1. Arundhati Roy - India
"She is a vociferous speaker and her writing has displayed and exhibited thoughts which often stay suppressed."
- Mosiqi Acharya, producer at SBS Hindi program.
Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and is one of her most widely known titles.
2. Anita Heiss - Indigenous Australia
Heiss is a prolific writer working across a range of areas to extend her reader's knowledge and understanding of contemporary Aboriginal life in Australia. From non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, poetry to social commentary and travel her style knows no bounds.
"Anita is an advocate for Indigenous literature and literacy."
- Kirstyn Lindsay, producer at SBS Living Black Radio.
Anita Heiss titles's include: 'I Am Not Racist, But...', 'Tiddas' and 'Am I Black Enough For You?'
3. Nawal El Saadawi - Egypt
This Egyptian feminist writer is also an activist who has written many books on women in Islam.
She has been described as "the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab World". Her books have been translated into more than 10 languages.
- Suggested by Heba Kassoua, senior producer at SBS Arabic 24: 'Memoirs from the Women's Prison.'
4. Elif Şafak - Turkey
Şafak blends Western and Eastern traditions of storytelling in stories of women, minorities, immigrants, subcultures, and youth.
Her writing draws on diverse cultures and literary traditions, reflecting her interests in history, philosophy, Sufism, oral culture, and cultural politics.
- Suggested by Nilgun Kilic Aktag, producer at SBS Turkish program: 'The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi.'
5. Clarice Lispector - Brazil
Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector was internationally acclaimed for her innovative novels and short stories.
Born to a Jewish family in western Ukraine, she was brought to Brazil as an infant amidst the disasters engulfing her native land following the First World War.
American writer Benjamin Moser wrote her biography and called her: "The greatest Jewish writer since Kafka."
- Suggested by Beatriz Wagner - executive producer at SBS Portuguese program: 'Água Viva' and 'The Passion According to GH'
6. Helen Garner - Australia
"With an impressive body of work spanning over 40 years, Garner’s storytelling always seems to bring a sharpness of wit, uncanny observations of everyday life and a touch of wry self-deprecation. This is the case whether exploring heavy topics such as a criminal murder case in court or simply the mundane minutiae of everyday life."
- Genevieve Dwyer, SBS Radio digital content editor.
'Monkey Grip', 'The First Stone' and The Spare Room' are among Helen Garner's body of work.
7. Isabel Allende - Chile
"Chilean writer Isabel Allende, is without a doubt one of the most outstanding Latin American female writers in the world of contemporary literature, and one of the most renowned. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages and they're worth reading if you have an interest in discovering aspects of human vulnerability. They're stories based on events of her personal life, that have marked her deeply. Struggle, loss, confusion, memory, these are the raw materials of her writing".
- Marcia De Los Santos, producer at SBS Spanish program.
Isabel Allende's debut novel 'The House of The Spirits ' received global acclaim. 'Paula', a novel about her daughter's sickness and death was also recognised worldwide.
8. Trang Hạ - Vietnam
Trang Hạ is a writer and social activist based in Hanoi. She has authored numerous best-selling novels and short story collections which have been translated into Chinese.
Her work focuses on the status of women in society, the LGBT community, family lives, and the pursuit of status and happiness among young Vietnamese.
She has been actively calling on Vietnamese women to move away from a dependent lifestyle and old-fashioned, constraining, patriarchal values.
The UN Women chose her as an ambassadors for the 'He for She' campaign in 2015 in Vietnam.
"She is an advocate for women's rights in South Asia, especially the role of women today."
- Olivia Nguyen, producer at SBS Vietnamise program
9. Elena Ferrante - Italy
Ferrante's most popular novels explore the friendship between Elena and Lina. Their story begins in the 1950s, in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples where they learn to rely on each other and discover that their destinies are bound up in the intensity of their relationship. It's a sort of meditation on the nature of friendship.
"Ferrante's writing has such an intensity, that's hard to translate in a different language."
- Ann Goldstein, Elena Ferrante's translator into English
'Neapolitan Novels' is among Elena Ferrante's body of work and recommended reading.
10. Eileen Chang (Zhang Ai-ling) - China
Eileen Chang (her Chinese name is Zhang Ai-ling) was one of the most influential modern Chinese writers until her death in 1995. The poet and University of Southern California professor Dominic Cheung commented: "Had it not been for the political division between the Nationalist and Communist Chinese, she would have almost certainly won a Nobel Prize."
- Suggested by Elsa Tsang, executive producer at SBS Cantonese program: 'Half a Lifelong Romance.'
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Is Wikipedia forgetting women?
