Literary Masters: Nobel Women




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ClassGraphic The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded since 1901. During that time eighteen of the laureates have been women. Not surprisingly, half of them have been named in the current century.  We will read and discuss works by seven of the nine laureates who were novelists. These works display a remarkable breadth: After the Divorce by Deledda Grazia (Bel Paese Classics, 2025) offers a view of the social constraints placed on women in late-nineteenth-century Sardinia; The Good Earth by Pearl Buck (Washington Square Press, 2020) formed America’s understanding of China for the mid-twentieth century: God Help the Child by Toni Morrison (Vintage, 2016), her final novel, explores the many issues confronting several generations of an African American family. The other works we read will represent authors from the UK, South Africa, Romania and Poland:  The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008); July’s People by Nadine Gordimer (Penguin Books, 1982); The Passport by Herta Muller (Serpent’s Tail, 2016); and Drive Your Plow Over the Dead by Olga Tokarcuk (Riverhead Books, 2020).
 

Class Details

14 Session(s)
Weekly - Mon

Location
TBD

Instructor
Multiple

Tuition: 

$0.00

Email olli@northwestern.edu for more information. Send to Friend »

Schedule Information

Skip dates: (No class on 05/25/2026)

Date(s) Class Days Times Location Instructor(s)
3/2/2026 - 6/8/2026 Weekly - Mon 01:15 PM - 03:15 PM TBD Robert Relihan  ; Marilyn Green Rebnord 

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