List of Danish women writers

This is a list of women writers who were born in Denmark 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

• Karen Aabye (1904–1982), journalist and historical novelist
• Jane Aamund (1936–2019), novelist and journalist
• Merete Ahnfeldt-Mollerup (born 1963), works on architecture
• Naja Marie Aidt (born 1963), poet, novelist and short story writer
• Laura Aller (1849–1917), editor and pioneering magazine publisher at Aller
• Annemette Kure Andersen (born 1962), widely translated poet
• Clara Andersen (1826–1895), playwright and short story writer
• Ellen Andersen (1898–1989), museum curator and textile specialist
• Emilie Andersen (1895–1970), historian and archivist
• Signe Arnfred (born 1944), sociologist specializing in gender studies
• Inga Arvad (1913–1973), journalist

B

• Charlotte Baden (1740–1824), novelist and feminist writer
• Jette Baagøe (born 1946), museum director, botanist and non-fiction writer
• Solvej Balle (born 1962), novelist and poet
• Regitze Barner (1834–1911), philanthropist and writer
• Rigmor Stampe Bendix (1850–1923), baroness, writer and philanthropist
• Dorothea Biehl (1731–1788), playwright
• Johanne Bille (born 1993), novelist
• Louise Bjørnsen (1824–1899), novelist and short story writer
• Jenny Blicher-Clausen (1865–1907), poet and playwright
• Karen Blixen (1885–1962), novelist and memoirist, including Out of Africa
• Sara Blædel (born 1964), crime-fiction novelist
• Bodil Bech (1889–1942), poet
• Cecil Bødker (1927–2020), young-adult fiction
• Sophia Brahe (1556–1643), wrote the genealogy of Danish noble families
• Marie Bregendahl (1867–1940), novelist and writer of realistic rural literature
• Suzanne Brøgger (born 1944), novelist and journalist
• Therese Brummer (1833–1896), children's writer, biographer
• Friederike Brun (1765–1835), poet and travel writer
• Anne Bruun (1853–1934), women's rights activist and editor of Kvinden og Samfundet
• Tine Bryld (1939–2011), novelist
• Julia Butschkow (born 1978), playwright and poet

C

• Franziska Carlsen (1817–1876), writer documenting local history and folklore
• Esther Carstensen (1873–1955), women's rights activist and journal editor
• Mimi Carstensen (1852–1935), philanthropist, journalist and magazine editor
• Inger Christensen (1935–2009), poet, novelist and essayist
• Leonora Christine (1621–1698), writer of memoirs, Denmark's first known woman writer
• Bente Clod (born 1946), poet, novelist and children's writer
• Hedvig Collin (1880–1964), painter, illustrator and children's writer

D

• Ulla Dahlerup (born 1942), journalist, writer and women's rights activist
• Tove Ditlevsen (1917–1976), poet, novelist and short story writer
• Emmy Drachmann (1854–1928), novelist

E

• Elsebeth Egholm (born 1960), popular crime-fiction author and TV screenwriter
• Charlotte Eilersgaard (1858–1922), novelist, playwright and women's rights activist
• Katrine Engberg (born 1975), novelist and actress
• Merete Erbou Laurent (born 1949), weaver, textile artist and magazine editor
• Inge Eriksen (1935–2015), novelist, science fiction, poet and political activist

F

• Astrid Stampe Feddersen (1852–1930), writings in support of women's rights
• Elfride Fibiger (1832–1911), novelist, short story writer and women's emancipation activist
• Ilia Fibiger (1817–1867), playwright, novelist and Denmark's first professional nurse
• Mathilde Fibiger (1830–1872), writings in support of women's rights
• Hanne Finsen (1925–2023), art historian
• Kate Fleron (1909–2006), journal editor and resistance member
• Lone Frank (born 1966), journalist and non-fiction writer
• Kirstine Frederiksen (1845–1903), pedagogue, writer and women's rights advocate
• Astrid Friis (1893–1966), historian and journal editor

G

• Emma Gad (1852–1921), playwright and non-fiction writer
• Sissel-Jo Gazan (born 1973), novelist
• Suzanne Giese (1946–2012), writer and women's rights activist
• Henny Glarbo (1884–1955), archivist
• Luise Gramm (1746–1824), letter writer
• Elsa Gress (1919–1988), essayist, novelist and dramatist
• Anna Grue (born 1957), crime novelist
• Thomasine Gyllembourg (1773–1856), novelist

H

• Marie Hammer (1907–2002), zoologist
• Henriette Hanck (1807–1846), poet and novelist
• Lise Hannestad (born 1943), classical scholar and archaeologist
• Bente Hansen (1940–2022), writer, editor and women's rights activist
• Eva Hemmer Hansen (1913–1983), journalist, novelist, translator and feminist
• Lise Bach Hansen (fl. 2000s), curator, Royal Danish Library
• Kirsten Hastrup (born 1948), anthropologist
• Sonja Hauberg (1918–1947), prominent novelist
• Bettina Hauge (born 1964), anthropologist
• Louise Hegermann-Lindencrone (1778–1853), novelist and short story writer
• Annette Heick (born 1971), journalist
• Johanne Luise Heiberg (1812–1890), writer of memoirs
• Julie Heins (1822–1902), schoolteacher and reading book writer
• Dyveke Helsted (1919–2005), art historian, museum director
• Agnes Henningsen (1868–1962), novelist, short story writer and women's rights activist
• Dagmar Hjort (1860–1902), educator and rights activist
• Greta Hort born Grethe Hjort (1903–1967), professor of Danish and English literature
• Anne Holm (1922–1998), children's writer and journalist
• Gretelise Holm (born 1948), journalist, non-fiction and fiction writer
• Hanne-Vibeke Holst (born 1959), journalist and novelist
• Ellen Hørup (1871–1953), journalist and non-fiction writer on peace and women's rights
• Emma Hørup (1836–1929), journalist and schoolteacher
• Annelise Hovmand (1924–2016), screenwriter
• Anna Hude (1858–1934), historian

J

• Lis Jacobsen (1882–1961), philologist and historian
• Kristine Marie Jensen (1858–1923), early cookbook writer
• Thit Jensen (1876–1957), novelist, playwright and short story writer involved in women's rights
• Thyra Jensen (1865–1949), short story writer, biographer and women's rights activist
• Helga Johansen (1852–1912), novelist associated with the Modern Breakthrough
• Ellen Jørgensen (1877–1948), historian
• Erna Juel-Hansen (1845–1922), novelist, short story writer, feminist and educator
• Teckla Juel (1834–1904), novelist, short story writer and composer of songs

K

• Anne Krabbe (1552–1618), estate owner and writer
• Lene Kaaberbøl (born 1960), children's writer and crime fiction writer
• Janina Katz (1938–2013), Polish-born Danish poet, novelist and children's writer
• Lisbeth Knudsen (born 1953), journalist, editor-in-chief and businesswoman
• Lene Koch (born 1947), gender studies researcher and historian
• Nynne Koch (1915–2001), novelist, autobiographer and gender studies researcher
• Birgithe Kosovic (born 1972), journalist and autobiographer on Yugoslavia

L

• Margrethe Lasson (1659–1738), author of Denmark's first novel
• Cornelia von Levetzow (1836–1921), popular novelist
• Olivia Levison, (1847–1894), author and writer
• Mette Lisby (born 1968), writer, actress, comedian and television host, now in the United States
• Anne Marie Løn (born 1947), novelist
• Hansigne Lorenzen (1879–1952), novelist and poet from Southern Jutland
• Anna Christiane Ludvigsen (1794–1884), poet from Southern Jutland
• Bodil Jerslev Lund (1919–2005), Danish chemist and educator
• Hulda Lütken (1896–1946), poet and novelist

M

• Sofie Madsen (1897–1982), educator of autistic children
• Anne Marie Mangor (1781–1865), early cookbook writer
• Alfhilda Mechlenburg (1830–1907), novelist and short story writer
• Karin Michaëlis (1872–1950), journalist, novelist and children's writer
• Else Holmelund Minarik (1920–2012), U.S. immigrant author of the Little Bear series of children's books
• Johanne Meyer (1838–1915), pioneering Danish suffragist, pacifist, journal editor and writer
• Eva Moltesen (1871–1934), Finnish-Danish writer and peace activist
• Else Moltke (1888–1986), writer on historical figures
• Herdis Møllehave (1936–2001), social worker and novelist
• Dea Trier Mørch (1941–2001), novelist and writer on women and childbirth
• Johanne Münter (1844–1921), writer and women's rights activist
• Elna Mygdal (1868–1940), textile researcher, museum director and writer

N

• Bodil Neergaard (1867–1959), landowner, philanthropist and memoirist
• Henriette Nielsen (1815–1900), novelist and playwright
• Maria Nielsen (1882–1931), historian and educator
• Lise Nørgaard (1917–2023), novelist, screenwriter and author of TV series Matador
• Marianne Nøhr Larsen (born 1963), anthropologist and writer
• Louise Nyholm Kallestrup (born 1975), historian

O

• Annette K. Olesen (born 1965), screenwriter
• Voldborg Ølsgaard (1877–1939), editor of Fred og Frihed
• Tania Ørum (born 1945), literary historian, gender studies specialist
• Elise Otté (1818–1903), Anglo-Danish philologist and historian
• Estrid Ott (1900–1967), prolific children's writer

P

• Hortense Panum (1856–1933), music historian
• Sophie Petersen (1885–1965), geographer
• Louise von Plessen (1725–1799), court memoirist
• Birgitte Possing (born 1952), historian, biographer and feminist

Q

• Hedevig Quiding (1867–1936), opera singer, music critic, journalist, educator
• Anne Margrethe Qvitzow (1652–1700), poet, translator and memoirist

R

• Ingeborg Raunkiær (1863–1921), novelist and article writer
• Olga Ravn (born 1986), poet and novelist
• Adda Ravnkilde (1862–1883), Danish novelists
• Frederikke Charlotte Reventlow (1747–1822), countess, author and letter writer
• Julie Reventlow (1763–1816), salonnière and non-fiction writer
• Jytte Rex (born 1942), novelist and writer on women's rights
• Ane Riel (born 1971), novelist and winner of the Glass Key award
• Ivan Ring, pen name of Alfhilda Mechlenburg (1830–1907)
• Signe Rink (1836–1909), Greenland-born Danish writer and ethnologist
• Anna-Grethe Rischel (born 1935), paper historian
• Edith Rode (1879–1956), novelist and journalist
• Else Roesdahl (born 1942), historian and specialist on Vikings
• Caja Rude (1884–1949), novelist and women's rights activist

S

• Astrid Saalbach (born 1955), playwright and novelist
• Vibeke Salicath (1861–1921), philanthropist, feminist, politician and women's journal editor
• Lotte Salling (born 1964), children's writer
• Else Kai Sass (1912–1987), art historian
• Bente Scavenius (born 1944), art critic and author
• Rikke Schubart (born 1966), novelist and writer on film and television
• Alba Schwartz (1857–1942), novelist
• Ingeborg Maria Sick (1858–1951), novelist and biographer
• Birte Siim (born 1945), political scientist specializing in gender studies
• Sanne Søndergaard (born 1980), novelist and stand-up comedian
• Anna Louise Stevnhøj (born 1963), non-fiction writer on children and health
• Maria Engelbrecht Stokkenbech (1759–after 1806), feminist and autobiographer
• Fanny Suenssen (1832–1918), novelist and short story writer
• Ingeborg Suhr Mailand (1871–1989), educator and cookbook writer
• Karin-Lis Svarre (1946–2009), television journalist and writer
• Hanne Marie Svendsen (born 1933), non-fiction writer and novelist
• Karen Syberg (born 1945), writer, gender researcher and feminist

T

• Pia Tafdrup (born 1952), poet
• Janne Teller (born 1964), philosophical novelist
• Mette Thomsen (born 1970), novelist
• Magdalene Thoresen (1819–1903), Danish-born Norwegian poet and novelist
• Kirsten Thorup (born 1942), novelist, poet and screenwriter
• Eleonora Tscherning (1817–1890), memoirist and painter
• Fanny Tuxen (1832–1906), children's writer

U

• Leonora Christina Ulfeldt (1621–1698), autobiographer

V

• Alice Vestergaard (born 1937), journalist, newspaper editor, television news coordinator
• Vibeke Vasbo (born 1944), novelist, poet, women's activist and former member of Danish Lesbian Movement

W

• Emilie West (1844–1907), schoolteacher and needlework proponent
• Lise Warburg (born 1932), textile artist and writer
• Dorrit Willumsen (born 1940), poet, novelist and short story writer
• Mette Winge (1937–2022), novelist, literary critic
• Pauline Worm (1825–1883), writer, poet, schoolteacher and feminist

See also

• List of Faroese women writers
• List of Danish writers
• List of women writers