Pat Parker was an American poet and activist who drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist. Her poetry spoke to her difficult childhood growing up in poverty, coping with sexual assault, and the murder of her sister.
Dorothy Osborne, Lady Temple was a British writer of letters, which have been published several times since their initial 1888 appearance in print. The text of editor Sir Edward Parry’s 1888 edition is available online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/osborne/letters/letters.html; while it does containt useful commentary, he did not retain the original spelling and punctuation structure for his transcription, and the “modern English” arguably reduces the tone of Osborne’s prose. G. C. Moore Smith’s (1928) and Kenneth Parker’s (2002) critical editions retain Osborne’s spelling and punctuation.
Marjorie Hillis wrote popular nonfiction books for women in the 1930s. As a young woman, Hillis went to work for Vogue magazine, eventually becoming assistant editor. In 1936 at age 47, she published the bestseller Live Alone and Like It, an advice book for young women on how to live independently. Rebranded the single woman as powerful, chic and savvy “live-aloners” rather than “spinsters”, the book highlighted the benefits of living alone. “Even going to bed alone can be alluring. There are many times, in fact, when it’s by far the most alluring way to go”, she wrote. In 1937 she published another bestseller, Orchids on Your Budget: Live Smartly on What You Have, in which she offered hypothetical “cases” that encouraged women to match their goals with their financial means. Her mother, Annie Louise Patrick Hillis (1862-1930), was also a published author
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose works range from novels to short stories to nonfiction. Her best-known works include Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) – which was adapted into a 2013 film – short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), Americanah (2013), We Should All Be Feminists (2014) and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017).
She was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2008.
Aida Begić is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. She completed a degree in Film and Theater Directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo in 2000. Her graduation film “The First Death Experience” was screened at more than 20 international film festivals, including the 54th Cannes Film Festival, where it was part of the Cinéfondation’s Selection. Aida Begić is an assistant professor in directing at her alma mater in Sarajevo. In 2004, she and Elma Tataragic founded the production company MAMAFILM. Her 2017 film Never Leave Me (Turkish: Beni Bırakma) was selected as the Bosnian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Her 2012 film Children of Sarajevo (Bosnian: Djeca) competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Special Distinction award; it was also chosen as the Bosnian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards,
Sarah Prideaux was a bookbinder, teacher, historian and author of books about binding and illustration. Along with Katharine Adams (one of her students, and a close friend) and Sybil Pye, she was one of the noted women bookbinders of the period.
In 1888, at age 35 she started learning bookbinding, later studying in Paris. For several years she experimented, wrote articles and produced bound books inspired by Art Nouveau designs, with her work shown in various exhibits. By 1894, bindings bearing her signature were of professional quality. It has since been discovered that although she designed the bindings, selected the leather and marbled endpapers to a very detailed specification, the actual bookbinding was carried out by a French tradesman, Lucien Broca, and possibly others under her name. More than 276 books were bound and published under her signature.
As an expert on the history of bookbinding, Prideaux taught, lectured, and wrote reviews and articles for journals and magazines throughout the 1890s. These articles were collected and published as Bookbinders and their Craft. Her other books included Modern Bookbindings Their Design and Decoration and Aquatint Engraving A Chapter in the History of Book Illustration. She served as one of the directors of the Women’s Printing Society.
Sylvia Townsend Warner was an English musicologist, novelist and poet, known for works such as the novels Lolly Willowes and After the Death of Don Juan, the poetry collection Whether a Dove or a Seagull and several short story collections. She also served in the Red Cross during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
Maurissa Tancharoen is an American television producer, writer, actress, singer, lyricist and dancer. She is best-known for her work as creator and executive producer on the Marvel Cinematice Universe television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2020), which she also wrote for (17 episodes) and served as showrunner on (44 episodes).
Mae Martin is a comedian, actor and writer who identies as gender fliud, alternating between she and they pronouns. Martin wrote and starred in the 2020 semi-autobiographical Netflix comedy Feel Good and has won two Canadian Comedy Awards as part of comedy troupe “The Young and the Useless”. She also presents Mae Martin’s Guide to 21st Century Sexuality on BBC Radio 4 and published her first non-fiction book, Can Everyone Please Calm Down?: A Guide to 21st Century Sexuality in 2019.
Renée Vivien was a British poet who wrote in French, in the style of the Symbolistes and the Parnassiens. A high-profile lesbian in the Paris of the Belle Époque, her work has received renewed attention following a revival of interest in Sapphic verse.