Women of SFF - dandilion by Erika Varga (insta with words)

*Disclaimer*

This is, as the title says, an incomplete list. I have tried to put each author in every subgenre they write in. It is very probable there are glaring omissions and that I will facepalm when I notice them missing. It is also very probable that I have accidently put someone in the wrong place. PLEASE, let me know if you see any errors so I can fix them.

March is Women’s History Month and I decided to ask on Twitter to see who your favorite women SFF authors are. Then since so many people responded, I thought it would be a good idea to make a list so people could find them. Readers, that list is below.

I started transcribing it at the beginning of the month. It is now the end of the month. What I have learned is there are a bazillion amazing women writing in SFF, and I hope like me, you find some new favorites in this list.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the list! And all the women below for writing us fantastic stories! Happy Reading!

Fantasy

Rachel Aaron (Rachel Bach)

Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette)

Melissa Albert

Nina Allan

All The Birds In The Sky (cover)Charlie Jane Anders

J. A. Andrews

Katherine Arden

Catherine Asaro

Krista D. Ball

Philippa Ballantine

Leigh Bardugo

Elizabeth Bear

Carol Berg

Annie Bellet

Anne Bishop

Liliana Bodoc

Angela Boord

Amanda Bouchet

K. Tempest Bradford

A Natural History of Dragons (cover)Marie Brennan

Kristen Britain

Emma Bull

Lindsay Buroker

Trudi Canavan

Jacqueline Carey

Melissa Caruso

C. J. Cherryh

Sarah Chorn

Jo Clayton

Genevieve Cogman

Storm Constantine

Elspeth Cooper

Christelle Dabos

Pippa DaCosta

The House of Shattered Wings (cover)Aliette de Bodard

Pamela Dean

A. M. Dellamonica

Amanda DeWees

Kellie Doherty

Lara Elena Donnelly

Grace Draven

Sarah Beth Durst

Kate Elliott

Amal El-Mohtar

Ruthanna Emrys

Jane Fancher

Lynn Flewelling

Claire Frank

A. A. Freeman

The Worth of Hair (cover)C. S. Friedman (Celia S. Friedman)

T. Frohock

Eve Forward

Jaym Gates

Mary Gentle

Christie Golden

Theodora Goss

T. L. Greylock

A. J. Hackwith

Joanne Hall

Barbara Hambly

Demi Harper (Laura M. Hughes)

Sam Hawke

Rhapsody: Child of Blood (cover)Elizabeth Haydon

Alexis Henderson

Zenna Henderson

Robin Hobb

P. C. Hodgell

M. C. A. Hogarth

Thilde Kold Holdt

Miranda Honfleur

Andrea K. Höst

Tanya Huff

Kameron Hurley

N. K. Jemisin

Jane Johnson

Heather Rose Jones

J. V. Jones

A Wizard's Forge (cover)A. M. Justice

Janet Kagan

Rosalyn Kelly

Ausma Zehanat Khan

Margaret Killjoy

Shona Kinsella

Ellen Klages

Gini Koch

Mary Robinette Kowal

Geetha Krishnan

R. F. Kuang

Ellen Kushner

Mercedes Lackey

Mur Lafferty

The Raven Tower (cover)Ann Leckie

Fonda Lee

Sharon Lee

Tanith Lee

Ursula K. Le Guin

Rebecca Levene

Jane Lindskold

Anne Logston

Catherine Lundoff

Sarah J. Maas

Carmen Maria Machado

Devin Madson

Evie Manieri

Krystle Matar

Julian May

Dragonflight (cover)Anne McCaffrey

Virginia McClain

Robin McKinley

Patricia A. McKillip

Lois McMaster Bujold

Beth Meacham

Melanie R. Meadors

Shirley Meier

Karen Miller (K. E. Mills)

Juliana Spink Mills

Hope Mirrlees

The Starless Sea (cover)Elizabeth Moon

C. L. Moore

Erin Morgenstern

Tamsyn Muir

Ilana C. Myer

Linda Nagata

Rachel Neumeier

Jeannette Ng

Andre Norton

Nnedi Okorafor

Suzanne Palmer

Cat Rambo

Melanie Rawn

The Tiger’s Daughter (cover)Mickey Zucker Reichert

Anne Rice

K. Arsenault Rivera

Rebecca Roanhorse

Tansy Rayner Roberts

Jennifer Roberson

Kelly Robson

Joanna Russ

Michelle Sagara (Michelle West)

Victoria Schwab (V. E. Schwab)

Melissa Scott

Gaie Sebold

The Priory of the Orange Tree (cover)Samantha Shannon

Rachel Emma Shaw

Peng Shepherd

Sharon Shinn

Susan Shwartz

A.F.E. Smith

M. L. Spencer

Nancy Springer

Benjanun Sriduangkaew

Anna Stephens

Andrea Stewart

Mary Stewart

Tasha Suri

Steph Swainston

Judith Tarr

Sheree Renée Thomas

Lisa Tuttle

K. S. Villoso

The Empress of Salt and Fortune (cover)Nghi Vo

Wendy N. Wagner

LaShawn M. Wanak

Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Evangeline Walton

Jo Walton

M. L. Wang

Danie Ware

Kaaron Warren

Margaret Weiss

Martha Wells

Timandra Whitecastle

Aliya Whiteley

Fran Wilde

Jen Williams

Connie Willis

Deborah A. Wolf

Patricia C. Wrede

Janny Wurts

Jane Yolen

YA Fantasy

Children of Blood and Bone (cover)Tomi Adeyemi

Ann Aguirre

Melissa Albert

Isabel Allende

Reni K. Amayo

K. A. Applegate

Katherine Arden

Leigh Bardugo

Holly Black

Kendare Blake

F. M. Boughan

Roseanne A. Brown

Anna Caltabiano

Kristin Cashore

Cinda Chima

Sarah Chorn

Susan Cooper

Zoraida Córdova

Alison Croggon

Delilah S. Dawson (Lila Bowen)

Truthwitch (sm cover)Susan Dennard

Diane Duane

Emily A. Duncan

Sarah Beth Durst

Namina Forna

Lee French

Esther Friesner

Jessica Day George

Colleen Gleason

Frances Hardinge

Elizabeth Haydon

Lian Hearn

Andrea K. Höst

Lucy Hounsom

Justina Ireland

Vic James (V. V. James)

Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle (sm cover)Jessica Khoury

Laura Lam

Madeleine L’Engle

Violet Lumani

Gail Z. Martin

Elizabeth May

Virginia McClain

Rati Mehrotra

Lou Morgan

Rachel Neumeier

Natasha Ngan

Jennifer A. Nielsen

Naomi Novik

Tamora Pierce

Katy Rose Pool

J. K. Rowling

Victoria Schwab (V. E. Schwab)

Rhonda Sermon

A.F.E. Smith

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (cover)Sabaa Tahir

Laini Taylor

Jamie Thomas

Kelly Thompson

Megan Whalen Turner

Catherynne M. Valente

Peternelle van Arsdale

Carrie Vaughn

Martha Wells

Kiersten White

Fran Wilde

Cat Winters

Middle Grade & Children’s Fantasy

Joan Aiken

The Boggart (cover)K. A. Applegate

Stephanie Burgis

Susan Cooper

Sarah Beth Durst

Jessica Day George

Frances Hardinge

Merrie Haskell

Sarah Jean Horwitz

Anna James

Jessica Khoury

Julian May

Jennifer A. Nielsen

Andrea Phillips

Victoria Schwab (V. E. Schwab)

Catherynne M. Valente

Dominique Valente

Ursula Vernon (T. Kingfisher)

Jane Yolen

Grimdark

Seraphina's Lament (cover)Sarah Chorn

C. S. Friedman (Celia S. Friedman)

T. Frohock

Mary Gentle

Robin Hobb

Kameron Hurley

N. K. Jemisin

Rosalyn Kelly

Rebecca Levene

Devin Madson

Krystle Matar

Anna Smith Spark

M. L. Spencer

Anna Stephens

H. L. Tinsley

Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Timandra Whitecastle

Deborah Wolf

Alternate History & Historical Fantasy

Joan Aiken

The Bear and the Nightingale (cover)Katherine Arden

Margaret Atwood

Krista D. Ball

Marie Brennan

Gail Carriger

S. A. Chakraborty

Susanna Clarke

Charlotte Nicole Davis

Aliette de Bodard

A. M. Dellamonica

Lara Elena Donnelly

Esther Friesner

Silver on the Road (cover)Diana Gabaldon

Laura Anne Gilman

Theodora Goss

T. L. Greylock

Barbara Hambly

Alix E. Harrow

Leanna Renee Hieber

Nalo Hopkinson

Justina Ireland

Heather Rose Jones

Mary Robinette Kowal

Katherine Kurtz

Gods of Jade and Shadow (cover)Juliet Marillier

Madeline Miller

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Cass Morris

Naomi Novik

Sarah Painter

Suzannah Rowntree

Gaie Sebold

Genevieve Valentine

Nghi Vo

Tilly Wallace

Cat Winters

Fairy Tales & Fables

Melissa Albert

Katherine Arden

F. M. Boughan

A. A. Freeman

Theodora Goss

Joanne M. Harris

Merrie Haskell

Naomi Novik

Sarah Pinborough

Catherynne M. Valente

Urban Fantasy

Spirits Rising (cover)Ann Aguirre

Becca Andre

Ilona Andrews

Krista D. Ball

Annie Bellet

Anne Bishop

Deborah Blake

Kendare Blake

M. L. Brennan

Patricia Briggs

Dana Cameron

Skyla Dawn Cameron

Aliette de Bodard

Halfway to the Grave (cover)Lexie Dunne

Alexandra Engellmann

Marina Finlayson

Jeaniene Frost

Laura Anne Gilman

Muriel Gray

Deborah Harkness

Charlaine Harris

Angela Holder

Tanya Huff

Faith Hunter

Justina Ireland

Alice James

Georgina Kamsika

Roz Kaveney

Sarah Kuhn

Katherine Kurtz

Mur Lafferty

Blood and Feathers (cover)Gail Z. Martin

Virginia McClain

Lou Morgan

Emma Newman

Sarah Painter

Andrea Phillips

Kalayna Price

Nita Round

Diana Rowland

Lauren Roy

Rene Sears

Carrie Vaughn

Paranormal Romance

Ann Aguirre

Written In Red (cover)Anne Bishop

Deborah Blake

Jeaniene Frost

Colleen Gleason

Kristine Grayson

Deborah Harkness

Leanna Renee Hieber

Sarah Painter

Wendy Sparrow

Felicia Starr

Anne Rice

Kiersten White

Magical Realism

Nina Allan

Angela Carter

Laura Esquivel

Erin Morgenstern

Sarah Painter

Sarah Pinborough

Rene Sears

Lisa Tuttle

Karen Tei Yamashita

Science Fiction

Rachel Aaron (Rachel Bach)

K. C. Alexander

Nina Allan

Primary Inversion (cover)Charlie Jane Anders

Catherine Asaro

Margaret Atwood

Philippa Ballantine

Elizabeth Bear

Anne Bishop

Leigh Brackett

K. Tempest Bradford

Emma Bull

Octavia E. Butler

Becky Chambers

Downbelow Station (cover)C. J. Cherryh

Jo Clayton

Storm Constantine

Pippa DaCosta

Delilah S. Dawson (Lila Bowen)

Aliette de Bodard

A. M. Dellamonica

Kellie Doherty

Kate Elliott

Amal El-Mohtar

Ruthanna Emrys

M. J. Engh

This is How You Lose the Time War (cover)Laura Esquivel

Jane Fancher

A. A. Freeman

C. S. Friedman (Celia S. Friedman)

Jaym Gates

Mary Gentle

Christie Golden

Barbara Hambly

A. J. Hackwith

Zenna Henderson

Leanna Renee Hieber

M. C. A. Hogarth

Nalo Hopkinson

Zero Sum Game (cover)S. L. Huang

Tanya Huff

Kameron Hurley

N. K. Jemisin

Jane Johnson

Janet Kagan

Cassandra Khaw

Margaret Killjoy

Ellen Klages

Gini Koch

Mary Robinette Kowal

Geetha Krishnan

Mercedes Lackey

Mur Lafferty

The Calculating Stars (cover)Ann Leckie

Fonda Lee

Sharon Lee

Tanith Lee

Ursula K. Le Guin

Rebecca Levene

Jane Lindskold

Mary E. Lowd

Carmen Maria Machado

Evie Manieri

Arkady Martine

Ann Maxwell (A. E. Maxwell, Elizabeth Lowell)

The Many-Coloured Land (sm cover)Julian May

Anne McCaffrey

Vonda N. McIntyre

Patricia A. McKillip

Lois McMaster Bujold

Rati Mehrotra

Melanie R. Meadors

Shirley Meier

Karen Miller (K. E. Mills)

Juliana Spink Mills

Planetfall (cover)Premee Mohamed

Elizabeth Moon

C. L. Moore

Nancy Jane Moore

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Lou Morgan

Tamsyn Muir

Linda Nagata

Emma Newman

Sandra Newman

Audrey Niffenegger

Andre Norton

Megan O’Keefe

Nnedi Okorafor

Binti (cover)Malka Older

Ada Palmer

Suzanne Palmer

Andrea Phillips

Doris Piserchia

Cherie Priest

Cat Rambo

Rebecca Roanhorse

Justina Robson

Kelly Robson

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach (cover)Joanna Russ

Melissa Scott

Mary Shelley

Sharon Shinn

Nancy Springer

Benjanun Sriduangkaew

Emily St. John Mandel

Steph Swainston

Judith Tarr

Sheri S. Tepper

Sheree Renée Thomas

James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Bradley Sheldon)

Lisa Tuttle

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (cover)Catherynne M. Valente

Genevieve Valentine

Joan D. Vinge

Wendy N. Wagner

LaShawn M. Wanak

M. L. Wang

Danie Ware

Kaaron Warren

Jo Walton

Margaret Weiss

Martha Wells

Aliya Whiteley

Fran Wilde

Liz Williams

Connie Willis

Ytasha Womack

Jane Yolen

Pamela Zoline

A Wrinkle in Time (sm cover)YA Science Fiction

Ann Aguirre

K. A. Applegate

Kristin Cashore

Anna Caltabiano

Andrea K. Höst

Justina Ireland

Laura Lam

Madeleine L’Engle

Elizabeth May

Natasha Ngan

Jennifer A. Nielsen

Andrea Phillips

Dystopian & Post-Apocolyptic

Ann Aguirre

Margaret Atwood

Brown Girl in the Ring (cover)Nalo Hopkinson

Vic James (V. V. James)

Premee Mohamed

Sandra Newman

Natasha Ngan

Ada Palmer

Kit Rocha

Samantha Shannon

Peng Shepherd

Sammy H.K. Smith

Emily St. John Mandel

Kelly Thompson

Steampunk

Philippa Ballantine

Lindsay Buroker

Gail Carriger

Genevieve Cogman

Colleen Gleason

Elizabeth May

Megan O’Keefe

Boneshaker (cover)Cherie Priest

Cat Rambo

Nita Round

Rene Sears

Gaie Sebold

Catherynne M. Valente

Fran Wilde

Horror

Sarah Monette (Katherine Addison)

Ania Ahlborn

Gemma Amor

Holly Black

Servants of the Storm (cover)Kendare Blake

Delilah S. Dawson (Lila Bowen)

Tananarive Due

T. Frohock

Jaym Gates

Christie Golden

Muriel Gray

Jessica Guess

Barbara Hambly

Alexis Henderson

Laurel Hightower

Shirley Jackson

Roz Kaveney

Cassandra Khaw

The Hollow Places (cover)T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon)

Gini Koch

Catherine Lundoff

Carmen Maria Machado

Julian May

Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire, A. Deborah Baker)

Premee Mohamed

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Lou Morgan

Tamsyn Muir

Suzanne Palmer

Sarah Pinborough

Beneath the Rising (cover)Hailey Piper

Cherie Priest

Anne Rice

Kelly Robson

Madeleine Roux

Mary SanGiovanni

Sonora Taylor

Sheri S. Tepper

Lisa Tuttle

Wendy N. Wagner

LaShawn M. Wanak

Kaaron Warren

Aliya Whiteley

– – –

I hope you found some new authors in our incomplete list. Let us know if we missed your favorite woman writing in SFF! Happy Reading!

Title image by Erika Varga.

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By Jennie Ivins

Jennie is the Editor of Fantasy-Faction. She lives with her math loving husband and their three autistic boys (one set of twins & one singleton). In-between her online life and being a stay-at-home mom, she is writing her first fantasy series. She also enjoys photography, art, cooking, computers, science, history, and anything else shiny that happens across her field of vision. You can find her on Twitter @autumn2may.

8 thoughts on “An Incomplete List of Women Writing in SFF”
  1. Elizabeth A Lynn deserves a mention in both fantasy and sf. Her fantasy series, The Chronicles of Tornor (Watchtower, The Dancers of Arun and The Northern Girl) is superb. Written in the late 1970s it was also one of the first depictions in fantasy of same sex relationships as a matter of fact part of life. Her sf, A Different Light, and The Sardonyx Net, both set in the same universe, but stand alone novels, have similar themes

    Her later work includes a couple of related novels, Dragon’s Winter and Dragon’s Treasure.

    It saddens me she isn’t as widely referenced as she should be….

  2. Seanan McGuire should be in UF along with Kalayna Price, Jeanne Stein, Christina Henry. Others for fantasy: M.K. Wren, Helen Lowe, Kim Falconer, A.K. Wilder, Alexandra Rowland, Karen Miller also writes as K.E. Mills, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, C.J. Redwine, Veronica Roth, Marissa Meyer, Robin Lafevers, Micaiah Johnson, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Alix E. Harrow.

  3. Seanan McGuire – UF/YA
    Libba Bray – YA
    Jennifer McMahon – Horror
    Elizabeth Massie – Horror
    Linda Addison – Poetry/Horror
    Heather Graham – Many
    Alice Hoffman – Many
    Joyce Carol Oates – Many

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