Contemporary American Women Fiction Writers

An A-to-Z Guide

Laurie Champion, Rhonda Austin, Laurie Champion, Rhonda Austin

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9780313076435
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Critica letteraria nordamericana

American women writers have long been creating an extraordinarily diverse and vital body of fiction, particularly in the decades since World War II. Recent authors have benefited from the struggles of their predecessors, who broke through barriers that denied women opportunities for self-expression. This reference highlights American women writers who continue to build upon the formerly male-dominated canon. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for more than 60 American women writers of diverse ethnicity who wrote or published their most significant fiction after World War II. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes: ^L^DBLA brief biography^L^DBLA discussion of major works and themes^^DBLA survey of the writer's critical reception^L^DBLA bibliography of primary and secondary sources

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Alice Adams (1926–1999)
• Julia Alvarez (1950– )
• Toni Cade Bambara (1939–1995)
• Andrea Barrett (1965– )
• Ann Beattie (1947– )
• Judy Blume (1938– )
• Rita Mae Brown (1944– )
• Ana Castillo (1953– )
• Denise Chávez (1948– )
• Alice Childress (1920–1994)
• Sandra Cisneros (1954– )
• J. California Cooper (19??– )
• Ellen Douglas (Josephine Ayres Haxton) (1921– )
• Louise Erdrich (1954– )
• Mary Gaitskill (1954– )
• Kaye Gibbons (1960– )
• Gail Godwin (1937– )
• Mary Gordon (1949– )
• Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (1938– )
• Shelby Hearon (1931– )
• Amy Hempel (1951– )
• Linda Hogan (1947– )
• Mary Hood (1946– )
• Josephine Humphreys (1945– )
• Gish Jen (1956– )
• Diane Johnson (1934– )
• Gayl Jones (1949– )
• Jamaica Kincaid (1949– )
• Nanci Kincaid (1950– )
• Barbara Kingsolver (1955– )
• Maxine (Ting Ting) Hong Kingston (1940– )
• Harper Lee (1926– )
• Ursula K. Le Guin (1929– )
• Beverly Lowry (1938– )
• Paule Marshall (1929– )
• Bobbie Ann Mason (1940– )
• Jill McCorkle (1958– )
• Elizabeth McCracken (1966– )
• Colleen Johnson McElroy (1935– )
• Terry McMillan (1951– )
• Toni Morrison (1931– )
• Gloria Naylor (1950– )
• Joyce Carol Oates (1938– )
• Tillie Olsen (1912 or 1913– )
• Cynthia Ozick (1928– )
• Grace (Goodside) Paley (1922– )
• Sara Paretsky (1947– )
• Ann Petry (1908–1997)
• Jayne Anne Phillips (1952– )
• Francine Prose (1947– )
• Marilynne Robinson (1944– )
• Mary Robison (1949– )
• Leslie Marmon Silko (1948– )
• Jane Smiley (1949– )
• Lee Smith (1944– )
• Elizabeth Ann Tallent (1954– )
• Amy Tan (1952– )
• Melanie Rae Thon (1957– )
• Anne Tyler (1941– )
• Alice Walker (1944– )
• Joy Williams (1944– )
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About the Editors and Contributors