List of Austrian women writers

This is a list of women writers who were born in Austria or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

A

• Emma Adler (1858–1935), journalist, historical novelist, non-fiction writer, newspaper publisher, translator
• Ilse Aichinger (1921–2016), essayist, non-fiction writer, novelist, acclaimed for her works on Nazi atrocities
• Renate Aichinger (born 1976), playwright, theatre director
• Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), early Jewish poet, author of Geheimniss des Hofes
• Ruth Aspöck (born 1947), novelist, short story writer, poet
• Susanne Ayoub (born 1956), Austrian-Iraqi novelist, journalist filmmaker

B

• Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), poet, playwright for radio, essayist, short story writer
• Bettina Balàka (born 1966), novelist, poet, playwright, short story writer
• Vicki Baum (1888–1960), novelist, famous for Menschen im Hotel filmed as Grand Hotel
• Elsa Bernstein (1866–1949), playwright, wrote an account of her imprisonment at Theresienstadt concentration camp
• Kirstin Breitenfellner (born 1966), novelist, journalist, critic, yoga teacher
• Christine Busta (1915–1987), poet, children's writer

C

• Ada Christen (1839–1901), poet, short story writer, and writer of sketches
• Monika Czernin (born 1965), writer, screenwriter and film director

D

• Beatrice von Dovsky (1866–1923), poet, actress, remembered above all for her libretto for Max von Schillings' Mona Lisa
• Helene von Druskowitz (1856–1918), playwright, critic, poet

E

• Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916), psychological novelist, playwright, short story writer, important literary figure of the late 19th century
• Bertha Eckstein-Diener (1874–1948), journalist, feminist historian, travel writer, used the pen name Sir Galahad

F

• Lilian Faschinger (born 1950), novelist, short story writer, poet, translator
• Vera Ferra-Mikura (1923–1997), children's writer
• Alexandra Föderl-Schmid (born 1971), journalist, newspaper editor
• Barbara Frischmuth (born 1941), novelist, poet, playwright, children's writer, translator
• Marianne Fritz (1948–2007), novelist
• Camilla Frydan (1887–1949), soprano, composer and lyricist

G

• Elfriede Gerstl (1932–2009), poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, feminist contributions
• Anna Gmeyner (1902–1991), British-Austrian novelist, playwright, scriptwriter, wrote in both German and English
• Marie Eugenie Delle Grazie (1864–1931), poet, playwright, novelist
• Alice Gurschner (1869–1944), novelist, playwright, poet
• Lili Grün (1904-1942), writer, actress

H

• Maja Haderlap (born 1961), bilingual Slovenian-German Austrian writer.
• Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti (1871–1955), poet, historical novelist
• Marlen Haushofer (1920–1970), novelist, short story writer, author of Die Wand, translated as The Wall (novel)
• Stella K. Hershan (1915–2014), Austrian-American novelist and biographer
• Edith Hörandner (1939–2008), folklorist

I

• Eva Ibbotson (1925–2010), Austrian-born English-language writer, novelist, best known as a children's writer
• Lotte Ingrisch (1930–2022), prolific novelist, playwright, television screenwriter

J

• Maria Janitschek (1859–1927), pen name Marius Stein, poet, short story writer
• Christine Maria Jasch (born 1960), economist, non-fiction writer
• Elfriede Jelinek (born 1946), playwright, novelist, poet, translator, Nobel Prize in 2004, several novels published in English

K

• Gina Kaus (1893–1985), Austrian-American novelist, screenwriter, autobiographer
• Marie-Thérèse Kerschbaumer (born 1936), successful novelist, poet
• Margarete Kollisch (1893–1979), poet, journalist, translator
• Susanna Kubelka (born 1942), journalist, widely translated novelist

L

• Minna Lachs (1907–1993), educator and memoirist
• Christine Lavant (1915–1973), mystically religious poet, novelist
• Auguste Lechner (1905-2000), folk story writer
• Käthe Leichter (1895–1942), politician, economist, journalist
• Gerda Lerner (1920–2013), Austrian-born English-language playwright, non-fiction author, feminist
• Cvetka Lipuš (born 1966), Slovene-language poet, translated into English
• Mira Lobe (1913–1995), prolific children's writer, some works published in English

M

• Dorothea Macheiner (born 1943), novelist, essayist, poet, playwright
• Ruth Mader (born 1974), screenwriter, wrote and directed Struggle
• Ruth Maier (1920–1942), diarist, described her experiences of the Nazis from 1933 until she was sent to Auschwitz
• Rosa Mayreder (1858–1938), feminist writer, women's rights campaigner
• Friederike Mayröcker (1924–2021), important contemporary poet, playwright
• Eva Menasse (born 1970), journalist, novelist
• Helene Migerka, (1867–1928), poet, prose writer
• Olga Misař (1876–1950), peace activist, feminist, writer
• Hermynia zur Mühlen (1883–1951), novelist, translator
• Doris Mühringer (1920–2009), poet, short story writer, children's writer
• Anitta Müller-Cohen (1890–1962), journalist, social worker, politician
• Melissa Müller (born 1967), journalist, novelist, author of Anne Frank: The Biography (1920–1942)

N

• Marie von Najmajer (1844–1904), historical novelist, poet, playwright, women's activist
• Christine Nöstlinger (1936–2018), highly acclaimed children's writer, several works published in English

O

• Blanche Christine Olschak (1913–1989), journalist, encyclopaedia writer
• Doris Orgel (1929–2021), Austrian-born English-language children's writer, non-fiction writer on Asian topics

P

• Bertha Pappenheim (1859–1936), short story writer, playwright, poet, children's writer
• Hertha Pauli (1906–1973), journalist, children's writer, non-fiction writer, wrote in both German and English
• Ida Laura Pfeiffer (1797–1858), early travel writer, translated into seven languages
• Karoline Pichler (1769–1843), novelist, libretto writer
• Hella Pick (born 1929), Austrian-born British journalist, also non-fiction works
• Adelheid Popp (1869–1939), feminist writer and journalist, autobiographer
• Katharina Prato (1818–1897), cookbook writer
• Paula von Preradović (1887–1951), poet, wrote the words to the Austrian national anthem: Land der Berge, Land am Strome
• Eva Priester (1910–1982), journalist, poet and socialist activist
• Theresa Pulszky (1819–1866), Hungarian history and travel writer

R

• Elisabeth Reichart (born 1953), novelist, playwright, short story writer
• Kathrin Röggla (born 1971), playwright, essayist, poet

S

• Sophie von Scherer (1817–1876), epistolary novelist
• Helene Scheu-Riesz (1880–1970), children's writer, publisher and women's rights activist
• Adele Schreiber-Krieger (1872–1957), feminist writer, politician
• Carolina Schutti (born 1976), novelist, biographer, non-fiction writer, literary scholar, educator
• Brigitte Schwaiger (1949–2010), best-selling novelist
• Barbara Schurz (born 1973), poststructuralist writer, playwright, co-authoring with Alexander Brener
• Lore Segal (born 1928), Austrian-born American novelist, short story writer, children's writer
• Gitta Sereny (1921–2012), journalist, biographer, non-fiction works, wrote in both German and English
• Hilde Spiel (1911–1990), journalist, essayist, critic
• Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914), novelist, short story writer, essayist, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize, some works published in English

T

• Franziska Tausig (c. 1895–1989), Jewish emigrant to Shanghai, memoirs published as Shanghai Passage: Flucht und Exil einer Wienerin (Escape and Exile of a Viennese Woman)
• Maria von Trapp (1905–1987), Austrian-American writer, famous for her The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
• Maria Treben (1907–1991), herbalist, famous for her Gesundheit aus der Apotheke Gottes - Ratschläge und Erfahrungen mit Heilkräutern (Health Through God's Pharmacy) translated into 24 languages

V

• Hannelore Valencak (1929–2004), novelist, poet, children's writer

Z

• Birgit Zotz (born 1979), non-fiction writer, essayist, writings on Buddhist culture, mysticism, tourism
• Berta Zuckerkandl (1864–1945), journalist, critic, non-fiction writer

See also

• List of Austrian writers
• List of women writers

External links

• VO Österreichische Autorinnen