This March, take some time to honor the women elders in your life. We have a list of recommended reads from some incredible women over 50. This list has a special focus on authors from the Pacific Northwest.
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006)
Butler is a legendary figure in science fiction. She lived in the Seattle area in the later years of her life. The first sci-fi writer to win a MacArthur Genius Grant, Butler was known for incredible pieces like A Few Rules for Predicting the Future.
Beverly Cleary (1916-2021)
A well-loved children’s author born in McMinnville, Beverly Cleary spent her childhood in Northeast Portland. Roughly half of Cleary’s books were based in Oregon. The children’s space in Central Library is dedicated to Cleary and the newly opened Hollywood Library features a mural honoring this local author.
Molly Gloss
Gloss is a fourth-generation Oregonian who wrote several novels, including The Jump-Off Creek, depicting 19th-century homesteading. She’s received multiple awards, including a PEN West Fiction Prize, an Oregon Book Award, two Pacific Northwest Booksellers Awards, and more. On top of writing, she speaks at different events on writing, the American West, and more.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929 - 2018)
Ursula K. Le Guin wrote many incredible short stories and poems, as well as science fiction and fantasy books. In 2014, Le Guin was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She won several Nebula, Hugo, Jupiter, and Locus awards throughout her life. Le Guin was active in both Portland and Oregon’s literary community. She was a member of both the Literary Arts and Multnomah County Library advisory boards. We have many books by Ursula K. Le Guin in the collection, but you may especially enjoy reading So Far So Good this month.
Linda Meanus
The granddaughter of the Chief of Celilo Falls and an Elder from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Meanus’s connection to the library began young. In 1956, she visited Central Library as a little girl to sign copies of a book about her childhood. This book was titled Linda’s Indian Home. Meanus’s memoir, My Name is LaMoosh, chronicles her life at Celilo Falls before the creation of The Dalles Dam.
Monica Sone (1919-2011)
Sone was born and grew up in Seattle. She wrote the memoir Nisei Daughter, a first-hand account of her childhood growing up Japanese American in Seattle in the 1930s, and being forced into an internment camp during WWII.
Maliha Masood
Based in Seattle, Masood is an award-winning author and educator. She wrote the travel memoir Zahtar Days, Henna Nights. Masood has also published many essays on culture, gender, and identity in various publications.
Lidia Yuknavitch
Portland’s Yuknavitch won the Oregon Book Award for The Chronology of Water, currently in production to become a major motion picture directed by Kristen Stewart. She speaks frequently in town and created the writing workshop practice Corporeal Writing. Yuknavitch is currently nominated for a 2026 Oregon Book Award for her memoir Reading the Waves.
Women authors, 50+, from the Pacific Northwest
A selection of books from incredible women authors over the age of 50, from the Pacific Northwest.
