Renegade women authors

Svetlana Alexievich (1948 - present)
Journalist, poet, and Nobel Prize laureate Svetlana Alexievich writes in Russian, and currently lives in Germany. Her father was Belarusian, her mother Ukrainian, and she was born in Ukraine. Her first book The Unwomanly Face of War received strong criticism and praise for adding over 500 perspectives of women in war, as both victims and soldiers. Her books have sparked conversation and broken barriers. She has spoken out about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, the children of World War II, and the fall of the Soviet Union. Alexievich’s novel Secondhand Time was the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. It is an oral history of the collapse of the USSR, focusing on the voices of women and men whose stories may have been lost. Alexievich has channeled her works in sharing stories of war and turmoil, while humanizing those most impacted. Find books by Svetlana Alexievich.

Octavia Butler (1947 - 2006)
Science fiction author and winner of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, Octavia Butler wrote dystopian novels about women’s rights, Black injustice, and the climate crisis. Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower centers on an African American woman in 2025, suffering from a hereditary trait where she feels other people's pains as her own.  Her novels focused on the points of view of characters that had not been written about before and brought their experiences to light with empathy and integrity. Butler won awards for best science fiction or fantasy, including several Nebula and Hugo Awards. She also won the PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award. Find books by Octavia Butler.

Laura Kate Dale (1991 - present)
Laura Kate Dale is an activist, author, and video game journalist. She is most well known for writing about and for the transgender and autism communities. Her second book Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman is an autobiographical account of her life. Dale’s third book Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Non Binary and Intersex Writers is a joyful set of essays about the happiness of living out your true identity. Dale constantly pushes back on the narrative of gender dysphoria and struggles of being transgender through true gender euphoria. Find books by Laura Kate Dale.

Joy Harjo (1951 - present)
Performer, author, and Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo has written poetry books, plays, memoirs and children’s books. An American Sunrise is a collection of poems about the Mvskoke people who were forcibly removed from their original land. Harjo intertwines her personal story and journey with tribal history. She is the first Native American to serve as Poet Laureate for the United States, and is on her third term. Harjo has received many accolades and awards for her work. In the last decade, she won the Lilly Prize for poetry and music (2017), the Griffin Poetry Prize (2016), and the Wallace Stevens Award by the Academy of American Poets (2015). Find books by Joy Harjo.

bell hooks (1952 - 2021)
Renowned author bell hooks, also known as Gloria Jean Watkins, was a feminist, activist and cultural critic. Ms. hooks, who intentionally did not capitalize her name so as to place more attention on her work than herself, wrote more than 30 books exploring racism, gender, class, sexism, intersectionality, and history. She is most well-known for Ain't I a woman? Black Women and Feminism and the Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. She was critical of the feminist movement for centering whiteness and rallied people to consider a new wave of feminism where race and class where interwoven. Her books ranged in genre including children’s fiction, poetry, education, and memoirs. Central to conversations about race, sex, and feminism, hooks' literature has won numerous awards. Find books by bell hooks.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929 - 2018)
Ursula K. Le Guin was an essayist who wrote short stories, poetry, science fiction and fantasy. Her novel, The Dispossessed, won her a Nebula Award, and made her the first woman to win the Hugo Award. This book also made her the first person to win two distinguished awards in science fiction at the same time. Her 1969 novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, pushed discussion about gender and sex roles. Set in a world where people are androgynous or ambisexual, she challenged ideas on human connection and expectations. She fought against the digitization of books by Google and was critical of Amazon’s treatment of authors. 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 lifetime. Le Guin was active in the Portland and Oregon literary community. She was a member of both the Literary Arts and Multnomah County Library advisory boards. Find books by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Gabby Rivera (1982 - present)
Gabby Rivera is a queer Puerto Rican woman from the Bronx, and an LGBTQ+ youth advocate. She is also the first Latin woman to write for Marvel Comics, in a series titled America. In America, Rivera features Chavez as the first Latina lesbian teen superhero of the comic. Rivera focuses on centering joy in the narratives about LGBTQ+, Latinx and people of color. In her 2016 young adult novel Juliet Takes a Breath, Rivera’s character makes the move to Portland, Oregon, after coming out to her family. This book won her the 2017 Silver IPPY Award for Best LGBTQ Fiction, and was re-published by Penguin Random House in 2019. Rivera is a public speaker, writer, activist, and youth mentor. Find books by Gabby Rivera.

Jenny Zhang (1983 - present)
Jenny Zhang is a writer, poet and essayist. Her books touch on different perspectives for current and sensitive topics including extreme poverty, sexual assault, the immigrant experience and identity. In her 2017 novel, Sour Heart, Zhang writes a collection of short stories about the complex relationships between Chinese-American families. In 2018, she won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction). This same year, Zhang won the PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize for Sour Heart, an award specifically for debut work in fiction, where the collection of stories showcase great literary achievement. Throughout her career, Zhang has written numerous essays and poetry. In Dear Jenny, We Are All Find, Zhang writes poems that vary in structure and style. She covers racism, sexism, and objectification, with the outcome of self discovery. Find books by Jenny Zhang.