New Women's Writing in France

Recent years have been marked by the deaths of a number of central figures of French women's writing: Marguerite Duras (1996), Christiane Rochefort (1998), Nathalie Sarraute (1999), Marie Cardinal (2001). It is too soon to know which of the newer writers currently attracting interest on the French literary scene and beyond will achieve similar canonical status. None the less, the passing of one generation of authors has coincided with the rise of a new generation of particularly exciting writers, many of whom first published work during the 1990s. Names such as Christine Angot, Marie Darrieussecq, Régine Detambel, Camille Laurens, Linda Lê, Marie Ndiaye, Amélie Nothomb are joining those of already established writers such as Hélène Cixous, Annie Ernaux, Sylvie Germain, Marie Redonnet and Leila Sebbar in what is a thriving and vibrant field of study, examined in this article.