The XX Factor : Elaine Showalter

Why I Don't Yawn When I Talk About Women Writers

Meghan O'Rourke — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:11:00 GMT

E.J., it was actually W.H. Auden who wrote that " poetry makes nothing happen ," and the line you cite is perhaps one of the misinterpreted and misquoted lines of our time. Auden, I believe, meant the opposite of what you imply in your post; he was, in...(read more)

Women and the Quest to Write the Great American Novel

Meghan O'Rourke — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:02:00 GMT

Noreen, Nina, and Bonnie were discussing the vexed question of why so few women have produced what might be called “the great American novel,” and I want to jump in belatedly. Maybe the problem is, as Laura Miller suggested , that that few (white) women...(read more)

Her Great American Novel

Susannah Breslin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:03:00 GMT

" Why Can't a Woman Write the Great American Novel? " Others here have weighed in already on why the literary canon seems to be lacking when it comes to Great American Novels written by women. What struck me about Laura Miller's essay was the same line...(read more)

Women, Writing, and Work

Nina Shen Rastogi — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:03:00 GMT

Laura Miller at Salon has a great essay — provocatively titled, "Why can't a woman write the great American novel?"— on lit-crit rockstar Elaine Showalter's new book, A Jury of Her Peers , a mammoth study of American women writers. Lots to chew on, but...(read more)