10 inspiring female writers you need to read

As a response to Gay Talese’s failure to name any inspirational female writers, we asked our readers to explain why and how these authors changed their lives

‘Maybe he needs to read more widely’: authors respond to Gay Talese

It is hard to believe that this piece is still necessary. We long for the day when we don’t have to single out authors – or anyone of any walk of life, for that matter – for their gender, but here we are again. Last weekend, author and New Journalism father Gay Talese was asked to name women writers who had inspired him at a Boston University event, to which he answered: “None.” He reportedly went on to say that “educated women don’t want to hang out with anti-social people,” according to what journalist Amy Littlefield, who was in the audience,