Books

10 Essential Books About Writing

An illustration shows a person with brown skin and brown hair with a pencil in their mouth, bookshelves with blue, purple, yellow, and pink book covers behind them, and a laptop in front of them.
by Nylah Burton
April 6, 2022 at 12:07pm
Must-read titles for writers include works by Elena Ferrante, Akwaeke Emezi, Meg Wolitzer, Yoko Ogawa, and more.
Forsyth Harmon, a white woman with a black bob and bangs.

With “Justine,” Forsyth Harmon Charts Teen Queerness

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
March 9, 2021 at 10:51am
Justine may weigh very little, but it’s emotionally heavy. Read more »
Naima Coster, a light-skinned woman with short, black hair, and wearing a black t-shirt crosses her arms and smiles as she poses against a colorful wall

“What’s Mine and Yours” Complicates the School Segregation Story

by Evette Dionne
March 2, 2021 at 9:48am
Naima Coster’s prescient novel brings human faces to a broader social issue. Read more »
Morgan Rogers, a Black woman with shoulder-length hair, stands in front of a bookshelf wearing a purple sweater and glasses

“Honey Girl” Is about a Woman Coming Home to Herself

by Evette Dionne
February 23, 2021 at 10:20am
Honey Girl is not a romance novel. Read more »
Patricia Lockwood, a white woman with short, brown hair, poses in profile in a black and white photo

“No One Is Talking about This” Brings Online Pangs to Real Life Tragedy

by s.e. smith
February 16, 2021 at 11:47am
No One Is Talking About This is a reflection of our ebbing and flowing need for connection. Read more »
Tessa Miller, a white woman with short blond hair, poses in a black and white photo with her small, brown dog

“What Doesn’t Kill You” Tells the Gut-Churning Truth about Chronic Illness

by Jordan Davidson
February 10, 2021 at 10:17am
Crohn’s disease is unpredictable, cruel, and gross. There’s no way around that. Read more »
A fire against a dark background.

In “We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire,” Women’s History is Lifesaving

by Ashley Bardhan
February 10, 2021 at 9:31am
The novel is a meditation on the power of uncovering past heroines. Read more »
A Black man and woman at work. The woman is teaching the man how to do something on a computer screen.

In “Work Won’t Love You Back,” Sarah Jaffe Kills the Dream Job

by Mary Retta
January 26, 2021 at 11:05am
No one should have to earn the right to financial security through labor.  Read more »
A white woman with blond chin length hair wears red lipstick and a silky pink blouse.

Gabrielle Korn Questions the “Feminist Utopia” of Women’s Media

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
January 12, 2021 at 10:06am
“There needs to be a radical rewriting of what we expect the internet to give us.” Read more »
A bowl of beans next to the phrase "performative parenting."

Very Online: Bean Dad Continues a Tradition of Performative Parenting

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
January 8, 2021 at 2:09pm
From Facebook to Twitter and beyond, parents dunk on their own children online. Read more »
A woman in a black hijab reads in an open space.

BitchReads: 9 YA Books Feminists Should Read in January

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
January 8, 2021 at 11:47am
There is one thing we can count on: young adult novels bringing us a much-needed distraction. Read more »

Pages

Best of Bitch

Rewriting the Future: Using Science Fiction to Re-Envision Justice

by Walidah Imarisha
Spring 2015 • Law & Order
Our justice movements desperately need science fiction. Read more »

Mock & Awe: Janet Mock on Truth-Telling, Community Building, and Writing the Story She Had Been Waiting for Her Whole Life

Janet Mock, a transgender Hawaiian woman with curly, brown hair, smiles
by Tina Vasquez
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
“Redefining Realness” is written with astounding honesty and heart. Read more »

Hot Under the Bonnet: The Cooptation of Amish Culture in Mass-Market Fiction

a blue and white illustration of a woman in Amish attire standing next to a fan and a chicken
by Audrey deCoursey
Spring 2014 • Maps & Legends
Dubbed “Amish romance novels,” “Amish fiction,” or the more waggish “bonnet rippers,” these novels just one entry point into the varying images of Amish communities in U.S. popular culture. Read more »

A Look at How Media Writes Women of Color

by Victoria Law
November 17, 2014 at 5:07pm
Nearly every Saturday morning, feminists of color hold Twitter discussions taking a deeper look at issues, such as gender violence. It’s the... Read more »