American Female Poets

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 1 
Maya Angelou
(American Poet and Civil Rights Activist Known for Her Autobiography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’)
Maya Angelou
39
Birthdate: April 4, 1928
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Died: May 28, 2014
Poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was a champion for black feminism and is best remembered for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and over 50 honorary degrees was also a child sex abuse survivor.
 2 
Sylvia Plath
(Famous for Her Books 'The Bell Jar' and 'Ariel')
Sylvia Plath
31
Birthdate: October 27, 1932
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: February 11, 1963

Sylvia Plath was an American short-story writer, novelist, and poet. Plath is credited with popularizing confessional poetry and won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Sylvia Plath achieved popularity and critical acclaim despite suffering from clinical depression for the most part of her adult life. Her story inspired the 2003 film Sylvia in which she was portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow.

 3 
Emily Dickinson
(One of the Leading 19th-Century American Poets)
Emily Dickinson
25
Birthdate: December 10, 1830
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Died: May 15, 1886
Victorian-era poet Emily Dickinson apparently wrote around 1800 poems, mostly revolving around themes such as death and immortality. However, she was a recluse, dressed up in white, and mostly interacted with people through correspondence. Her poems were mostly without titles and had short lines, slant rhyme, and unconventional punctuation.
 4 
Alice Walker
(The First African-American Woman to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)
Alice Walker
5
Birthdate: February 9, 1944
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Eatonton, Georgia, United States
Author Alice Walker is best known for her National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple. She is credited with coining the term womanist, to mean feminist of color. Her marriage with Melvyn Roseman Leventhal was the first official interracial marriage in the state of Mississippi.
 5 
Gertrude Stein
(American Novelist, Poet and Playwright)
Gertrude Stein
6
Birthdate: February 3, 1874
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: July 27, 1946

Gertrude Stein was an American playwright, novelist, poet, and art collector. She is remembered for publishing works about lesbian sexuality, which was considered a taboo at that time. Over the years, Gertrude Stein has been the subject of several works of art. In the 2011 movie Midnight in Paris, Stein was portrayed by Kathy Bates.

 6 
Dorothy Parker
(American Poet, Critic & Satirist Who Was Known for Her Wit, Wisecracks, and Eye for 20th-Century Urban Foibles)
Dorothy Parker
7
Birthdate: August 22, 1893
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Long Branch, New Jersey, United States
Died: June 7, 1967

Poet and author Dorothy Parker rose to fame with her published works in The New Yorker. She later formed the Algonquin Round Table. She also wrote for Hollywood films such as A Star Is Born and earned two Academy Award nominations. However, her association with left-wing politics got her blacklisted.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
6
Birthdate: February 22, 1892
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Rockland, Maine, United States
Died: October 19, 1950
 8 
Phillis Wheatley
6
Birthdate: May 8, 1753
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: West Africa
Died: December 5, 1784
 9 
Jewel
(Singer-Songwriter)
Jewel
14
Birthdate: May 23, 1974
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Payson, Utah, United States
 10 
Chirlane McCray
(Writer, Social Activist)
Chirlane McCray
5
Birthdate: November 29, 1954
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
 11 
Mary Oliver
(Poet, Writer)
Mary Oliver
4
Birthdate: September 10, 1935
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Maple Heights
 12 
Anne Sexton
5
Birthdate: November 9, 1928
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Newton, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 4, 1974
 13 
Sue Grafton
(American author)
Sue Grafton
4
Birthdate: April 24, 1940
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, United States
 14 
Angela Marie DiFranco
4
Birthdate: September 23, 1970
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, United States
 15 
Rita Mae Brown
4
Birthdate: November 28, 1944
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Hanover, Pennsylvania, United States
 16 
Madeleine L'Engle
(Best Known for Her Children’s Book, 'A Wrinkle in Time')
Madeleine L'Engle
4
Birthdate: November 29, 1918
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New York City, New York,United States
Died: September 6, 2007

Madeleine L'Engle soared to fame with her Newbery Medal-winning bestselling young adult novel A Wrinkle in Time, which was made into a Disney film later. Born to a writer father and a pianist mother, L’Engle had penned her first story at age 5 and had also tried her luck in theater.

 17 
Adrienne Rich
(American poet)
Adrienne Rich
4
Birthdate: May 16, 1929
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died: March 27, 2012
 18 
Elizabeth Bishop
5
Birthdate: February 8, 1911
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 6, 1979
 19 
Carson McCullers
(American novelist)
Carson McCullers
4
Birthdate: February 19, 1917
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Columbus, Georgia, USA
Died: September 29, 1967
 20 
Fanny Crosby
4
Birthdate: March 24, 1820
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Brewster, New York, United States
Died: February 12, 1915
 21 
Betty Aberlin
(Actress)
Betty Aberlin
4
Birthdate: December 30, 1942
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
 22 
Joyce Carol Oates
9
Birthdate: June 16, 1938
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Lockport, New York, United States
 23 
Banks
(Singer)
Banks
7
Birthdate: June 16, 1988
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Orange County, California, US
 24 
Julia Cameron
(Screenwriter, Film director, Novelist, Poet)
Julia Cameron
4
Birthdate: March 4, 1948
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Libertyville
 25 
Emma Lazarus
(Poet, Writer, Journalist)
Emma Lazarus
4
Birthdate: July 22, 1849
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: New York City
Died: November 19, 1887
 26 
Gwendolyn Brooks
5
Birthdate: June 7, 1917
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Topeka, Kansas
Died: December 3, 2000
 27 
Nikki Giovanni
(Poet, Writer)
Nikki Giovanni
9
Birthdate: June 7, 1943
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Knoxville
 28 
Sara Teasdale
(Poet, Writer)
Sara Teasdale
3
Birthdate: August 8, 1884
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: St. Louis
Died: January 29, 1933
 29 
Noname
(Rapper)
Noname
6
Birthdate: September 18, 1991
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
 30 
Barbara Kingsolver
(Novelist, Poet, Essayist)
Barbara Kingsolver
5
Birthdate: April 8, 1955
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Annapolis, Maryland, United States
 31 
Amber Tamblyn
(Actress)
Amber Tamblyn
15
Birthdate: May 14, 1983
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, United States
 32 
Louise Erdrich
4
Birthdate: June 7, 1954
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Little Falls, Minnesota, US
 33 
Mary Karr
(Poet)
Mary Karr
4
Birthdate: January 16, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: East Texas
 34 
Emilie Autumn
(Singer, Poet, Violinist, Pianist)
Emilie Autumn
4
Birthdate: September 22, 1979
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Los Angeles
 35 
Ruth Benedict
(Anthropologist, Folklorist, University teacher, Poet, Sociologist, Biographer)
Ruth Benedict
4
Birthdate: June 5, 1887
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: New York City
Died: September 17, 1948

Ruth Benedict was an American folklorist and anthropologist. Benedict, who played an important role in the American Folklore Society, also served as the American Anthropological Association's president; the association gives away an annual prize named after Ruth Benedict. In 2005, she was made an inductee of the National Women's Hall of Fame.

 36 
Erica Jong
(Novelist)
Erica Jong
4
Birthdate: March 26, 1942
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York City, New York, U.S.
 37 
Ntozake Shange
(Playwright)
Ntozake Shange
3
Birthdate: October 18, 1948
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey, United States
Died: October 27, 2018
 38 
Julia Ward Howe
(Known for Writing the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’)
Julia Ward Howe
4
Birthdate: May 27, 1819
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: New York City, United States
Died: October 17, 1910
 39 
Natalie Clifford Barney
4
Birthdate: October 31, 1876
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio, United States
Died: February 2, 1972
 40 
Dory Previn
(Singer)
Dory Previn
5
Birthdate: October 22, 1925
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Rahway, New Jersey, U.S.
Died: February 14, 2012
 41 
Katharine Lee Bates
(poet, writer, university teacher, songwriter)
Katharine Lee Bates
4
Birthdate: August 12, 1859
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Falmouth
Died: September 28, 1929
 42 
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(Poet and Mystic Rosicrucian)
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
3
Birthdate: November 5, 1850
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Janesville, Wisconsin, United States
Died: October 30, 1919
 43 
Exene Cervenka
(Punk and Folk Singer & Member of the California Punk Rock Band 'X')
Exene Cervenka
4
Birthdate: February 1, 1956
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Exene Cervenka soared to fame as a singer of the punk rock band X. She has also held exhibitions for her mixed media art, published books, and released a spoken word album. She has also expressed her views as a conspiracy theorist named Christine Notmyrealname, on social media.

 44 
Hilda Doolittle
3
Birthdate: September 10, 1886
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Died: September 27, 1961
 45 
Joy Harjo
(Poet)
Joy Harjo
3
Birthdate: May 9, 1951
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
 46 
Margaret Truman
(actor, novelist, writer, biographer)
Margaret Truman
4
Birthdate: February 17, 1924
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Independence
Died: January 29, 2008
 47 
Terry McMillan
(American author)
Terry McMillan
3
Birthdate: October 18, 1951
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Port Huron, Michigan, United States
 48 
Eileen Myles
3
Birthdate: 1949 AD
Birthplace: Cambridge
 49 
Louise Glück
15
Birthdate: April 22, 1943
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York, United States
 50 
Caresse Crosby
(Publisher, Writer, Socialite, Poet, Memoirist, Journalist)
Caresse Crosby
3
Birthdate: April 20, 1891
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: New York City
Died: January 26, 1970