Written by: Meg Ermer
As an avid reader, one of the ways I like to learn about different perspectives is through literature. Women’s History Month is always a perfect time to celebrate the contributions, achievements and histories of individuals who are often overlooked. Though March has already come and gone, I’ve compiled a list of contemporary female writers whose works you can read to keep women’s voices and stories in mind all year long.
Isabel Allende – Latin American legacy with a touch of magical realism
A Chilean-American writer, Isabel Allende was closely related to Salvador Allende, who served as the president of Chile before being overthrown by a CIA-sanctioned coup. She was exiled to Venezuela for safety. While there, she wrote her debut work, The House of the Spirits, which follows several generations of a family living under Pinochet’s dictatorship. Her novels reflect Latin American history, and she draws on her own experiences to tell beautiful stories of resilience and survival. Keep an eye out for her new novel coming out in May (Bonus points if you can read the original untranslated Spanish edition!)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Immersive observations on politics and identity
You may have listened to her TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story” in your high school English class, but have you read her novels? Adichie’s writings reflect her own background as a Nigerian living in America and grappling with ideas of identity and belonging. Widely regarded as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature, her stories frequently feature intelligent, independent women who challenge the limitations of tradition. Her most recent novel, Dream Count, was released last month and explores the nature of love through the lives of four women in Nigeria and America.
R. F. Kuang – Examining imperialism through high fantasy
If you love books by Brandon Sanderson or V. E. Schwab, you’ll enjoy R. F. Kuang’s Poppy War trilogy. Kuang retells East Asian history by setting major events in fictional worlds with unique magic systems. While Poppy War is very much a war saga, her standalone novel, Babel, explores the effects of British imperialism on China by likening the act of translation to magic. Despite her success as a fantasy writer, Kuang isn’t afraid to venture into other genres, and her satirical psychological thriller, Yellowface, kept me on the edge of my seat to the very last page. Her next novel, Katabasis, will be released later this year and is my most anticipated read of 2025.
Celeste Ng – Emotionally and culturally complicated family dramas
Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere is one of those stories you think about long after you finish. Her uniquely nuanced perspectives on motherhood, family and relationships force you to consider the nature of the bonds that hold us together. Just as there are no “right answers” in many of our life decisions, Ng’s novels reflect the difficult choices that we all must make and the consequences that impact those around us. Her works are well on their way to becoming modern classics, and I highly recommend HBO’s miniseries adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere (after you’ve read the book, of course)!
Daphne Palasi Andreades – Poetic reflections on race and immigration
“We live in the dregs of Queens . . . where airplanes fly so low that we are certain they will crush us . . .” So begins Andreades’s debut novel Brown Girls, which moved me to tears the first time I read it. Her style blends multiple genres to paint beautiful portraits of diaspora, family and identity. I first encountered Andreades’ writing in a short story collection edited by none other than Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie! While Brown Girls is currently her only published novel, many of her anthologies and short fiction stories can be found on her website.
