This publication considers the literary, historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts of American women authors from the seventeenth century to the present and gives an analysis of current literary trends and debates in women’s literature. The volume examines the ways in which women writers from diverse racial, social, and cultural backgrounds have shaped American literary traditions, giving particular attention to the ways writers worked inside, outside, and around the strictures of their cultural and historical moments to create space for women’s voices and experiences as a vital part of American life.