Earlier a Tweet flashed by my rheumy eyes announcing a top five list of female authors. Although the impetus of this list was the influence of past authors on the writing of the poster, I grabbed a pad (real paper) and scribbled out a list of ten female authors I found especially influencing, even though I don’t write much myself.
Here is my list :

- Kathy Acker
- Elizabeth Bowen
- Angela Carter
- Rikki Ducornet
- Marguerite Duras
- Clarice Lispector
- Iris Murdoch
- Ann Quin
- Edith Wharton
- Virginia Woolf
I also considered writers such as Marguerite Yourcenar, Simone de Bouvoir, and Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette but I skipped over several female poets assuming poetry was not the subject of the original Tweet. Note that the original Twitter list included Ann Rice so I will refrain from repeating it on this weblog.
Which female authors would you add to your personal list?