This is the first comprehensive introduction to the works and social contexts of women writers in early modern Britain, a paradoxical period when it was considered unfeminine to write and yet women were the authors of many poems, translations, conduct books, autobiographies, plays, pamphlets and other texts. Leading scholars examine the history of women's role in and access to literary culture, and the work of individual women writers. A unique chronology offers a woman-centered perspective on historical and literary events, and there is a guide to further reading.