Legacies and Lifespans in Contemporary Women's Writing

This book examines the connections and conversations between women writers from the twentieth century and the twenty-first century. The essays consider the ways in which twenty-first-century women writers look back and respond to their predecessors within the field of contemporary women's writing. The book looks back to the foundations of contemporary women's writing and also considers how this category may be defined in future decades. We ask how writers and readers have interpreted 'the contemporary', a moving target and an often-contentious term, especially in light of feminist theory and criticism of the late twentieth century. Writing about the relationships between women's writings is an always-vital, ongoing political project with a rich history. These essays argue that establishing and defining the contemporary is, for women writers, another ongoing political project to which this collection of essays aims, in part, to contribute.

Gina Wisker is a Professor of Contemporary Literature and Higher Education. Her research and teaching interests are in contemporary women's writing, Gothic writing, horror and postcolonial writing and she has published prolifically on these topics.

Leanne Bibby is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Teesside University. Her research examines the intersections between literary writing and historical narrative. Her book A. S. Byatt and Intellectual Women - Fictions, Histories, Myths was published in 2022 by Palgrave.

Heidi Yeandle is an expert in the writing of Angela Carter. Her book Angela Carter and Western Philosophy was published in 2016 by Palgrave.