List of Women Writers - B

B

• Natalie Babbitt (born 1932), US author and illustrator of children's books. Tuck Everlasting
• Ingrid Bachér (born 1930), German playwright and screenwriter.
• Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet, playwright and novelist.
• Albena Bakratcheva (born 1961), Bulgarian author, best known for her work on American Transcendentalism.
• Delia Bacon (1811–1859), American writer of plays and short stories, best known today for her work on the Shakespeare authorship question.
• Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), British author and playwright. National Velvet
• Elisaveta Bagryana (1893–1991), Bulgarian poet; one of the mothers of Bulgarian literature.
• Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist.
• Beryl Bainbridge (1932–2010), English novelist.
• Deb Baker (born 1953), American mystery writer.
• Dorothy Baker (1907–1968), American novelist. Young Man with a Horn
• Faith Baldwin (1893–1978), was a very successful U.S. author of romance and fiction.
• Toni Cade Bambara (1939–1995), American author, social activist and college professor.
• Mary Ellen Bamford (1857–1946), American author.
• Ban Zhao (45–116 CE), first female Chinese historian. Lessons for Women
• Helen Elliott Bandini, American writer, primarily of Californian history.
• Mary Jo Bang (born 1946), American poet.
• Zsuzsa Bánk (born 1965), German novelist.
• Leslie Esdaile Banks (born 1959), American author. The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
• Helen Bannerman (1862–1946), Scottish children's writer. Little Black Sambo
• Agnieszka Baranowska (1819–1890), Polish playwright and poet.
• Natalya Baranskaya (1908–2004), Soviet writer. A Week Like Any Other
• Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist and children's author. Eighteen Hundred and Eleven
• Arvède Barine (1840–1908), French writer and historian.
• Nicola Barker (born 1966), English novelist and short story writer.
• Pat Barker (born 1943), English novelist. Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, Ghost Road
• Anna Barkova (1901–1976), Soviet poet, journalist, playwright, essayist, memoirist, and writer of fiction.
• Mary Barnard (1909–2001), American poet, biographer and Greek-to-English translator.
• Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), American writer. Ladies Almanack, Nightwood
• Margaret Ayer Barnes (1886–1967), Pulitzer Prize winning American author. Years of Grace
• Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (1831–1919), British American novelist.
• Lynne Barrett American writer and editor, best known for her short stories.
• Marie Bashkirtseff (1858–1884), diarist and artist.
• Allie Bates (born 1957), American writer.
• Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929), American songwriter.
• Carol S. Batey (born 1955), American writer.
• Baudovinia (fl. c. 600), French religious writer and nun writing in Latin.
• Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), American poet, journalist and educator.
• Vicki Baum (1888–1960), Austrian novelist.
• Gertrud Bäumer (1873–1954), German writer and feminist.
• Ada Ellen Bayly (Edna Lyall, 1857–1903), English novelist.
• Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), French author and philosopher. She Came to Stay, The Mandarins
• Margaret Bechard (born 1953), U.S. children's writer.
• Béatrix Beck (1914–2008), French novelist. The Passionate Heart
• Patricia Beer (1919–1999), English poet and critic.
• Mrs. Beeton (1836–1865), English domestic author. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
• Aphra Behn (1640–1689), British playwright, poet and novelist. The Rover
• Gioconda Belli (born 1948), Nicaraguan revolutionary and writer, designated among the 100 most important poets of the 20th century.
• Victoria Benedictsson (1850–1888), Swedish author.
• Elizabeth Benger (1775–1827), English novelist and biographer.
• Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902–1981), African American writer.
• Nina Berberova (1901–1993), Soviet/Russian writer. The Tattered Cloak
• Josefa Berens-Totenohl (1891–1969), German novelist.
• Juliana Berners (14th/15th century), English writer on heraldry, hawking and hunting. The Book of Saint Albans
• Bertice Berry (born 1960), American sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator.
• Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (born 1947), Chinese American poet associated with Language poetry, the New York School, phenomenology, and visual art.
• Betty Berzon (1928–2006), American author.
• Annie Besant (1847–1933), English author, theosophist and activist. The Ancient Wisdom, Thought Forms
• Elizabeth Bibesco (1897–1945), English writer.
• Marthe Bibesco (1886–1973), Romanian writer in French.
• Gisèle Bienne (born 1946), French novelist.
• Linda Bierds (born 1945), American poet and professor.
• Anna Bijns (1493–1575), Flemish humanist writing in Dutch and French.
• Carol Birch (born 1951), English novelist.
• Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer (c. 1800–1868), German playwright and actress.
• Isabella Bird (1831–1904) 19th-century English traveler and writer.
• Anne Bishop, American fantasy novelist. The Black Jewels series
• Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), Pulitzer Prize winning American poet and writer.
• Malorie Blackman, author of literature and television drama for children and young adults. Noughts & Crosses series
• Susanna Blamire (1747–1794), English poet.
• Neltje Blanchan (1865–1918), American nature writer. Bird Neighbors, Nature's Garden
• Ann Eliza Bleecker (1752–1783), American poet and correspondent.
• Countess of Blessington (1789–1849), Irish novelist.
• Karen Blixen (1885–1962), Danish writer. Out of Africa
• Francesca Lia Block (born 1962), American author. Weetzie Bat series
• Amelia Bloomer (1818–1894), American writer, women's rights and temperance advocate.
• Judy Blume (born 1938), American novelist. Forever, Tiger Eyes
• Enid Blyton (1897–1968), English children's writer. Famous Five series
• Margarita Bobba (fl. 1560), Italian writer and poet.
• Imma von Bodmershof (1895–1982), Austrian poet.
• Louise Bogan (1897–1970), American poet; fourth US Poet Laureate.
• Margarete Böhme (1867–1939), German novelist. Tagebuch einer Verlorenen
• Eavan Boland (born 1944), Irish poet.
• Sarah Knowles Bolton (1841–1916), American writer.
• María Luisa Bombal (1910–1980), Chilean author.
• Erma Bombeck (1927–1996), American Humorist.
• Tanella Boni, Ivorian poet and novelist.
• Geraldine Bonner (1870–1930), American author.
• Marita Bonner (1899–1971), American writer, essayist and playwright, commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
• Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa) (1876–1938), Native American writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist.
• Mary Everest Boole (1832–1916), English writer.
• Frances Boothby (fl. ca. 1669–70), British playwright.
• Alice Borchardt (1939–2007), American writer of historical fiction, fantasy, and horror. The Silver Wolf, The Dragon Queen
• Marianne Boruch, American poet and professor.
• Anne Lynch Botta (1815–1891), American poet, writer, teacher and socialite.
• Phyllis Bottome (1884–1963), British novelist and short story writer. The Mortal Storm, Danger Signal
• Jane Bowdler (1743–1784), English poet and essayist.
• Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973), Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer. The Death of the Heart, The Heat of the Day
• Jane Bowles (1917–1973), American writer and playwright. Two Serious Ladies
• Mary Bowes (1749–1800), English playwright and botanist.
• Karin Boye (1900–1941), Swedish poet and novelist.
• Kay Boyle (1902–1992), American writer, educator and political activist.
• Leigh Brackett (1915–1978), American science fiction author. The Starmen, People of the Talisman
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837–1915), English novelist. Lady Audley's Secret
• Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930–1999), American fantasy and science fiction writer. The Door Through Space, The Firebrand
• Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672), American poet and writer.
• Shannon Bramer (born 1973), Canadian poet.
• Hannah Brand (1754–1821), English actress and playwright.
• Giannina Braschi (born 1953), Puerto Rican writer. "Empire of Dreams", "Yo-Yo Boing!"
• Ann Brashares (born 1967), author of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series.
• Lily Braun (1865–1916), German feminist writer.
• Libba Bray (born 1964), American author of young adult novels. The Sweet Far Thing, Going Bovine
• Angela Brazil (1868–1947), British writer.
• Fredrika Bremer (1801–1865), Swedish writer and feminist activist.
• Sophia Elisabet Brenner (1659–1730), Swedish writer, poet, feminist and salon hostess.
• Martha Wadsworth Brewster (1710 – c. 1757), American poet and writer; first American-born woman to publish under her own name.
• Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright (1859–1945), "New Woman" writer and feminist.
• Vera Brittain (1893–1970), English writer, feminist and pacifist. Testament of Youth
• Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874–1938), Croatian children's writer, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Croatian Tales of Long Ago, The Marvelous Adventures and Misadventures of Hlapić the Apprentice
• Anne Brontë (1820–1849), English novelist and poet. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Agnes Grey
• Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist and poet. Jane Eyre, Villette, Shirley
• Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English novelist and poet. Wuthering Heights
• Frances Brooke (1723–1789), English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator.
• Anita Brookner (born 1928), English novelist and art historian. Hotel du Lac
• Geraldine Brooks (born 1955), Pulitzer Prize winning author of March.
• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), American writer. Annie Allen, We Real Cool
• Nicole Brossard (born 1943), French Canadian formalist poet and novelist.
• Rhoda Broughton (1840–1920), English novelist.
• Olga Broumas (born 1949), Greek poet, living in the United States.
• Pat Brown (criminal profiler) (born 1955), True crime author, criminal profiler.
• Rebecca Brown (born 1956), American author.
• Frances Browne (1816–1887), Irish poet and novelist.
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), English poet. Aurora Leigh
• Andrée Brunin (1937–1993), French poet.
• Mary Brunton (1778–1818), Scottish novelist.
• Colette Bryce (born 1970), poet from Northern Ireland.
• Bryher (aka Annie Winifred Ellerman) (1894–1983), English novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor.
• Maria Elizabeth Budden (c. 1780–1832), English novelist, translator, and children's writer.
• Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), Pulitzer Prize winning American author. The Good Earth
• Andrea Hollander Budy (born 1947), American poet.
• Buffalo Bird Woman (1839–1932), Native American Hidatsa writer.
• Anna Bülow (died 1519), Swedish writer, translator and abbess.
• Anna Bunina (1774–1829), Russian poet.
• Erika Burkart (1922–2010), Swiss poet and writer in German.
• Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), English playwright and children's writer. The Secret Garden
• Frances Burney (1752–1840), English novelist, diarist and playwright. Evelina
• Frances Burney (1776–1828), English author of closet drama and governess.
• Sarah Burney (1772–1844), English novelist.
• Olivia Ward Bush (1869–1944), American author, poet and journalist.
• Christine Busta (1915–1987), Austrian poet.
• Sharon Butala (born 1940), Canadian novelist.
• Octavia Butler (1947–2006), American science fiction writer. Patternist series, Lilith's Brood
• Susan Bulkeley Butler, American motivational author.
• Mary Butts (1890–1937), English modernist writer.
• A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English novelist and poet. Possession: A Romance, Angels & Insects