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Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
From George Eliot to JK Rowling: The secret male alter egos of famous women writers
(Written by Somya Panwar) 'I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman,' Virginia Woolf once remarked, drawing light the plight of female authors in the literary world. She suggested that anonymity was less an act of deceit and more a strategy to navigate gender bias and gain literary recognition. Throughout history, female authors have often shielded their intellectual presence by adopting male pseudonyms, enabling them to coexist within a patriarchal structure. By breaking through these barriers, they ensured their voices were heard without facing immediate repercussions—and some even secured their rightful place in literary history. Here are five famous women writers who challenged gendered authorship norms and reshaped power dynamics in literary circles by writing under male pseudonyms: Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was one of the most celebrated writers of the Victorian era. Renowned for her transformative contributions to literature, she masterfully depicted rural life and social complexities in her works. Her debut novel, Adam Bede, was critically acclaimed and went through eight printings. Today, her works remain essential reading in universities, offering a true reflection of 19th-century societal constraints. Eliot's exceptional body of work includes The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), her masterpiece Middlemarch (1871–72)—a profound exploration of idealism, marriage, and political reform—and Daniel Deronda (1876). 'And, of course, men know best about everything, except what women know better,' said the woman who disguised her identity under the name George Eliot. Joanne Rowling, famously known as JK Rowling, was once advised by her publisher to adopt a gender-neutral pen name to broaden her appeal among young male readers. Today, she stands as a global literary phenomenon. Her Harry Potter series marked a turning point in her career, with translations in over 85 languages and more than 600 million copies sold—making it the best-selling book series in history. The last four books also set records as the fastest-selling books of all time. Later, Rowling adopted another male pseudonym, Robert Galbraith, to launch her crime fiction series Cormoran Strike. Writing under a new name allowed her creative freedom, free from the expectations tied to her Harry Potter fame. Her debut novel under this alias, The Cuckoo's Calling (2013), gained traction only after her identity was revealed. Despite the exposure, she continues to write as Robert Galbraith, maintaining a distinct persona for this genre. Her use of pseudonyms underscores the lengths women must go to receive unbiased feedback in the literary world. Alice Mary Norton legally changed her name to Andre Norton in 1934 to survive in the male-dominated world of science fiction and fantasy. A pioneer in her field, she became the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977 and was twice nominated for the Hugo Award (1964). Over her 70-year career, Norton published more than 130 novels, also writing under the pen names Andrew North and Allen Weston. Her early work as a librarian saw the publication of eight novels, including her espionage trilogy—The Sword Is Drawn (1944), Sword in Sheath (1949), and At Sword's Point (1954)—written during World War II. Norton's legacy extends beyond her influential writing; she shattered stereotypes about women's intellectual capabilities in male-dominated genres, inspiring countless female authors who followed. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, achieved monumental success with her masterpiece. She later served as a consultant for the 1962 film adaptation, starring Gregory Peck, which earned eight Academy Award nominations—with Peck winning Best Actor. Like many female authors of her time, Lee faced significant challenges in a male-dominated industry. The success of To Kill a Mockingbird did not come overnight; it followed years of rejection and perseverance. Before her novel skyrocketed to fame, Lee worked as a reservation clerk for Eastern Airlines and British Overseas Airways while struggling to establish herself as a writer. Alice Sheldon, the woman behind the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr., was a multifaceted talent known for her masculine prose. She also wrote under the name Raccoona Sheldon. Her unconventional career—spanning army intelligence during World War II, farming, and a PhD in experimental psychology—shaped her unique perspective. Despite her feminist leanings, she noted that her work was often assumed to be written by a man, as male authors were seen as the default authorities on universal themes. Even after her death, Alice Sheldon remains an inspirational figure for women challenging traditional roles in publishing. Her work deserves recognition beyond the label of a 'feminist writer who used a male pen name'—she was a literary trailblazer in her own right. (The writer is an intern with the Indian Express)
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
I Kicked My Screen Addiction And Fell Back In Love With Reading – Here's How
It's a refrain I hear so often, both among friends and on social media. 'I loved reading as a child,' former voracious bookworms wail, 'and now I can't finish a novella.' I can't judge them – I am them. I used to tear through titles as a kid, ravenously reading through entire series of books in a week. It did not feel good to realise that, like lapsed bibliophiles before me, my childhood habit had been replaced by short-form video and 'doom scrolling.' A particularly damning Saturday this month saw me spend seven hours and twenty-seven actual minutes on TikTok (I am as mortified as you'd be). I was sick at the time, but that doesn't justify a 12+-hour screen day, does it? Seeing that stat made me realise something needed to change. Namely, I needed to 1) touch grass and 2) turn page. Speaking to BBC Science Focus, Dr Peter Etchells, an expert on the psychological effects of digital technology, had some good news for my beleaguered brain. 'To the best of my knowledge, there isn't any good science to support the idea that short videos are specifically or uniquely bad in terms of effects on the brain,' he said. But that's only one half of the equation. There's not much proof it's good for me, either; while reading books has been linked to higher dementia defences, boosting confidence and self-esteem, and even living longer. Personally, I've felt my ability to follow through with a chapter fade over the years while my capacity for hypnotically 'okay' clips became enormous. In short, I'd had enough, and knew I had to rekindle my love for reading. I am not joking when I say that last year's attempt to reconnect with reading started with George Eliot's notoriously lengthy Middlemarch. This was, as instinct should have told me, a terrible idea. I thought my love for the author would help, but – as with running, or eating more fibre, or any good habit – starting small is key. This time around, I started off with George Orwell's short stories, and I made a conscious effort to set myself time limits, too. Twenty minutes before bed, I'd open the pages and settle into the story; over time, that became half an hour, and I began reading on my lunch break too. It's crucial to pick a book you really enjoy, not just one you feel you 'should' read. Your child self wasn't looking to impress an imaginary audience of literary peers, after all – you probably just really liked Jacqueline Wilson. Once I'd finished the shorter books, I got going on another, longer novel (Adam Bede, which is by George Eliot but is shorter than Middlemarch, as most books are). The reading minutes shrank again at first; I went back to 20-minute, pre-bed slots as the denser writing took its toll. But removing the pressure of having read at a certain pace – though I had marked myself as reading the novel on Goodreads, I felt alright finishing it ten pages at a time if I had to – was key. Paradoxically, that easygoing approach brought me back to the lights-under-the-blanket keenness I remember feeling as a kid. By the end of last Saturday, I was breathlessly tearing through the pages, ranting about the plot to my bemused boyfriend like I was sharing family gossip. And for what it's worth, I'm now dawdling through Middlemarch. My TikTok time last weekend was a measly(ish) hour and a half. Go slow. Too much, too fast, will put you off restarting; enforce time limits if you have to. Choose authors you like. We don't stick to things we hate; no need to suffer through that tome about economic theory if you don't want to. Mix accountability with permissiveness. Telling a friend, a book club, or your Goodreads account you're working through a novel can be helpful; accepting that you might not finish it at the speed you expected, or even at all, is key. Build reading into your routine. I now can't sleep without reading (incidentally, my sleep has gotten better since I quit late-night TikTok binges). Embrace the smug. I am a lover of deeply smug hobbies, like running, pointlessly baking food I can buy better versions of for less money, and now, reading. From my experience, The Smug is fuelling, sustaining. If bragging about reading more gets you through it, post those 'aesthetic' storiesof you reading all you like; or, as I did, force people to read a whole article about it. I Just Learned Why Hardbacks Always Come Out Before Paperback Books, And It Makes Sense I Haven't Given My 12-Year-Old A Smartphone. After Reading This I Hope You Won't Either The New Gender Divide? Reading, Apparently
