2 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
short-story collection Arranged Marriage (1995); and the novels The Mistress of
Spices (1997), Sister of My Heart (1999), and Queen of Dreams (2004).
Susan Faludi (1959– )
Journalist whose works include Backlash: The Undeclared War against American
Women (1991), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfic-
tion; Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man (1999); and The Terror Dream:
Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America (2007).
Betty Friedan (1921–2006)
Became a leading figure of the women’s movement in the United States with the
publication of The Feminine Mystique (1963) and as cofounder and president of
the National Organization for Women in 1966. Life So Far: A Memoir (2000) is
her autobiography.
Sandra M. Gilbert (1936– )
Poet and critic best known for her collaborative works with Susan D. Gubar, espe-
cially The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century
Literary Imagination (1979), a foundational work of feminist literary criticism.
Her poetry volumes include In the Fourth World (1978), The Summer Kitchen
(1983), Blood Pressure (1988), Kissing the Bread: New and Selected Poems (2000),
and Inventions of Farewell: A Book of Elegies (2001).
Nikki Giovanni (1943– )
Poet, social activist, and teacher whose early works, including Black Feeling, Black
Talk (1967) and Black Judgment (1968) are associated with the Black Arts Move-
ment. Her other poetry collections include My House (1972), Cotton Candy on a
Rainy Day (1978), Love Poems (1997), and Acolytes (2007). She has also published
books of poetry for children, including The Genie in the Jar (1996) and The Sun
Is So Quiet (1996). She received a Grammy nomination for her spoken-word CD
The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection (2002).
Gail Godwin (1937– )
Fiction writer who has had five novels on The New York Times best-seller list: A
Mother and Two Daughters (1982), The Finishing School (1984), A Southern Family
(1987), Father Melancholy’s Daughter (1991), and Evensong (1999).
Vivian Gornick (1935– )
Former staff writer for the Village Voice who described her relationship with her
mother in Fierce Attachments: A Memoir (1987).
Sue Grafton (1940– )
Author of a series of detective novels featuring the female private eye Kinsey
Millhone, published in alphabetical order starting with A Is for Alibi (1982). In
2009 she published U is for Undertow.
Jorie Graham (1951– )
Poet whose collection The Dream of the Unif ied Field: Selected Poems, 1974–1994
(1995) received the Pulitzer Prize in 1996. She is also the author of Hybrids of