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A project by ≠igfem
Feministische Leseliste
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It’s simple: you’re looking for books by women – we have suggestions. Our panel of experts has compiled reading lists that offer guidance through the wealth of literature written by women.
For educators and teachers:
Do you teach at a secondary school and are looking for a variety of reading material for your students? Do you think it’s time to finally bring more female authors into the classroom? We do too!
Do you work in a library, in education or social services, have children and young people in your circle, and are looking for cool, smart book recommendations?
Then you’ve come to the right place!
We have created two reading lists – one for lower secondary school (ages 10–14) and one for upper secondary school (ages 14–18).
Take a look, browse, and be inspired!
For students:
Are you a student who is tired of reading texts written by old white men? Do you want to read stories featuring characters who are just like YOU? So do we!
Then you’ve come to the right place!
We’ve created two reading lists for you – one for lower grades (10–14) and one for upper grades (14–18).
Take a look, browse, and be inspired!
For lecturers:
Do you teach at a university and are looking for diverse seminar reading material for your students? Our university list offers a careful selection of relevant works by female authors that should not be missing from any literature course.
This list will help you incorporate feminist, diverse, and often overlooked perspectives into your seminars, thereby contributing to the visibility of female authors in academic teaching.
For students:
Are you studying a humanities or cultural studies subject and want to read more than just the classic canon?
Then our reading list for university is just right for you!
Here you will find important texts by female authors—from literature to essays to feminist theory—that will accompany you in your reading, writing, and thinking. For seminar papers, discussions, or simply because you want to know more.
Those interested in delving deeper into feminism, intersectionality, literature, or anti-racism will find numerous insightful and worthwhile works by female authors in our non-fiction list, which sharpen the mind and open up new perspectives.
“Literature allows us—no, it demands of us—the experience of ourselves as multidimensional personalities.”
Toni Morrison
For educators and teachers:
As a publicly perceived “wallflower of fiction,” poetry can be particularly well-suited for educational use from the earliest years of life: as rhymed poems, song lyrics, and captions, in short lyrical forms such as cinquain, haiku, and acrostic—but also in the form of free verse. As a cultural and educational asset, early exposure to poetry and poems promotes the development of creativity and a love of words, as well as reading in general. The performative aspect of poetry should not be neglected either: the physical effort involved in reciting poems and song lyrics, as well as trying out roles, trains the socio-cultural “senses” and cognitive-emotional development (see, for example, Andrea Bramberger, Lyrik in Erziehung und Bildung, Beltz Juventa, Weinheim Basel, 2018).
We have compiled poetry for you, available in two reading lists: one for ages 12 and younger, and one for ages 12 and older. Our collection of poetry recommendations for children under 12 is ideal for use in early childhood education and elementary school settings. For children and young people aged 12 and over, we recommend the general “adult poetry,” which is not further divided by age group (we do not identify specific youth poetry). However, teachers can still search and differentiate according to relevant and interesting subject areas for this age group.
To offer girls and boys equal opportunities and scope for identification, we aim to enrich the traditionally male-focused literary canon with female perspectives on and from poetry. Click through long-searched topics and discover female poetic voices: again or for the first time!
For students:
Reading and thinking from a perspective other than “male” is still not a given for students today. While it’s becoming increasingly easier than it was 50 years ago, there’s still much to be done. School literature and poetry reading is still heavily dominated by male authors, and who wants to read differently and from multiple perspectives often has to do a lot of research and searching: as (historical) female voices are often still quiet, displaced, and forgotten by history. We’ll help you in your search and provide you with tips on female poets and interesting works by women. Classicists, Romantics, avant-gardists, and post-war poets—in every era, there were women who wrote (poetry)! Discover them for yourself!
“It wouldn’t hurt the world if it became a little more feminine.”
Barbara Frischmuth
For lecturers:
Primary and secondary literature on women’s poetry from all eras—classicists, Romantics, avant-garde poets, and postwar poets: Female voices forgotten by history, displaced by male driving forces and the preponderance of famous (male-perceived) personalities, can be (re)animated through their use in lectures and seminars, ensuring parity and greater diversity in academic perspectives and research projects. After the 84,001st work on Thomas Mann, it is finally time for a broader focus!
For students:
The canon of your university or college is 85 percent dominated by male authors? Do you have the impression that women have hardly written anything throughout history and that their poetry adheres to lower quality standards than that of men? Where does this assessment (possibly acquired through socialization, perhaps little questioned) come from? Can it be verified or revised? Is there such a thing as female writing? Is there such a thing as male writing? And what about the nuances in between and beyond?
Just as the opening toward gender-equitable medicine is gradually beginning to take place (the going is tough enough though), in recent years and decades there have also been signs of an opening toward female literary and poetic perspectives: Your studies can support their implementation and open up new horizons! For expanded thinking and writing in presentations, seminar papers, and discourses.
„All together we are rarely wrong.“
Claudia Rankine
Non fiction monographs, biographies, essays, and edited collections of essays on poetry, feminism, gender, intersectionality, anti-racism, literary and cultural theory can also be found in our recommendations. Our authors and experts contribute their expertise to reexamine history, sharpen our awareness of existing injustices, and expand and diversify narratives and perspectives. Open your mind!
New perspectives
Women’s voices have often been pushed to the sidelines, also when concerning literature. With our reading list, we hope to offer new perspectives to (primarily, but not exclusively) high school students. That time period is important for developing an understanding of the surrounding world and the history from which contemporary society stems. Representation in literature isn’t just symbolic; it shapes how young readers understand identity, culture, and history. Therefore, we wish to offer an addition, or a challenge if you will, to the prevalent, male-dominated discourses and viewpoints represented in history books and literary education.
Less than 40% of the authors read are women.
Research by Jeroen Dera has shown that female authors are still underrepresented on reading lists in Dutch schools: under 40% of the read authors are female, and that number drops significantly when looking at the individual titles, with under 25% of the titles being written by women or non-cisgender people. The same research shows that books written by female authors have a slightly higher chance of being read in their entirety. Dera’s research shows the need for an addition to the canon, and the demand for more novels that center the female experience.
For teachers and students
Our reading list is intended to create an overview, manageable for teachers, of original Dutch-language books written by female and non-cisgender authors, suitable for high school students. It provides teachers with an accessible tool to diversify their syllabi. The list has four sub-lists: early modern prose, modern prose, poetry and children’s literature. The titles are gathered from several sources: a previously compiled list included in our manifesto; broader literary history; specialized works focusing on women writers; works focusing on writers from former colonies; nominations for literary prizes, and the knowledge of our collective.
Teachers can use the lists to diversify classroom discussions, introduce students to voices that reflect a wider range of experiences, and encourage critical thinking about literature’s role in shaping culture. For students, the lists offer a clear starting point for independent reading, book reports, and exam preparation while inviting them to explore beyond traditional curricula. We keep the list open to suggestions and guard against presenting the list as a new, unquestionable canon. This openness to revision and expansion reflects a deliberate rejection of fixed canons. Aside from publication on the EPESEP-website, we will publish the lists on our website, Fixdit.nu.
Coming soon.
„The entire history of women has been made by men.“
Simone de Beauvoir
And because of this, not only must the present be captured differently: Female voices must speak for themselves, and female actors must take their history(s) into their own hands. Research must be made much more accessible and simplified, viewpoints and perspectives must become more visible, and encounters across time promote exchange and insights.
Our comprehensive database is designed to help with this, focusing equally on recommended titles from all eras and fiction genres, as well as nonfiction and academic treatises. Anyone looking for literature by women can now finally find what they’re looking for—directly and without much effort!
