If you’re a fan of books like The Catcher in the Rye or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Sylvia Plath offers a similar darkly written coming-of-age story. While Plath is more famously known for her poetry, she has also written an incredible novel called The Bell Jar. Her poetry advanced the confessional style of poetry by focusing on her individual feelings and experiences. The Colossus and Other Poems is one of her most well-known collections of poems. ‍ Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath was an American poet and writer. Audre Lorde’s writing is a must-read because her novels and essays offer personal experiences of discrimination being a Black, queer woman and her writing is a great way to educate yourself on intersectional feminism. Lorde discusses feminism, sexism, homophobia, racism and how they all coexist. Sister Outsider is a collection of essays and speeches on intersectionality. As the book progresses we see her struggle with racism, homophobia, sexism and a complex relationship with her mother. The story follows her early life growing up in New York City with immigrant parents and continues on to her teenage years and adult life. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name is a biomythography of Lorde. She has a variety of books, essays, poems and speeches which are all incredible reads.

‍ Audre Lorde Audre Lorde is a Black, queer, feminist writer. I could go on forever, but here are a few of my personal favorite women writers who have written classics from the past and popular modern work: Reading books by female authors expands your education to the experiences of women, intersectional feminism, personal stories and overall supports women in a previously male dominated position. While there are plenty of notable male authors, there are just as many female authors who have written brilliant novels, poems and short stories that are often overlooked.

Our education should include more than the usual white male authors such as Faulkner, J.D. Not only are they typically male authors, universities are notorious for having very limited racial diversity in their syllabi. Whether you’re in an English, History, Sociology or Cinema course, professors tend to teach the same authors year after year.

There’s nothing worse than arriving in a class with a syllabus filled with old and deceased male authors.

Books like the bell jar