Reading Only Female Writers for a Year
It was a challenge worth taking!
I made only one New Years’ resolution for 2021: I was going to commit to reading exclusively female writers the entire year: contemporary, and in all languages that I can speak (English, German, Serbo-Croatian).
(Yes, there is a list at the end of my little commentary!)
The biggest challenge I was faced with was finding them. This wasn’t the case because there aren’t plenty of amazing female writers out there, but rather because we still see writing mostly as a man’s trade. The male voice is considered universal, while the female voice is considered strictly feminine. Somewhere along the way, we’ve decided that men write for everyone, and women write only for women. This is a problematic stigma stopping brilliant writers from getting their stories heard. This also means that books which are for everyone (meaning, written by men) are the ones you hear about the most.
Deciding to read only female writers was going to require a bit of research — very few of the books simply fell into my lap.
For the first time in my life, I actually quite actively sought books out. I looked to literary journals, feminist blogs, award shortlisters, the occasional celebrity book clubber, turned to friends, and even gave the Amazon algorithm a go. All in all — I took my time to make my picks.
Without further ado, I’m giving you my 2021 reading list. It is written in the order in which I read the books — there is no other significance in the listing.
I’m not going to elaborate on each book as that would make this article a book itself, but I will highlight those that I found particularly thrilling and that I would passionately recommend to everyone.
- A Lab of One’s Own, Rita Colwell, PhD
A memoir by one of the world’s most accomplished scientists. I believe this is a must-read for everyone. You can read my review of the book here.
- Read and Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova
The notorious Russian activist tells all — most importantly, that punk’s not dead.
- Giving Up the Ghost, Hilary Mantel
The famous British double Booker Prize winner wrote a memoir. It’s centered around accepting she would never be able to have children due to mistreated endometriosis.
- I Love Dick, Chris Kraus
An absolutely brilliant find! Chris Kraus writes an enticing novel about obsession. Deeply introspective, she tells the story of a one-way relationship with a man she idolized and over-romanticized, letting her “real life” and marriage suffer. In a brilliant manner, Kraus lets the reader into a mind clouded by fascination, infatuation and over-thinking. Experimental in form, provocative in content, this book is definitely one of my all-time favorites! It’s frivolous, a bit eccentric, and yet oddly relatable.
- Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty
Suburban Australian moms find themselves in the midst of a page-turning murder-mystery… sort of.
- Skrik, Ljiljana Maletin Vojvodić
A new novel with all the makings of a postmodern classic, it essentially focuses on the interchangeable identities of a writer and their fictional character. Sadly not yet translated to any other language.
- Reibungsverluste, Mascha Dabić
This moving novel tells the story of a day in the life of an Austrian interpreter. Her job is to sit in therapy sessions with refugees who do not yet speak any German and be a mediator between them and their therapists. Becoming a channel for their trauma, the interpreter can never fully empty herself and remain entirely unaffected by all that she witnesses. Sadly not translated to other languages yet.
- Uhvati zeca, Lana Bastašić (available as Catch the Rabbit in English, and Fang den Hasen in German)
Undoubtedly my favorite novel of the year (many people got it for Christmas from me)! A young author from the Balkans tells a story which on the surface seems to be about female friendship. As the women’s road trip turns eerie, it is revealed that the book is about so much more. The bizarre trip is orchestrated by the main character's childhood best friend, due to rumors that her long-lost brother, the presumed victim of a hate-crime during the Yugoslav war, has been found in Vienna. In a brilliant way, with elegant language riddled with metaphors and childhood memory flashes of war-time Yugoslavia, Bastašić tells an enchanting story of something far greater than two women collecting pieces of their broken friendship. It will leave you feeling elevated and mournful at the same time.
- Das nächste Mal bleib ich daheim, Claudia Endrich
A millennial nomad starts questioning her lifestyle and how it affects the planet. Available only in German.
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
A fun and easy bestseller with an unusual love triangle at its center. Kiley Reid tells a story about good intentions gone wrong as a consequence of a deep-seeded lack of understanding between a rich, white suburban mother and her Black babysitter.
- It’s Always Something, Gilda Radner
The former SNL star famously died battling ovarian cancer. This is her memoir. Finished just a few weeks before her passing, it documents her struggle with accepting a death sentence.
- Unquiet, Linn Ullmann
The daughter of famous filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Linn Ullmann writes a memoir about watching her elderly father succumb to dementia and start losing pieces of his notorious self.
- Surrender the Pink, Carrie Fisher
Smart and funny as always, Carrie Fisher writes about a TV writer whose obsession with her ex-husband drives her nearly crazy — and certainly into some hilarious, strange, and vulnerable situations.
- Eat, Pray, #FML, Gabrielle Stone
A millennial answer to Eat, Pray, Love, Gabrielle Stone isn’t afraid to accept that sometimes things don’t make sense and life gets simply sh#t.
- Blood and Guts in High School, Kathy Acker
Having read this literary masterpiece, I can’t help but wonder if it was left out of all my postmodern literature courses because it was written by a woman. Non-linear, genre-bending, gory, jaw-dropping, painfully realistic: this powerhouse of a novel about neglect and sexual abuse is not for those with a weak stomach.
- Blue Ticket, Sophie Mackintosh
Handmaid’s Tale reversed — kind of. The novel follows one woman’s fight against the dystopian reality she lives in. She is on the run and adamant about getting her freedom back and a right to make her own choices about her body.
- Erlkönigin, Elfride Jelinek
I didn’t expect anything less than “peculiar” from the legendary playwright. This is, however, a play that I personally need to see to be able to say if I like it or not, or even if I actually understand it. To be honest, I think that my German wasn’t quite up to Jelinek’s craftsmanship.
- Fütter mich, Cornelia Travnicek
A collection of absurd short stories: some of them heartwarming, some of them grotesque, some of them unnerving. The one thing that connects them other than the leitmotif of food is that they are the fun kind of bizarre. Not translated to English yet.
Hopefully you will find a hidden jewel or two for your own 2022 reading list from my previous experience. Enjoy flipping through the pages!
