Entertainment
insta files friday: 10 awesome women writers to follow on instagram
drop everything and read.
Within the literary canon, men get more than enough attention. So, we think it's time to celebrate the incredible women writers who are currently tackling issues of identity, gender, sexuality, and more, in novels, memoirs, plays, and short essays. They might not be in the spotlight as much as the men in their field, but that doesn't make their work any less important.
Click through the gallery to see some of our favorite female writers on Instagram. Follow them to keep up with what's happening in their lives, and help support their work by buying lots of books from independent bookstores.
Amy Tan, aside from seriously rocking a blunt bob, writes about the Chinese-American experience and the complications of a mother-daughter relationship. She's written several novels, with the most famous of them being The Joy Luck Club, which has been made into a film.
Elizabeth Gilbert, whose 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love inspired thousands of trips to India for some serious soul-searching, will provide you your daily dose of peace through photos of quotes and words of wisdom. Also, this picture of her being photobombed by a kangaroo.
Remember Speak—the young adult novel that deals with serious issues of rape and social constructs? Keep up with Laurie Halse Anderson, the author who powerfully introduced us to the deep intricacies of sexual assault and their effect on women overall.
Oprah loves her. Reese Witherspoon played her. Everyone read about her. Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild impacted and inspired millions of readers with its powerful messages about healing and self-recovery.
Mindy Kaling tackled the question we all wanted to but were too afraid to ask: Is everyone hanging out without me? The actress, producer, and writer published her memoir in 2011, filled with humorous observations about love, friendship, and life overall, convincing us that we need to be best friends with Mindy Kaling.
Francesca Lia Block wrote her novel Weetzie Bat when she was a student at UC Berkeley. Now it's expanded into a full series and the book has been name-dropped by Hannah Horvath on a recent episode of Girls.
Recognize the names Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie? They mentored Taiye Selasi, a writer of Ghanaian and Niegerian origin. The Wall Street Journal noted her first novel Ghana Must Go as one of the best books of 2013.
Zoe Lister-Jones is an actress, playwright, and screenwriter who co-wrote Consumed (2015), a political thriller. She's smart, trendy, and appears on New Girl as Schmidt's love interest.
Could we ever forget the voice of a generation, producer of Tiny Furniture and Girls, and now author of the bestselling Not That Kinda Girl? She writes humorously, insightfully, and poignantly, keeping us laughing and crying from page one to the end.
Amanda Palmer, the badass rockstar and songwriter, wrote a book called The Art of Asking, which details how she made an album by asking her fans for support. It's an inspirational and refreshing exploration of the taboo of asking for help in our society and how to attack those boundaries.
