Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
Swept Through (1987), Sáani Dahataał: The Women Are Singing (1993), Blue Horses
Rush In: Poems and Stories (1997), and Songs of Shiprock Fair (1999).
Anne Tyler (1941– )
Novelist whose Breathing Lessons (1988) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Her
other works include Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982), The Accidental
Tourist (1985), Ladder of Years (1995), Back When We Were Grownups (2001), and
Noah’s Compass (2010).
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (1969– )
Novelist who has also written music reviews. Although she claims not to read
“chick lit,” her first novel, The Dirty Girls Social Club (2003), established her as
“the godmother of ‘chica lit.’” She has since published Playing with Boys (2004),
Make Him Look Good (2006), Haters (2006), Dirty Girls on Top (2008, a sequel to
her first), and The Husband Habit (2009).
Wendy Wasserstein (1950–2006)
Playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and children’s author whose plays include
Uncommon Women and Others (1977), Isn’t It Romantic? (1981), An American
Daughter (1997), Old Money (2000), and Third (2005).
Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999)
African American writer best known for The Peacock Poems (1975) and the novel
Dessa Rose (1986), about a runaway slave and the white woman who helps her.
Terry Tempest Williams (1955– )
Author, naturalist, and environmental activist who writes poetry and nonfic-
tion. Her best-known work is Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
(1991).
Elizabeth Wurtzel (1967– )
Best known for her confessional memoirs Prozac Nation (1994) and More, Now,
Again: A Memoir of Addiction (2002).
—Linda Trinh Moser