On International Women’s Day I asked members of our Facebook page to name their most inspirational female author and received more than 1,000 replies. Over the last couple of days I’ve been getting all the answers together to bring you our latest poll results and now we have them.
You were all very enthusiastic in your replies with a few hundred different authors mentioned. The top 50 is an eclectic mix made up of contemporary and classic authors, and here they are, the top 50 inspirational female authors chosen by you this International Women’s Day.
The top five, and it’s quite a top five are…
J.K. Rowling
Jane Austen
Charlotte Bronte
Harper Lee
Agatha Christie
Then we have
Margaret Atwood
Maya Angelou
Jodi Picoult
Nora Roberts/J.D Robb
Louisa May Alcott
That’s a pretty impressive top ten of authors, but we thought ‘why stop there’, let’s go for the top 50 from the list…
Ayn Rand
Virginia Woolf
Anne Rice
Diana Gabaldon
Toni Morrison
L.M Montgomery
Sylvia Plath
Emily Bronte
Suzanne Collins
Umera Ahmad
Daphne du Maurier
Barbara Kingsolver
George Elliot
Anne McCaffrey
Enid Blyton
Maeve Binchy
Amy Tan
Margaret Mitchell
Mary Shelley
Doris Lessing
Arundhati Roy
Anne Frank
Isabel Allende
Cassandra Clare
Danielle Steele
Cornelia Funke
Ruth Rendell
Laura Ingells Wilder
Tess Gerritsen
Janet Evanovich
Veronica Roth
Kristen Hannah
Judy Blume
Jean M Auel
Madeleine L’Engle
Sue Monk Kidd
Anais Nin
Mercedes Lackey
Alice Walker
Alice Hoffman
Wow, what a list and what a fantastic celebration of female authors! Did your favourite make the list, is there anyone you would add?
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Diana Wynne Jones 🙂
Willa Cather
Lesley Kagen
Please add Alice Munro to this list. Her subtle feminism is very inspiring.
Kate Chopin
Please add Louise Erdrich. Her books about Native American life after the “HOLOCAUST IN THIS COUNTRY” speaks VOLUMES for millions of voiceless Americans.
Emeralda Santiago, Judith Ortiz -Coffer , Alma Flor-Ada, Sonia Nieto, Michele Serros , Cristina García, Aurora Levins Morales, to name a few.
I cant believe Mary Higgins Clark is not on this list!!!!!!!
German Irmgard Keun!
Recently discovered and I’m loving her!
From the past would be Mary Stewart The Merlin Saga, and Marion Zimmer Bradley Mists of Avalon, and from the present would be Anita Diamant The Red Tent, plus myself of course..lol..”Visionary” is a new genre and I write under it with a mix of others.
I would add Richelle Mead. The characters in her books are very strong and inspiring.
I would add Anne Bishop and Trudi Canavan as great fantasy writers.
I’m Italian and I’m sure you know Dacia Maraini with her masterpiece Marrianna Ucrìa. You really must read it first and after all the other books she wrote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Maraini
Umera Ahmed’s PEER-E-KAMIL is the masterpiece, no doubt about it. One must read it. Her novel’s characters are very strong. The story in this novel enlighten our minds, strengthen our faith and direct our will towards what is right.
Umera Ahmed 🙂
Umera Ahmed is One of the Best urdu Novelist. her novel Peer e Kamil is in top 10 novels , according to my list.
lots of respect for umera ahmed…thumb’s up……
Immaculee Ilibagiza would be a great addition to the list. She givesher own real account of what it was like to go through the Rwandan genocide and emerge a stronger, more beautiful woman on the other side of it. She not only survived, she thrived.
Dorothea Benton Frank and Mary Higgins Clark
erin morgenstern for weaving magic in the night circus.
Oh Joanne Harris must make this list! The author of Gentleman and Players, Chocolat, and Runemark amongst others.
Ghada samman and Elif chafak should be on the list. two amazing writers
Octavia E Butler and Ursula Le Guin reaally must be on the list ❤