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Writing Now

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The History of British Women’s Writing, 1970-Present

Part of the book series: The History of British Women’s Writing ((HBWW))

Abstract

This chapter considers the preoccupations and forms that characterize British women’s writing in the new millennium. We argue that these are, firstly, multiculturalism with its questioning of race, religion, and culture, and its relationship, if any, to terrorism. Secondly, this chapter will address the treatment in fiction of the issue of an ageing population, and the resultant concerns with women’s changing roles in relation to employment, fertility, and childcare. Thirdly, an anxiety about climate change and environmental catastrophe manifests itself in a renewed interest in dystopian, post-apocalyptic writing. Finally, we consider the impact of technological change. The fact that publishing faces its greatest upheaval since Johannes Gutenberg’s fifteenth-century invention of the printing press is leading to contemporary women’s diverse interest in new technologies, including the internet, ebook and digital publishing, and other interactive online formats.

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Notes

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Authors
  1. Claire Chambers
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  2. Susan Watkins
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Beckett University, UK

    Mary Eagleton (Professor of Contemporary Women’s Writing) (Professor of Contemporary Women’s Writing)

  2. University of Leicester, UK

    Emma Parker (Reader in Post-War and Contemporary Literature) (Reader in Post-War and Contemporary Literature)

Copyright information

© 2015 Claire Chambers and Susan Watkins

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Cite this chapter

Chambers, C., Watkins, S. (2015). Writing Now. In: Eagleton, M., Parker, E. (eds) The History of British Women’s Writing, 1970-Present. The History of British Women’s Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-29481-4_17

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