An article published in The Atlantic Monthly magazine, July 2016, announced that "Women Are Writing the Best Crime Novels." This wasn't personal opinion, but a fact established by statistics from various publishing houses that women wrote, read, and bought the most mystery novels. Although male novelists still published, women writers had captured the genre. So, what did they do with it? How has the genre changed in the hands of these women writers? That's the question this presentation will explore.

Rebecca Worley is a retired University of Delaware English professor, currently teaching courses in the development of mystery and historical novels, focusing particularly on the changes women authors have made to the genres. She has also taught courses that examine the role of literature as it reflects and revises cultural history and national identity, especially the literature of Australia and Scotland. Again, women authors have adopted an insightful perspective on their cultures and histories through their literature, one largely ignored in traditional accounts.

Becky has regularly taught classes in the University of DE’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) program in Wilmington since 2016.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Delaware is a volunteer based, learning cooperative for adults 50+. The Speaker’s Bureau is a group of our instructors who are part of our community outreach effort on education. For more information and to learn how to participate in OLLI, visit olli.udel.edu