Forgotten Women Poets

“Newly Discovered! The Little Library of Forgotten Women Poets” aims to provide these authors with a new platform.

This series brings together female writers from past centuries whose names and works are today known, in many cases, only to literary historians. Yet in their novels, short stories, letters, and memoirs, we encounter texts of astonishing power and relevance: stories about freedom and social conventions, about love and dependence, about self-determination and the role of women, about origins, morality, politics, travel, and the ever-recurring question of how to live a fulfilling life.

Their works are therefore much more than historical documents. They offer a direct window into past ways of life—and are , at the same time , literary works in their own right, ones that are often unjustly underestimated.

Two Books in One Volume: Life and Work

What makes this series unique is the way it combines biography and literature.

Each volume consists of two major sections. It begins with a detailed biographical essay—written specifically for this new edition— on the life, personality, work, and era of the respective author. It does not merely recount the facts of her life but seeks to convey who this woman was: where she came from, the social conditions under which she lived and wrote, the experiences and conflicts that shaped her, the significance she held in her own time—and why she may have subsequently faded from the spotlight of literary history.

The essay also provides an introduction to her literary thought. It describes her most important themes and works and shows why her texts can still be surprising, moving, or challenging even for 21st-century readers.

This biographical essay is followed by one of the most significant works by each author—in its entirety and unabridged.

This way, readers first get to know the woman behind the name and can then immediately read for themselves what she has written. The biography and the original work do not stand separately side by side, but rather complement one another: Knowledge of her life changes the way we view the text—and the text, in turn, brings the author to life in a way that a biography alone could never achieve.

The historical works are not presented as old facsimiles or hard-to-read reproductions, but are carefully transcribed for this edition into a high-quality, contemporary typeset. The linguistic characteristics and historical spelling of the original texts are preserved, while the typography, type area, and design are adapted to today’s reading habits. This creates a modern reading experience without compromising the character of the historical work. 

A library for everyone who not only knows literary history but also wants to rediscover it.

All volumes published so far in this series