Sappho was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Most of Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; only the Ode to Aphrodite is certainly complete. As well as lyric poetry, ancient commentators claimed that Sappho wrote elegiac and iambic poetry. Three epigrams formerly attributed to Sappho are extant, but these are actually Hellenistic imitations of Sappho's style.
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for The Colossus and Other Poems (1960), Ariel (1965), and The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her suicide in 1963. The Collected Poems was published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honor posthumously.
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020, she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.
Gordāfarīd is one of the heroines in the Shāhnāmeh "The Book of Kings" or "The Epic of Kings", an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Hakīm Abū l-Qāsim Ferdowsī Tūsī around 1000 AD. She was a champion who fought against Sohrab and delayed the Turanian troops who were marching on Persia. She is a symbol of courage and wisdom for Persian women.
But one of those within the fortress was a woman, daughter of the warrior Gazhdaham, named Gordafarid. When she learned that their leader had allowed himself to be taken, she found his behaviour so shameful that her rosy cheeks became as black as pitch with rage. With not a moment's delay she dressed herself in a knight's armour, gathered her hair beneath a Rumi helmet, and rode out from the fortress, a lion eager for battle. She roared at the enemy ranks, "Where are your heroes, your warriors, your tried and tested chieftains?"
Sugathakumari was an Indian poet and activist, who was at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, India.
Zehra Nigah is a prominent Urdu poet and scriptwriter from Pakistan, affectionately known as 'Zehra Apa'. As one of the pioneers of Urdu poetry by women, Nigah was one of the first female poets to gain recognition in a male-dominated field. Nigah's achievements are particularly notable in the realm of mushaira, where she is regarded as the first female poet to fully participate and leave a lasting impact. Additionally, Nigah occasionally works as a songwriter and scriptwriter.
Tallapaka Tirumalamma or Timmakka was a Telugu poet who wrote Subhadra Kalyanam in Telugu. She was wife of singer-poet Annamacharya and was popularly known as Timmakka.
Pia Tafdrup is a Danish writer; primarily a poet, she has also written a novel and two plays, as well as works for radio. She made her literary debut in 1981 and has till now published 17 collections of poetry.
Philocles, was an Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho, he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of Marathon, and Ameinias, hero of the battle of Salamis. The Suda claims that Philocles was the father of the tragic playwright Morsimus, who was in turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas the Elder and was in his turn the father of the tragedian Astydamas the Younger.
Ylva Elisabet Eggehorn is a Swedish poet, writer, and hymnwriter. She is said to be among Sweden's most famous contemporary Christian writers and poets. Along with Christian poetry she wrote for what's believed to be the first Swedish worship album. In other genres she did a "historical fantasy" concerning Gustav Badin, which deals some with his imagery as a "lover" in Swedish culture.
Agneta Pleijel is a Swedish novelist, poet, playwright, journalist and literary critic. Among her plays are Ordning härskar i Berlin from 1979. Among her novels are Vindspejare from 1987 and Drottningens chirurg from 2006. She has been a professor at Dramatiska Institutet since 1992. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 1991 and the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 2018.
Ann Jäderlund is a Swedish poet and playwright. She made her literary debut in 1985 with the poetry collection Vimpelstaden. Other collections are Snart går jag i sommaren ut from 1990 and I en cylinder i vattnet av vattengråt from 2006. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2004. Esa-Pekka Salonen used her work Two Poems to Songs for a choral work in 2002.
Fitnat Hanım was the pen name of the Ottoman Turkish woman poet Zübeyde, "considered the most important woman poet of the Ottoman school".
Vijayalakshmi is a Malayalam–language poet from the South Indian state of Kerala.
Hanne Bramness is a Norwegian poet and translator. She made her literary debut in 1983 with the poetry collection Korrespondanse. Other collections are I sin tid from 1986, Nattens kontinent from 1992, and Revolusjonselegier from 1996. She has translated English, Chinese and Japanese poetry into Norwegian language. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2006.
Fadl al-Qaysi or Faḍl al-Shāʻirah was one of "three early ʻAbbasid singing girls, particularly famous for their poetry" and is one of the pre-eminent medieval Arabic female poets whose work survives. She was a concubine of caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
Violet McDougal (1893–1989) was an American poet. She was the first poet laureate of the state of Oklahoma, serving from 1923 to 1931.
Ida Börjel is a Swedish poet.
Mohammad Ghazi, known by his pen name Ghazi Sial and by an honorific title in Pashto literature as Baba Sandara, was a Pakistani poet and Pashto folk song writer. He wrote sixteen books in Pashto language.
