The Best American Count
by VIDA
Our most recent count examines the contents of the Best American anthologies in poetry, fiction, and essays. When we released our 2010 Count back in February, a common response from our readers was a request for more information about the data behind our pie charts. With that in mind, we have expanded our presentation to include the tables shown below, which are based on the spreadsheets we use to generate our Count pie charts. We think these tables better represent the data, and reveal more of the complex set of questions and issues raised by it.
In the Best American Essays Series from 1986 through 2010, the numbers look dire across the board. Works by women accounted for only 29% of those published in the anthology. There was only one year in twenty-five that the number of works by women published in the anthology outnumbered the works by men.
In the Best American Poetry Series, the percentage of women published in the anthologies was 39%. In twenty-four years of the Best American Poetry anthologies, there were only four years in which the number of published works by women were greater than those by men.
In the Best American Short Stories Series, however, women authors fared much better overall: of the stories published in the anthologies from 1978 through 2010, 47% were written by women. Of the thirty-three years of the Best American Short Stories we counted, there were sixteen years in which the number of works by women published in the anthologies were equal to or greater than the number of works by men.
The Best American Series Count has given us more data and more angles from which to evaluate the state of gender in publishing. It has discounted some of the positions used to explain or support the disparity found in our 2010 Count, while supporting some of the others. And it has raised additional questions that must be asked in our ongoing discussion.
Clearly, counting alone is not enough. However, raising awareness is the first step toward affecting change. We hope that as we continue to disseminate the data, ask the difficult questions raised by our findings and engage in rigorous dialogue with members of our shared literary community, we’ll be embarking on a path toward parity in publishing.
We hope you will continue with us in our efforts and invite you to join VIDA in this conversation.
- Tara Rebele
-Best American Count pie chart images by Ana Božičević
| Year | Guest Editor | Men | Women | Notable Essays Men | Notable Essays Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1986
|
Elizabeth Hardwick
|
14
|
3
|
58
|
11
|
|
1987
|
Gay Talese
|
18
|
2
|
81
|
14
|
|
1988
|
Annie Dillard
|
14
|
6
|
108
|
28
|
|
1989
|
Geoffrey Wolff
|
17
|
4
|
107
|
21
|
|
1990
|
Justin Kaplan
|
15
|
6
|
109
|
28
|
|
1991
|
Joyce Carol Oates
|
10
|
11
|
108
|
39
|
|
1992
|
Susan Sontag
|
14
|
6
|
115
|
50
|
|
1993
|
Joseph Epstein
|
17
|
5
|
103
|
33
|
|
1994
|
Tracy Kidder
|
15
|
6
|
82
|
40
|
|
1995
|
Jamaica Kincaid
|
13
|
7
|
90
|
48
|
| 1996 |
Geoffrey C. Ward
|
17
|
5
|
114
|
44
|
|
1997
|
Ian Frazier
|
16
|
8
|
108
|
45
|
|
1998
|
Cynthia Ozick
|
19
|
6
|
91
|
53
|
|
1999
|
Edward Hoagland
|
17
|
8
|
94
|
53
|
|
2000
|
Alan Lightman
|
13
|
8
|
133
|
63
|
|
2001
|
Kathleen Norris
|
18
|
8
|
105
|
62
|
|
2002
|
Stephen Jay Gould
|
20
|
5
|
96
|
39
|
|
2003
|
Anne Fadiman
|
14
|
10
|
84
|
55
|
|
2004
|
Louis Menand
|
15
|
7
|
136
|
68
|
|
2005
|
Susan Orlean
|
17
|
8
|
94
|
51
|
|
2006
|
Lauren Slater
|
12
|
8
|
114
|
82
|
|
2007
|
David Foster Wallace
|
16
|
6
|
126
|
81
|
|
2008
|
Adam Gopnik
|
16
|
5
|
116
|
74
|
|
2009
|
Mary Oliver
|
15
|
7
|
116
|
108
|
|
2010
|
Christopher Hitchens
|
16
|
5
|
175
|
105
|
|
Overall
|
388 (71%) | 160 (29%) | 2,663 (67%) | 1,295 (33%) | |
| Year | Guest Editor | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1988
|
John Ashbery
|
55
|
20
|
|
1989
|
Donald Hall
|
50
|
25
|
|
1990
|
Jorie Graham
|
48
|
27
|
|
1991
|
Mark Strand
|
46
|
29
|
|
1992
|
Charles Simic
|
43
|
32
|
|
1993
|
Louise Gluck
|
47
|
28
|
|
1994
|
A.R. Ammons
|
44
|
31
|
|
1995
|
Richard Howard
|
42
|
33
|
|
1996
|
Adrienne Rich
|
35
|
40
|
|
1997
|
James Tate
|
52
|
23
|
| Best of (1988-1997)* |
Harold Bloom
|
51
|
24
|
|
1998
|
John Hollander
|
54
|
21
|
|
1999
|
Robert Bly
|
46
|
29
|
|
2000
|
Rita Dove
|
41
|
34
|
|
2001
|
Robert Hass
|
34
|
41
|
|
2002
|
Robert Creeley
|
49
|
26
|
|
2003
|
Yusef Komunyakaa
|
49
|
26
|
|
2004
|
Lyn Hejinian
|
51
|
24
|
|
2005
|
Paul Muldoon
|
36
|
39
|
|
2006
|
Billy Collins
|
46
|
29
|
|
2007
|
Heather McHugh
|
49
|
24
|
|
2008
|
Charles Wright
|
51
|
24
|
|
2009
|
David Wagoner
|
37
|
38
|
|
2010
|
Amy Gerstler | 43 | 32 |
|
Overall
|
1048 (61%) | 675 (39%) | |
*Not included in overall totals.
| Year | Guest Editor | Men | Women | 100 Distinguished: Men | 100 Distinguished: Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1978
|
Ted Solotaroff
|
14
|
8
|
62
|
38
|
|
1979
|
Joyce Carol Oates
|
12
|
13
|
66
|
34
|
|
1980
|
Stanley Elkin
|
17
|
5
|
60
|
40
|
|
1981
|
Hortense Calisher
|
10
|
10
|
64
|
36
|
|
1982
|
John Gardner
|
10
|
10
|
65
|
35
|
|
1983
|
Anne Tyler
|
9
|
11
|
55
|
45
|
|
1984
|
John Updike
|
12
|
8
|
62
|
38
|
|
1985
|
Gail Goodwin
|
10
|
10
|
58
|
42
|
|
1986
|
Raymond Carver
|
12
|
8
|
55
|
46
|
|
1987
|
Ann Beattie
|
13
|
7
|
52
|
48
|
| 1988 |
Mark Helprin
|
12
|
8
|
48
|
52
|
|
1989
|
Margaret Atwood
|
13
|
7
|
64
|
36
|
|
1990
|
Richard Ford
|
9
|
11
|
55
|
45
|
|
1991
|
Alice Adams
|
8
|
12
|
49
|
51
|
|
1992
|
Robert Stone
|
11
|
9
|
52
|
48
|
|
1993
|
Louise Erdrich
|
7
|
13
|
50
|
50
|
|
1994
|
Tobias Wolff
|
13
|
8
|
51
|
49
|
|
1995
|
Jane Smiley
|
11
|
9
|
49
|
52
|
|
1996
|
John Edgar Wideman
|
12
|
12
|
51
|
49
|
|
1997
|
E. Annie Proulx
|
12
|
8
|
55
|
45
|
|
1998
|
Garrison Keillor
|
8
|
12
|
58
|
42
|
|
1999
|
Amy Tan
|
11
|
10
|
45
|
55
|
|
2000
|
E. L. Doctorow
|
12
|
9
|
57
|
43
|
|
2001
|
Barbara Kingsolver
|
9
|
11
|
52
|
48
|
|
2002
|
Sue Miller
|
9
|
11
|
43
|
57
|
|
2003
|
Walter Mosley
|
9
|
11
|
61
|
39
|
|
2004
|
Lorrie Moore
|
9
|
11
|
50
|
49
|
|
2005
|
Michael Chabon
|
13
|
7
|
49
|
51
|
|
2006
|
Ann Patchett
|
13
|
8
|
50
|
50
|
|
2007
|
Stephen King
|
10
|
10
|
54
|
46
|
|
2008
|
Salman Rushdie
|
10
|
10
|
56
|
43
|
|
2009
|
Alice Sebold
|
11
|
9
|
50
|
50
|
|
2010
|
Richard Russo
|
11
|
9
|
49
|
57
|
|
Overall
|
362 (53%) | 315 (47%) | 1,797 (54%) | 1,509 (46%) | |
For more on the Best American Count check out Amy King’s interview with VIDA members Erin Belieu, Danielle Pafunda, Cheryl Strayed, and Adrienne Su: Biting the Hand: VIDA Women Discuss Their Selection For The Best American Series.
I am a young, female writer hoping to break into the genre of nonfiction. Numbers like these make me feel foolish, and then I wonder how many other young women picked up these compilations, literary magazine and periodicals and felt the same way. How many of them stopped writing because of it? To stifle an entire gender is reprehensible , but at least they are not doing it with our permission, or compliance, anymore.
[...] VIDA has taken on much of the earlier criticism thrown their way about their pie chart statistics by providing the raw data and other number type things. But the visual impact of the pie charts does get the point across– take a peek at them here. [...]
Thank you for demonstrating what many women have intuited for so many years.
Terrible news for nonfiction, but thank you so much for investigating. Important numbers. I also appreciated your author discussion about what these numbers mean, and VIDA’s goals.
All the best from Canada,
Christin
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I agree with Debra Levy. Keep up the good work.
Heidi Pitlor has been the series editor of BASS since 2006: it’s worth noting that since then, it’s about 50/50. I think this speaks volumes about the tremendous work she has done during her five years in this capacity.
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