Rediscovering Forgotten Women Writers

In her book Silences, first published in 1978, U.S. writer Tillie Olsen pointed out that most literary anthologies included only one woman writer for every 12 men. If one searches more recent publications, the average ratio is slightly better: one to every five or six. But language arts teachers should not let this modest progress lull them into thinking that the problem of under-representation of female authors is solved or the challenge over.

I teach an introductory Women and Literature course at a community college in Burlington, Vt. For many of my students (this past semester more than 90 percent were women between the ages 19 and 45), this is the first time they have been exposed to works by women writers. The purpose of the course is to help students discover writings by women, their many talents and different perspectives. I want my students to be aware of how integral women's voices are to the human experience.

In the same spirit, I always include women writers of color. Vermont is the "whitest" state in the country, and our student body reflects that. Lately, however, several African American, Hispanic, Vietnamese and Bosnian students and a few students with disability have enrolled in the college. To expose the class to greater diversity and to initiate more discussion, I include in the curriculum writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo, Sandra Cisneros and Maxine Hong Kingston.

Taking a "Library Tour"
The course culminates in a major project wherein each student rediscovers a lost woman writer -- one who did not master the medium of literary posterity, who did not have contacts in the world of publishing or one whose work is out of print. Each student prepares an oral report on the writer, makes a poster representing her life and work, and participates in a college-wide reading of a selection from her work. I give them a list from Literary Women by Ellen Moers of hundreds of writers from across the centuries and the continents, including those of Japanese, Native American, African American and other ancestries. To allow them to focus on lesser-known writers, I cross out famous names like May Sarton, Gloria Steinem and Simone de Beauvoir.

We begin by taking an electronic "library tour" to locate women's studies and women's literature Web sites (e.g., A Celebration of Women Writers [1]). I give them addresses of used bookstores and a Web address for locating out-of-print works: Alibris: Books You Thought You'd Never Find [2]

Since the Internet can be an electronic key to a hidden treasure, students become very animated by the quest. However, they find that it is not easy to track down lost writers. Materials are often hard to locate, and information about the authors is scant. As the search can become frustrating, this assignment works best when carefully guided. Each week, I check in about what the students have discovered.

With the information they have gathered, we are now ready to discuss some pertinent questions: What factors enable a woman to write and to be published? What difficulties might she face, especially if she has family obligations? These issues speak to some of my students, especially those who are single parents or first-generation college-goers, who have to juggle three to four classes, a job, child care and family life.

The "Lost" Writer
Difficult as it may be, the search is a valuable learning experience. Students are amazed at how many women's works are out of print. One student observed: "If these women tried to do anything academic or creative, every barrier in the world was placed against them. ... It is amazing to rediscover these women who faced almost insurmountable obstacles throughout their writing careers." Another said, "It made me realize how easily someone who was successful and talented can be not only forgotten but almost erased."

Equally rewarding are the public readings, which are advertised college-wide. The noontime event with refreshments draws students from other literature classes, some faculty, staff and, often, several parents. The readings offer a special forum not only for the otherwise "lost" writers, but also for the students' own articulations. Tavia Moody, a bright, attentive 20-year-old student, explains why she chose a piece written by Maria Jane Jewsbury in her twenties to a young woman friend: "The passage was about what education had meant to her, about what reading and writing meant to her." For Moody, the issues of women's relationships and learning are germane to her own choices as a young college woman.