Gifted Women Writers of the Gilded Age: A Women’s History Month Presentation with Elayne Clift, M.A.

“But I shouldn’t have thought anything in your life worth writing about”
“The Artist’s most essential quality is masterly execution”
“To write, one must have a penetrative imagination”

Is it any wonder that progressive women writers born in the Gilded Age, which spanned the second half of the 19th century into the early 19th century, began to look at the world through the lens of gender and put pen to paper? Beginning with an overview of the Gilded Age, this Women’s History Month event explores women writers who pioneered a body of literature that provided insight into key issues that re-shaped America in critical ways. Their stories, novels, essays and social criticism continue to inspire women writers and readers as they offer models that lead to an equal, fair, and humane world.

Elayne Clift is an award-winning writer, lecturer and workshop leader. Her work has appeared in various periodicals, newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. She is a columnist for several New England newspapers and has published memoirs and poetry, short stories, and anthology collections. She has taught women’s studies, literature and other humanities courses at several colleges and universities and currently facilitates reading, writing and discussion groups with adult participants at continuing education programs.