Barnard Women Share Their Passion for The Writing Life
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AS SEEN AND HEARD AT... GREAT WRITERS AT BARNARD
Women's Word Power
“When people ask me what it’s like to be a woman writer, I always want to say, ‘Well, back when I was a man writer…’”
“When I wrote for The New York Times, someone asked me, ‘Aren’t you worried that only women will read your column?’ I said, ‘If I get 51 percent of the population, I’ll be very happy.’”
“Eighty-five percent of hardcover fiction is bought by women, and most of the bestselling literary novels out right now have been written by women.”
—Anna Quindlen ’74, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, bestselling author, and chair of the Barnard trustees |
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"We've made it possible for my daughter's generation to write about women without thinking, as I did in 1971, 'Who would be interested in a woman's point of view?'"
“I have more empathy for men and I understand their needs as I get older, in a way that I didn’t when I was younger, because I was so determined to establish a beachhead of writing from a woman’s perspective.”
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Erica Jong ’63, bestselling author, Fear of Flying
"It's still true today that The New York Times Book Review is 10-to-one men-to-women in terms of authors reviewed; maybe eight-to-two in a good week."
—Elizabeth Benedict ’76, National Book Award finalist, Slow Dancing
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"The actual number of women in the Writer's Guild is 13 percent of the total membership. This is the saddest statistic. It hasn't changed in eight years."
—Delia Ephron ’66, screenwriter, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail |
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© Patrick McMullan, All Rights Reserved.
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“There’s a certain kind of boys club aspect to the music business, which requires a certain kind of bravery to break through; it’s more gender-blind if you’re talented and nervy.”
“Someone once said they’d like me to wear something ‘feminine’ when I conducted [an orchestra]. I said, 'what, like a fur bikini?'”
—Jeanine Tesori ’83, Three-time Tony Award-winning writer/composer, Caroline, or Change, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Twelfth Night
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Photos by Diane Bondareff |
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