People's University, Forgotten Women, Class 4: Rediscovering the Women Writers History Nearly Lost

October 22, 2026
7:00pm - 8:00pm

OCTOBER 22: REDISCOVERING THE WOMEN WRITERS HISTORY NEARLY LOST

Some of the most influential women writers in history were celebrated for their groundbreaking voices and ideas. Some even became bestsellers in their day. Yet over time, many of their works disappeared from bookstores and classrooms. Why were these remarkable authors forgotten, and how were they rediscovered? In this lecture, we’ll explore the lives and works of several extraordinary women whose writing helped shape American and English literature before nearly vanishing from the literary canon. From the industrial realism of Rebecca Harding Davis to the rich storytelling of Zora Neale Hurston, we’ll trace the fascinating journeys of these and other female authors whose voices were lost and then found. This talk also ponders a larger question: Who decides which stories survive?

Presenter DR. PAMELA B. JUNE is Professor of English at Ohio University, where she teaches women’s literature, American literature, literature and social justice, and writing courses. She is the author of two books, including Solidarity with the Other Beings on the Planet: Alice Walker, Ecofeminism, and Animals in Literature (Northwestern UP, 2020). In 2021, she earned the Ohio University Outstanding Professor Award in Regional Higher Education.