A brief description of the pen name
A pen name is described as a false name that authors publish their works under in order to remain anonymous. Writers have been known to do this for many reasons: escaping fame, wanting privacy, or in the case of today’s authors, using a pseudonym of a different gender. Female authors have existed for generations, but so has a society who for many years did not accept that women should be allowed to publish works about certain topics, if at all. By using a pen name or pseudonym, women were able to publish their works without judgment and were able to actually able to receive notoriety. This in turn caused publishers to become slowly more willing to publish pieces by women writers.
Today the reasons for using a pen name are a little bit different, but they still allow a degree of privacy and separation from the subject matter for the person who’s written it.
The women behind the pen names
The Brontë sisters
The Brontë sisters each used a separate pen name, still functioning as relatives known as the Bell brothers. They did this to help protect them from scrutiny, curious admirers, and the public as a whole. At the time, the contents of their works were considered too indecent or unfeminine for a female to write about. While many critics of the era still considered the books to be too scandalous for even a man to put on paper, the sisters were better regarded and highly popular read due to their pen names. Their stories were well rounded in all writing styles and this led to many questions over time as to who these so called brothers truly were.
I can be on guard against my enemies, but God deliver me from my friends!
Ann Rule
In a more modern tone, Ann Rule wrote under the pen name Andy Stack. In her youth, Rule was the youngest rookie policewomen to ever be hired at the Seattle police department, however she wound up leaving the job due to her poor eyesight. Afterwards, she made the decision to return to school to complete her degree in criminal justice and went on to become a social worker.
It was after this point that she started to combine her love of writing with her love of criminal justice. Starting her career at True Crime magazine, she was told that their readers would not believe a woman would know anything about true crime or investigative work. This is how her Andy Stack pen name was created. Little did she-or anyone else-know at the time, but Ann would soon gain international fame for her friendship and subsequent book about serial killer Ted Bundy. After she published ”The Stranger Beside Me”, Ann Rule was no longer in need of a pen name to get folks to pay attention to her writing.
Louisa May Alcott
Many people may not know that famous American author Louisa May Alcott used the pen name A.M. Barnard for a period of time. Alcott was raised in a rather liberal household, and even spent time as a chid helping her family hide people who had escaped slavery via the underground railroad. It was really through her father’s friends that she was able to expand her horizons and read books that may have otherwise been forbidden to her.
In order to make some easy money, she used the pen name A.M. Barnard to write underground pulp books, which female authors would not have done much at the time. Once Little Women was published to great success, Alcott no longer needed a pen name. However, she never publicized her pseudonym, and it remained a secret until many years after her death.
Alice Mary Norton
Alice Mary Norton chose to use a variation of her own name, using the pen name Andre Norton. Norton wrote in the science fiction genre, along with several historical fiction and contemporary fiction pieces. She is most notable for her science fiction works and was the first woman to ever be awarded the “Grand Master” award in 1984 from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. In 2005, it was announced that the Andre Norton Award had been created in order to be awarded to authors for outstanding young adult fantasy and science fiction books. Her legacy still spans throughout our generation and she remains a great influence to female authors everywhere.
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin used the name George Sand in order to publish her works. Know as one of the most influential and notable European Romantic writers, she penned works such as Indiana and Mauprat. Known as Aurore to her friends, she was a woman who pushed the envelope, wearing pants and other men’s attire when it was forbidden to do so without a permit. Dupin had none of this and wore them anyway. She was truly a woman ahead of her time, outselling the likes of even Victor Hugo and Honore de Balzac easily, all while posing as a male author.
Many female authors have chosen-and sometimes still choose-to adopt a more traditionally male pen name when publishing their works. whatever the reason may be, I think that we can agree that the literary world is all the better for it.
