women writers who shaped the 20th century

wonder | wander | world pick of the week is the new Smithsonian exhibit featuring "Her Story: A Century of Women Writers." On view at the National Portrait Gallery through January 18, 2021. Free, timed-entry tickets are required for access to the museum.

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian spotlights 24 authors, including such giants as Lorraine Hansberry, Sandra Cisneros, Maxine Hong Kingston, Toni Morrison, Anne Sexton, Ayn Rand, Jhumpa Lahiri, Marianne Moore and Jean Kerr.

These powerful portraits of women of substance capture an intimate glimpse into the spirit and life force that gave birth to their literature and changed the world we live in today.

The museum’s senior historian, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw says, "the objects in the exhibition are also very diverse. We have sculptures, paintings, drawings, a caricature and photographs. So it really provides the viewer with a strong cross section . . . of 100 years [of] women from many different backgrounds.”

From Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon (1947) to Dorothy Parker’s “sarcastic poetry,” Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s screenplays, Susan Sontag’s literary criticism, Joyce Carol Oates’ multi-genre fiction and Maya Angelou’s autobiographical novels, there is sure to be an author here on everyone’s list of favorites.