Women in fantasy is a terminology that matters to me: while it is not as wide as all types of diversity, I started with one of the closest ones for me, which is gender diversity. And while this is not all the gender diversity on the table (non-binary is another component; however I have not explored these authors yet!), I wanted to focus on women who not only write fantasy; I wanted to focus on those who are engaged in writing epic fantasy.
There is a misconception that women tend to be engaged in the romantasy side of the equation or urban fantasy. And I think this is partially driven by the publishing industry that did not do enough to be able to bridge the gap. Furthermore, this project is a selfish project: I am a woman who loves epic fantasy and I wanted to make sure I gave the brave authors in this space my own time and attention!
A few days ago I went for a post on threads wanting to share my own personal experience with these women and I was so positively surprised to find out that I was NOT alone! So many other readers chimed in and shared their own experiences!
And while the names are still on that post, I wanted to make our lives easier by collecting all the names - and while I know it might not be in the best taste to post this on my website, I want to do two things: the first is that I want to keep the list going as long as I have the website (forever, if I can!) and the second is to provide links to go directly into the work of these authors.
Rachel Aaron (website / GR / SG)
Lynne Abbey (website / GR / SG)
Chelsea Abdullah (website / GR / SG)
Katherine Addison (website / GR / SG)
Ilona Andrews (website / GR / SG) - husband and wife writing together
Katherine Arden (website / GR / SG)
Kelley Armstrong (website / GR / SG)
Victoria Aveyard (website / GR / SG)
Leigh Bardugo (website / GR / SG)
Natania Barron (website / GR / SG)
Elizabeth Bear (website / GR / SG)
Anne Bishop (website / GR / SG)
Marie Brennan (website / GR / SG)
Kristen Britain (website / GR / SG)
Lindsay Buroker (website / GR / SG)
Octavia E. Butler (website / GR / SG)
Trudy Canavan (website / GR / SG)
Jacqueline Carey (website / GR / SG)
M. A. Carrick (website / GR / SG) - a duo of women writing fantasy
Gail Carriger (website / GR / SG)
Gail Carson Levine (website / GR / SG)
Shannon Chakraborty / S.A. Chakraborty (website / GR / SG)
Joy Chant (website / GR / SG)
C.J. Cherryh (website / GR / SG)
Zen Cho (website / GR / SG)
Cassandra Clare (website / GR / SG)
Genevieve Cogman (website / GR / SG)
Louise Cooper (website / GR / SG)
Susan Cooper (website / GR / SG)
Aliette de Bodard (website / GR / SG)
Sunnan Dennard (website / GR / SG)
Sara Douglass (website / GR / SG)
Sarah Beth Durst (website / GR / SG)
Saara El-Arifi (website / GR / SG)
Kate Elliot (website / GR / SG)
Erin M. Evans (website / GR / SG)
Hafsah Faizel (website / GR / SG)
Jennifer Fallon (website / GR / SG)
Lynn Flewelling (website / GR / SG)
Namina Forna (website / GR / SG)
Kate Forsyth (website / GR / SG)
Cornelia Funke (website / GR / SG)
Maggie Furey (website / GR / SG)
Jendia Gammon (website / GR / SG)
Victoria Goddard (website / GR / SG)
Chloe Gong (website / GR / SG)
Jo Graham (website / GR / SG)
Thea Guanzon (website / GR / SG)
Barbara Hambly (website / GR / SG)
Alix E. Harrow (website / GR / SG)
Sara Hashem (website / GR / SG)
Robin Hobb (website / GR / SG)
Thilde Kold Holdt (website / GR / SG)
Tanya Huff (website / GR / SG)
Kameron Hurley (website / GR / SG)
N. K. Jemisin (website / GR / SG)
M. E. Kalous (website / GR / SG)
Hannah Kaner (website / GR / SG)
Melanies Karsak (website / GR / SG)
Katherine Kerr (website / GR / SG)
Instisar Khanani (website / GR / SG)
Yume Kitasei (website / GR / SG)
T. Kingfisher (website / GR / SG)
R.F. Kuang (website / GR / SG)
Mercedes Lackey (website / GR / SG)
Shauna Lawless (website / GR / SG)
Fonda Lee (website / GR / SG)
Tanith Lee (website / GR / SG)
Ursula K. Le Guin (website / GR / SG)
H. M. Long (website / GR / SG)
Jenn Lyons (website / GR / SG)
Devin Madson (website / GR / SG)
L. L. MacRae (website / GR / SG)
Juliet Marillier (website / GR / SG)
Arkady Martine (website / GR / SG)
Anne McCaffrey (website / GR / SG)
Seanan McGuire (website / GR / SG)
Vonda N. McIntyre (website / GR / SG)
Juliet McKenna (website / GR / SG)
Patricia A. McKillip (website / GR / SG)
Robin McKinley (website / GR / SG)
Lois McMaster Bujold (website / GR / SG)
Karen Miller or K.E. Mills (website / GR / SG)
Rowenna Miller (website / GR / SG)
Premee Mohamed (website / GR / SG)
Elizabeth Moon (website / GR / SG)
Moira J. Moore (website / GR / SG)
Erin Morgenstern (website / GR / SG)
Tamsyn Muir (website / GR / SG)
Emma Newman (website / GR / SG)
Andre Norton (website / GR / SG)
Naomi Novik (website / GR / SG)
Nnedi Okorafor (website / GR / SG)
H.G. Parry (website / GR / SG)
L. Penelope (website / GR / SG)
Tamora Pierce (website / GR / SG)
Cherie Priest (website / GR / SG)
A. E. Rayne (website / GR / SG)
Melanie Rawn (website / GR / SG)
Rebecca Roanhorse (website / GR / SG)
Jennifer Roberson (website / GR / SG)
Sara C. Roethle (website / GR / SG)
Alexandra Rowland (website / GR / SG)
Victoria “V.E.” Schwab (website / GR / SG)
Samantha Shaye (website / GR / SG)
Samantha Shannon (website / GR / SG)
M. L. Spencer (website / GR / SG)
Nancy Springer (website / GR / SG)
Anna Stephens (website / GR / SG)
Andrea Stewart (website / GR / SG)
Tasha Suri (website / GR / SG)
K. J. Sutton (website / GR / SG)
Sabaa Tahir (website / GR / SG)
Judith Tarr (website / GR / SG)
Emma Törzs (website / GR / SG)
Catherynne M. Valente (website / GR / SG)
Aparna Verma (website / GR / SG)
K. S. Villoso (website / GR / SG)
Nghi Vo (website / GR / SG)
M. L. Wang (website / GR / SG)
Margaret Weis (website / GR / SG)
Martha Wells (website / GR / SG)
Megan Whalen Turner (website / GR / SG)
Jen Williams (website / GR / SG)
Cinda Williams China (website / GR / SG)
Patricia C. Wrede (website / GR / SG)
Diana Wynne Jones (website / GR / SG)
Janny Wurts (website / GR / SG)
Sarah Zettel (website / GR / SG)
Marion Zimmer Bradley (website / GR / SG)
