The History of British Women's Writing, 1970-Present

Major changes in the social and political landscape of Britain since 1970 engendered the proliferation and diversification of literature by women and resulted in a radical challenge to dominant conceptions of gender and national identity. This book maps the most active and vibrant period in the history of women's writing and assesses the impact of women on literary culture. Essays by leading scholars in the field examine female authors' engagement with fiction, poetry, drama, and journalism. They consider the relationship between women and literary tradition, and between gender and genre, in the context of feminism, postmodernism, and postcolonialism. Topics include publishing and prizes, Gothic fiction, fantasy and fairy tales, auto/biography, black and Asian writing, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish writing, postfeminism, post-millennial themes and concerns, and new technologies. Covering more than 250 authors, fromgrandes dames to graphic novelists, this volume offers an unprecedented insight into the richness and range of contemporary British women's writing.

Mary Eagleton was, formerly, Professor of Contemporary Women's Writing at Leeds Beckett University, UK. She has published extensively on contemporary women's writing, including Figuring the Woman Author in Contemporary Fiction (2005), and on feminist literary theory, including Feminist Literary Theory: A Reader (3rd revised edition, 2011). She is the founding Chair of the Contemporary Women's Writing Association and the founding co-editor of the journal Contemporary Women's Writing.

Emma Parker is Reader in Postwar and Contemporary Literature at the University of Leicester, UK. She is a founder member of the Contemporary Women's Writing Association and has published widely on contemporary women's writing. She is author of Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Reader's Guide (2002), editor of Contemporary British Women Writers (2004), and co-editor of the journal Contemporary Women's Writing.