightful and brilliant black feminist writers and intellectuals who can get overlooked in the context of the months meant to celebrate their achievements. I’ll let you know what issues they were writing about in their time periods; it is both easy and saddening to see how relevant the works from so many years ago remain to our modern society.
I’m writing this article on the border between Black History Month and Women’s History Month. The purpose of these months is to highlight the achievements of minority groups that are consistently treated as the “other” in American culture. Cue my favorite joke: “but what about white history month??” History is white male history. It always has been. And black women have always been shut out, even within their own movements. They were too feminine for the black liberation movements and too black for the women’s rights movements. Black women continue to live in the shadow of those sisters and brothers with whom they have shared experiences of oppression. In many of my experiences celebrating Black History Month and Women’s History Month, black women get lost in the background. The great black men and great white women of American history tend to dominate these months. Sadly, this says a lot about the oppression in both American history as a whole and in the history of American liberation movements.
In the spirit of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, I wanted to shift the conversation toward representation in literature. As a writing, literature, and publishing major, I am sick of having to take classes like American Women Writers or African American Literature in order to read books penned by anyone besides white men and the two upper class white female authors the professor tossed in to make the syllabus seem slightly more diverse.
But before I look at some amazing black feminist writers, I first want to take a look at the conversation surrounding Black History Month as a concept. A few years back, Morgan Freeman famously declared on 60 Minutes that he was against black history month. “You’re going to relegate my whole history to a month?” he asked. He declared that black history is American history. All true. And yet, many black people still see a need for Black History Month.
Because we continue to live in a racist society, we still look at our history through a white male lens. Therefore, months like Black History Month and Women’s History Month still serve a purpose. They exist because we do not recognize the historical achievements of these minority groups every day. In the history textbooks from which I was taught, there were always little subsections dedicated exclusively to updates on the progress of minority groups. Things are getting a little better for women and racial minorities? Cool, okay, now back to our regular programming. Of course we should celebrate black and women’s history every day of the year. We all wish we were there already. But we just aren’t.
With that being said, I wanted to provide a guide to a slew of insightful and brilliant black feminist writers and intellectuals who can get overlooked in the context of the months meant to celebrate their achievements. I’ll let you know what issues they were writing about in their time periods; it is both easy and saddening to see how relevant the works from so many years ago remain to our modern society.
Alice Dunbar-Nelson (lived 1875-1935)
What She Wrote About: Dunbar-Nelson is known for her essays, poems, and stories revolving around the black woman’s place in the education system and the workforce. As she grew up half-white, she also writes about colorism and the idea of not being accepted in either the black or the white community. She was an intense activist for women’s and civil rights in the 1920s and 1930s, which she wrote about in a number of nonfiction pieces.
Today’s Relevance: It is a sad but true fact that many people continue to discriminate based on a person’s shade of dark skin, both inside and outside the black community. With hashtags like “#TeamLightSkin” and “#TeamDarkSkin” being circulated around social media on a daily basis, it is clear that colorism is an issue now more than ever. And while many of Dunbar-Nelson’s specific arguments about the education system and the workforce might be outdated, the basic ideas behind black women’s exclusion from certain parts of these systems is unfortunately still relevant today.
What to Read: Her novel Laughing to Stop Myself from Crying and story collection Violets and Other Tales. If you’re interested in her nonfiction, try checking out the three-volume Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, which includes all of her work: journalism, novellas, poetry, and short stories.
What She Wrote About: Dunbar-Nelson is known for her essays, poems, and stories revolving around the black woman’s place in the education system and the workforce. As she grew up half-white, she also writes about colorism and the idea of not being accepted in either the black or the white community. She was an intense activist for women’s and civil rights in the 1920s and 1930s, which she wrote about in a number of nonfiction pieces.
Today’s Relevance: It is a sad but true fact that many people continue to discriminate based on a person’s shade of dark skin, both inside and outside the black community. With hashtags like “#TeamLightSkin” and “#TeamDarkSkin” being circulated around social media on a daily basis, it is clear that colorism is an issue now more than ever. And while many of Dunbar-Nelson’s specific arguments about the education system and the workforce might be outdated, the basic ideas behind black women’s exclusion from certain parts of these systems is unfortunately still relevant today.
What to Read: Her novel Laughing to Stop Myself from Crying and story collection Violets and Other Tales. If you’re interested in her nonfiction, try checking out the three-volume Works of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, which includes all of her work: journalism, novellas, poetry, and short stories.
Nella Larsen (lived 1891-1964)
What She Wrote About: Nella Larsen, born Nella Walker, is one of the most famous black female authors from the Harlem Renaissance. The majority of her writing is based around issues of colorism. Half white herself, she represents the struggle of being too white for the black community and too black for the white community. Her novel Quicksand is considered to be semi-autobiographical.
Today’s Relevance: Like Dunbar-Nelson, Larsen’s message about colorism rings sadly true today.
What to Read: Her novels Quicksand and Passing. She has plenty of great short stories as well. Her final published story, “Sanctuary,” earned her a lot of bad press when people accused her of plagiarizing another writer. Unfortunately, she never came back from that.
What She Wrote About: Nella Larsen, born Nella Walker, is one of the most famous black female authors from the Harlem Renaissance. The majority of her writing is based around issues of colorism. Half white herself, she represents the struggle of being too white for the black community and too black for the white community. Her novel Quicksand is considered to be semi-autobiographical.
Today’s Relevance: Like Dunbar-Nelson, Larsen’s message about colorism rings sadly true today.
What to Read: Her novels Quicksand and Passing. She has plenty of great short stories as well. Her final published story, “Sanctuary,” earned her a lot of bad press when people accused her of plagiarizing another writer. Unfortunately, she never came back from that.
Zora Neale Hurston (lived 1891-1960)
What She Wrote About: Zora Neale Hurston’s writing is largely influenced by her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-black towns in the U.S. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is set in Eatonville. Hurston writes about the experience of being a black woman in the South. She also wrote extensively about black folklore in the United States and the Caribbean. Hurston’s work is notable for using dialect in her dialogue scenes; many of her black writer contemporaries were critical of this, thinking it played off racial stereotypes they were trying to put an end to. However, it was later praised for giving a realistic view of the version of black culture it represents. Hurston died penniless, and we all have Alice Walker to thank for bringing Hurston’s beautiful work out of obscurity.
Today’s Relevance: Hurston’s representations of black female sexuality are incredibly relevant today, since the entire feminist community is battling it out over whether Beyonce’s dancing is objectifying or empowering. Hurston’s once-controversial use of dialect is simply an earlier example of the racial politics of language that we continue to talk about today.
What to Read: Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is by far Hurston’s most famous work, and I highly recommend it. She was incredibly prolific, however, so check out her many short stories, plays, and anthropological retellings of black folklore, as well as her autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road.
What She Wrote About: Zora Neale Hurston’s writing is largely influenced by her childhood in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first all-black towns in the U.S. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is set in Eatonville. Hurston writes about the experience of being a black woman in the South. She also wrote extensively about black folklore in the United States and the Caribbean. Hurston’s work is notable for using dialect in her dialogue scenes; many of her black writer contemporaries were critical of this, thinking it played off racial stereotypes they were trying to put an end to. However, it was later praised for giving a realistic view of the version of black culture it represents. Hurston died penniless, and we all have Alice Walker to thank for bringing Hurston’s beautiful work out of obscurity.
Today’s Relevance: Hurston’s representations of black female sexuality are incredibly relevant today, since the entire feminist community is battling it out over whether Beyonce’s dancing is objectifying or empowering. Hurston’s once-controversial use of dialect is simply an earlier example of the racial politics of language that we continue to talk about today.
What to Read: Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is by far Hurston’s most famous work, and I highly recommend it. She was incredibly prolific, however, so check out her many short stories, plays, and anthropological retellings of black folklore, as well as her autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road.
Lorraine Hansberry (lived 1930 – 1965)
What She Wrote About: Hansberry grew up in a segregated community, and this subject is present in much of her work. She wrote mostly plays and nonfiction. Identified as a lesbian, much of her work has to do with sexual freedom in addition to black liberation, and black female liberation specifically.
Today’s Relevance: Segregation, while no longer legally sanctioned, continues to be an issue within towns, cities, and states. Additionally, Hansberry’s writing about black female liberation and sexual liberation are still incredibly relevant.
What to Read: Hansberry is well known for her play A Raisin in the Sun about a family in segregated Chicago. Also check out The Drinking Gourd, The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality, and To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry In Her Own Words, which was published posthumously.
What She Wrote About: Hansberry grew up in a segregated community, and this subject is present in much of her work. She wrote mostly plays and nonfiction. Identified as a lesbian, much of her work has to do with sexual freedom in addition to black liberation, and black female liberation specifically.
Today’s Relevance: Segregation, while no longer legally sanctioned, continues to be an issue within towns, cities, and states. Additionally, Hansberry’s writing about black female liberation and sexual liberation are still incredibly relevant.
What to Read: Hansberry is well known for her play A Raisin in the Sun about a family in segregated Chicago. Also check out The Drinking Gourd, The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality, and To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry In Her Own Words, which was published posthumously.
Toni Morrison (lives 1931 – present)
What She Writes About: Morrison tells stories about the black condition in the U.S. Although many consider her books to be postmodern feminist, she does not subscribe to the word because she thinks it is off-putting to many readers. However, her works deal with the issue of black female sexuality and the reality of being a black woman in a racist and patriarchal society.
What to Read: Her novels Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon. However, she also has less well known novels, nonfiction work, and short fiction.
What She Writes About: Morrison tells stories about the black condition in the U.S. Although many consider her books to be postmodern feminist, she does not subscribe to the word because she thinks it is off-putting to many readers. However, her works deal with the issue of black female sexuality and the reality of being a black woman in a racist and patriarchal society.
What to Read: Her novels Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon. However, she also has less well known novels, nonfiction work, and short fiction.
Audre Lorde (lived 1934 – 1992)
What She Wrote About: As a Caribbean-American lesbian black feminist, Lorde’s work serves an important purpose in the black feminist community. Much of her poetry and theory in the 1960s criticized the white feminist movement for excluding women of color and queer women. Her work handles the intersection of race, gender, class, age, and health.
Today’s Relevance: All of Lorde’s work is incredibly relevant today, considering that white feminism is unfortunately still very much alive within today’s feminist movement. Her work about intersectionality is incredibly important to today’s black feminism.
What to Read: Lorde was incredibly prolific, but a few of her renowned works include The Collected Poems, The Black Unicorn: Poems, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, and Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches.
What She Wrote About: As a Caribbean-American lesbian black feminist, Lorde’s work serves an important purpose in the black feminist community. Much of her poetry and theory in the 1960s criticized the white feminist movement for excluding women of color and queer women. Her work handles the intersection of race, gender, class, age, and health.
Today’s Relevance: All of Lorde’s work is incredibly relevant today, considering that white feminism is unfortunately still very much alive within today’s feminist movement. Her work about intersectionality is incredibly important to today’s black feminism.
What to Read: Lorde was incredibly prolific, but a few of her renowned works include The Collected Poems, The Black Unicorn: Poems, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, and Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches.
Toni Cade Bambara (lived 1939 – 1995)
What She Wrote About: Bambara participated in the black liberation movement of the 1960s and the black feminism movement. Although her works have feminist elements, she was more concerned with black people forgetting gender in order to fight for their rights on a more united front. In addition to her writing, Bambara was also an activist and filmmaker. Her writing features black female protagonists and elements of her Harlem childhood, including dialect and jazz.
What to Read: Morrison declared Bambara’s novel These Bones Are Not My Child to be her masterpiece. Also check out her novel The Salt Eaters and story collections Gorilla, My Love and The Sea Birds Are Still Alive.
What She Wrote About: Bambara participated in the black liberation movement of the 1960s and the black feminism movement. Although her works have feminist elements, she was more concerned with black people forgetting gender in order to fight for their rights on a more united front. In addition to her writing, Bambara was also an activist and filmmaker. Her writing features black female protagonists and elements of her Harlem childhood, including dialect and jazz.
What to Read: Morrison declared Bambara’s novel These Bones Are Not My Child to be her masterpiece. Also check out her novel The Salt Eaters and story collections Gorilla, My Love and The Sea Birds Are Still Alive.
Nikki Giovanni (lives 1943 – present)
What She Writes About: Giovanni is a prolific poet who has published many collections; she has also published children’s books. Giovanni’s fiery personality comes through in much of her poetry, which deals with being black in the U.S. She taught poetry to the Virginia Tech shooter, which she writes about in her more recent poetry collections.
What to Read: Any of her many poetry collections, really, Her earliest poetry collections are influenced by the civil rights movement of the 1960s: Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement, and Re: Creation. Giovanni is also known for her Love Poems and its 2009 companion piece, Bicycles: Love Poems.
What She Writes About: Giovanni is a prolific poet who has published many collections; she has also published children’s books. Giovanni’s fiery personality comes through in much of her poetry, which deals with being black in the U.S. She taught poetry to the Virginia Tech shooter, which she writes about in her more recent poetry collections.
What to Read: Any of her many poetry collections, really, Her earliest poetry collections are influenced by the civil rights movement of the 1960s: Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement, and Re: Creation. Giovanni is also known for her Love Poems and its 2009 companion piece, Bicycles: Love Poems.
Alice Walker (lives 1944 – present)
What She Writes About: Walker’s parents lived under Jim Crow laws in Georgia, but they made sure she got an education. As a result, Walker became college educated and then worked on the civil rights movement in the South, specifically dealing with voter registration, welfare rights, and children’s programs. Walker writes poetry and fiction dealing with being a black woman in a racist and patriarchal society. She also helped revive the work of Zora Neale Hurston, who influenced her own writing.
What to Read: Walker is best known for her novel The Color Purple. Her novels The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy both feature several characters from The Color Purple. She has published a prolific amount of novels, story collections, poetry collections, and nonfiction works such as In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. Her newest book and poetry collection came out in 2013.
What She Writes About: Walker’s parents lived under Jim Crow laws in Georgia, but they made sure she got an education. As a result, Walker became college educated and then worked on the civil rights movement in the South, specifically dealing with voter registration, welfare rights, and children’s programs. Walker writes poetry and fiction dealing with being a black woman in a racist and patriarchal society. She also helped revive the work of Zora Neale Hurston, who influenced her own writing.
What to Read: Walker is best known for her novel The Color Purple. Her novels The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy both feature several characters from The Color Purple. She has published a prolific amount of novels, story collections, poetry collections, and nonfiction works such as In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. Her newest book and poetry collection came out in 2013.
Octavia E. Butler (lived 1947 – 2006)
What She Wrote About: Butler was one of the best-known female science fiction writers while she was alive and was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur fellowship. She self-identified as a feminist and her books use science fiction to deal with issues of race, identity, sexuality, religion, gender, and class. Her work is considered to be in the subgenre of Afrofuturism, meaning she uses alternative realities (in her case, science fiction) to reexamine what it means to be black in the past and present.
Today’s Relevance: Butler’s science fiction stories examine what it means to be black, and especially a black woman, in both the past and present. If you love science fiction and want to read about black feminism, Butler is the way to go.
What to Read: Her most popular book, Kindred, is about a black woman who is whisked back in time to a plantation where her ancestors are enslaved. Within the science fiction community she is known for her Patternist series. Also check out Lilith’s Brood, the Parable series, and her final novel Fledgling.
What She Wrote About: Butler was one of the best-known female science fiction writers while she was alive and was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur fellowship. She self-identified as a feminist and her books use science fiction to deal with issues of race, identity, sexuality, religion, gender, and class. Her work is considered to be in the subgenre of Afrofuturism, meaning she uses alternative realities (in her case, science fiction) to reexamine what it means to be black in the past and present.
Today’s Relevance: Butler’s science fiction stories examine what it means to be black, and especially a black woman, in both the past and present. If you love science fiction and want to read about black feminism, Butler is the way to go.
What to Read: Her most popular book, Kindred, is about a black woman who is whisked back in time to a plantation where her ancestors are enslaved. Within the science fiction community she is known for her Patternist series. Also check out Lilith’s Brood, the Parable series, and her final novel Fledgling.
Patricia Hill Collins (lives 1948 – present)
What She Writes About: Hill Collins is an important black female sociologist. She is currently a professor at the University of Maryland. Her non-fiction black feminist works are incredibly important and deal with the intersection of race, class, and gender. They also discuss black feminism and black woman’s own specific place within feminism.
What to Read: Her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment is her most nationally-recognized book. Other titles include Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism, Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice, From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism, and Another Kind of Public Education: Race, the Media, Schools, and Democratic Possibilities.
What She Writes About: Hill Collins is an important black female sociologist. She is currently a professor at the University of Maryland. Her non-fiction black feminist works are incredibly important and deal with the intersection of race, class, and gender. They also discuss black feminism and black woman’s own specific place within feminism.
What to Read: Her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment is her most nationally-recognized book. Other titles include Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism, Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice, From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism, and Another Kind of Public Education: Race, the Media, Schools, and Democratic Possibilities.
Jamaica Kincaid (lives 1949 – present)
What She Writes About: Kincaid is an Antiguan immigrant who grew up in poverty and writes novels with autobiographical and colonial elements. She writes about postcolonialism, race, gender, sexuality, class, and imperialism. Her writing is known for its anger and simplicity.
What to Read: Novels Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, Mr. Potter, See Now Then, and her short story collection At the Bottom of the River. She is also known for her nonfiction work A Small Place.
What She Writes About: Kincaid is an Antiguan immigrant who grew up in poverty and writes novels with autobiographical and colonial elements. She writes about postcolonialism, race, gender, sexuality, class, and imperialism. Her writing is known for its anger and simplicity.
What to Read: Novels Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, Mr. Potter, See Now Then, and her short story collection At the Bottom of the River. She is also known for her nonfiction work A Small Place.
bell hooks (lives 1952 – present)
What She Writes About: bell hooks is the pen name for writer and activist Gloria Jean Watkins. She writes about the intersection of race, capitalism, and gender, and how all of these play a role in oppression. She has written extensively about black feminism, helping to gain visibility for black women within the feminist cause. For anyone looking to broaden their intersectional view of feminism, bell hooks is the way to go.
What to Read: Her notable works include Ain’t I A Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, All About Love: New Visions, and We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity.
What She Writes About: bell hooks is the pen name for writer and activist Gloria Jean Watkins. She writes about the intersection of race, capitalism, and gender, and how all of these play a role in oppression. She has written extensively about black feminism, helping to gain visibility for black women within the feminist cause. For anyone looking to broaden their intersectional view of feminism, bell hooks is the way to go.
What to Read: Her notable works include Ain’t I A Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, All About Love: New Visions, and We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche (lives 1977 – present)
What She Writes About: You might know this name because her TED Talk about feminism was sampled on Beyonce’s new self-titled album. Adiche is a Nigerian-born writer who now divides her time between Nigeria and the U.S. Her work deals with growing up in Nigeria and being a Nigerian woman in the U.S. She is a self-identified feminist.
What to Read: Her 2013 novel, Americanah, has gained wide critical acclaim. Also check out her earlier novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, in addition to her collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck.
What She Writes About: You might know this name because her TED Talk about feminism was sampled on Beyonce’s new self-titled album. Adiche is a Nigerian-born writer who now divides her time between Nigeria and the U.S. Her work deals with growing up in Nigeria and being a Nigerian woman in the U.S. She is a self-identified feminist.
What to Read: Her 2013 novel, Americanah, has gained wide critical acclaim. Also check out her earlier novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, in addition to her collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck.
Roxane Gay (currently living; could not find her birthdate)
What She Writes About: Gay is a self-identified feminist writer, professor, and blogger. She can be found actively tweeting and blogging about feminist and black feminist issues. She writes about being a black woman in the U.S.
What to Read: Her short story collection Ayiti. Her other published stories are anthologized in books such as Best American Short Stories 2012, The New York Times Book Review, and The Rumpus. Look out for two books coming out this year: An Untamed State in May and Bad Feminist in August.
Slight disclaimer: I tried my hardest to include as many black women writers as possible, but it was impossible to include them all. If you can think of someone I missed, please feel free to comment below!
Maria DiPasquale is a sophomore Writing, Literature, and Publishing major at Emerson College with a concentration in fiction. She is working on minors in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Post-Colonial Studies. She owes a lot of who she is to Maplewood, New Jersey, the liberal and diverse commuter town outside New York where she grew up. She wants to dedicate her career to writing stories that draw on equality issues. For now, she can be found ranting about feminism, racism, or her love for velvet.
Images: thefeministgriote.com, Wikipedia, PoetryFoundation.org, www.gse.harvard.edu, NPR.org, wmmt.org, interviewmagazine.com, Vimeo
What She Writes About: Gay is a self-identified feminist writer, professor, and blogger. She can be found actively tweeting and blogging about feminist and black feminist issues. She writes about being a black woman in the U.S.
What to Read: Her short story collection Ayiti. Her other published stories are anthologized in books such as Best American Short Stories 2012, The New York Times Book Review, and The Rumpus. Look out for two books coming out this year: An Untamed State in May and Bad Feminist in August.
Slight disclaimer: I tried my hardest to include as many black women writers as possible, but it was impossible to include them all. If you can think of someone I missed, please feel free to comment below!
Maria DiPasquale is a sophomore Writing, Literature, and Publishing major at Emerson College with a concentration in fiction. She is working on minors in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Post-Colonial Studies. She owes a lot of who she is to Maplewood, New Jersey, the liberal and diverse commuter town outside New York where she grew up. She wants to dedicate her career to writing stories that draw on equality issues. For now, she can be found ranting about feminism, racism, or her love for velvet.
Images: thefeministgriote.com, Wikipedia, PoetryFoundation.org, www.gse.harvard.edu, NPR.org, wmmt.org, interviewmagazine.com, Vimeo