International Womens Day 2016

Today, 8th March is International Women's Day, a day when the achievements of women are meant to be recognised and celebrated across the world. [and to anyone who is wondering where the men's day, is, it's on November 19th when they will get their turn]

Here at Bookshany, we're celebrating by highlighting a few bookish achievements made by women. so here's my personal top five, along with the reasons why I believe they are an achievement, even if others may not agree.


(1) Aphra Behn, 1640?-1689 - First known paid female author 
Not a great deal is known about Behn, except that she appeared to have had several careers in her lifetime, one of which was working as a spy for the crown. In her later years, she wrote multiple plays that were performed on the stage, and at least six of her novels were published during her lifetime, she has been credited as being the first ever female author who was paid for her work, but is not the first known female author, as that honour belongs to Sappho [C. 570 BC], which sadly much of her work has been lost in time, but was recognised by her contemporaries, most notably, Plato. 

(2) J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter series - biggest literary franchise so far in living history
This year marks 20 years since the first ever publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (aka Sorcerers Stone in the US) as the initial print run began in 1996. The Potter franchise itself due to the popularity of the books and subsequent film adaptations and merchandise means that the series is worth an estimated £7 billion. Love or loathe the book series [here at Bookshany we <3 Harry Potter] there's no denying the achievement of producing so famous a work and being able to see the fruits of that labour during your lifetime. 

(3) Anne Bradstreet - 1650 - first published American female author
Bradstreet's book of poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, was published in England in 1650 [from what I gather, no publishing houses had been set up in America at this point], making her the first American woman to get a book published. 

(4) Phillis Wheatley - 1773 - first African American female published author
Phillis, 1753 - 1784 was kidnapped as an 8 year old and sold as a slave to John Wheatley, who intended her as a slave for his wife, who then, during her time in their household, she was educated, eventually mastering Latin and Greek, being taught alongside the Wheatley's two children, which was against the norms of the time. Upon being freed, Phillis had a book of poetry published. Her birth name is sadly unknown.   


(5) Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf - 1909 - First ever female winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. 
Selma, who hailed from Sweden, was the first female author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and out of the current list of 111 winners, she is 1 of 13 women, and ninth over all. [the prize started in 1901, and had joint and single male winners prior to her entry. Some years the prize was skipped due to wars, or lack of remarkable entries] This makes her the first in a very small female minority. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel prize, however, Curie's was for Physics.