Contemporary American Women Fiction Writers: An A-to-Z Guide

by Laurie Champion (Editor), Rhonda Austin (Editor)

Overview

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:
• A brief biography
• A discussion of major works and themes^
• A survey of the writer's critical reception
• A bibliography of primary and secondary sources

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313316272
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2002
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.94(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

LAURIE CHAMPION is Assistant Professor of English at San Diego State University, Imperial Valley. Her previous books include The Critical Response to Huckleberry Finn (1991), The Critical Response to Eudora Welty's Fiction (1994), and American Women Writers, 1900-1945 (2000), all available from Greenwood Press.

RHONDA AUSTIN is Lecturer in English at Sul Ross State University, where she teaches English composition, technical writing, and literature. She has published several short stories and is currently developing and teaching online courses.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction by Laurie Champion
Alice Adams (1926-1999) by Julie S. Amberg
Julia Alvarez (1950- ) by J. Elizabeth Clark
Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) by Catherine Cucinella
Andrea Barrett (1965- ) by Ernest Smith
Ann Beattie (1947- ) by Claudia Milstead
Judy Blume (1938- ) by Austin Booth
Rita Mae Brown (1944- ) by Roxanne Harde
Ana Castillo (1953 ) by Laurie Champion
Denise Chavez (1948- ) by Beverly G. Six
Alice Childress (1920-1994) by Joelle Biele
Sandra Cisneros (1954- ) by Joy Castro
J. Colifornia Cooper (19??- ) by Michelle L. Taylor
Ellen Douglas (Josephine Ayres Haxton) (1921- ) by Elizabeth J. Wright
Louise Erdrich (1954 ) by Ann Engar
Mary Gaitskill (1954- ) by Robert Johnson
Kaye Gibbons (1960- ) by Elizabeth J. Wright
Gail Godwin (1937- ) by Lynn Domina
Mary Gordon (1949- ) by Cheryl D. Bohde
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey (1938- ) by Kristin Brunnemer
Shelby Hearon (1931- ) by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay
Amy Hempel (1951- ) by Rhonda Cawthorn
Linda Hogan (1947- ) by Ellen L. Arnold
Mary Hood (1946- ) by Angela Laflen
Josephine Humphreys (1945- ) by Bill Clem
Gish Hen (1956- ) by Cora Agatucci
Diane Johnson (1934- ) by Stephanie Brown
Gayle Jones (1949- ) by Michelle L. Taylor
Jamaica Kincaid (1949- ) by Sharon Hileman
Nanci Kincaid (1950- ) by Deborah Maltby
Barbara Kingsolver (1955- ) by Lisa Abney
Maxine (Ting Ting) Hong Kingston (1940- ) by Sharon Hileman
Harper Lee (1926- ) by Catherine Cucinella
Ursula K. LeGuin (1929- ) by Kate K. Davis
Beverly Lowry (1938- ) by Stephanie Gordon
Paule Marshall (1929- ) by Michelle L. Taylor
Bobbie Ann Mason (1940- ) by Laurie Champion
Elizabeth McCracken (1966- ) by Roy Flannagan
Jill McCorkle (1958- ) by Suzanne Disheroon-Green
Colleen Johnson McElroy (1935- ) by James L. Hill
Terry McMillan (1951- ) by Suzanne Disheroon-Green
Toni Morrison (1931- ) by Julie Buckner Armstrong
Gloria Naylor (1950- ) by Chris Ruiz-Velasco
Joyce Carol Oates (1938- ) by Mona Choucair
Tillie Olsen (1912 or 1913- ) by Ernest Smith
Cynthis Ozick (1928- ) by Laurie Champion
Grace (Goodside) Paley (1922- ) by Lisa Maria Burgess Noudehou
Sara Paretshy (1947- ) by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay
Ann Petry (1908-1997) by Michelle L. Taylor
Jayne Anne Phillips (1952- ) by Andrea Adolph
Francine Prose (1947- ) by J. P. Steed
Marilynne Robinson (1944- ) by Catherine Rainwater
Mary Robinson (1949- ) by Cynthia Whitney Hallett
Leslie Marmon Silko (1948- ) by Catherine Rainwater
Jane Smiley (1949- ) by Jesse Cohn
Lee Smith (1944- ) by Cathy Downs
Elizabeth Ann Tallent (1954- ) by Laurie Champion
Amy Tan (1952- ) by Carman C. Curton
Melanie Rae Thon (1957- ) by Kate K. Davis
Anne Tyler (1941- ) by Donna Buchanan Cook
Alice Walker (1944- ) by Lisa Abney
Joy Williams (1944- ) by J. Elizabeth Clark
Selected Bibliography
Index