Although internet culture may have brought about the hashtag #WeirdGirlLit,” women authors have long used writing to explore taboo and forbidden topics deemed beyond the purview of polite/patriarchal society. While Heather Colley of Writers Digest has noted that “Women in literary fiction are becoming murderers, cannibals, psychopaths, and stalkers,” we contend that female protagonists have long been unhinged both across time and space. Historically, freaky (anti)heroines have served as a release through which women readers could escape the restrictive confines of ideal femininity and instead probe hidden desires and other illicit aspects of their identities. 

As early as 1892, American author Charlotte Perkins Gil (1860-1935) wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper," the macabre tale of a woman locked away by her physician/husband. Similarly,  Spain’s  Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921) wrote the short story “La resucitada” in 1908 about a zombie mother who elected to return to her mausoleum instead of remaining in the land of the living with her "beloved" family. 

Moreover, the 20th century brought about writers such as Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) whose female protagonists often experienced hallucinatory fantasies, while Sylvia Plath’s (1932-1963)work explored complex emotions such as female rage and isolation.

In more recent times, we have seen a wave of cultural productions that deal with a multiplicity of disturbing topics such as cannibalism (Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica), death, body horror (The Substance [2024] Saccharine [2026]), self mutilation (“The Things We Lost in the Fire” by Mariana Enríquez), and the terrors of maternity (Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and Huesera/The Bone Woman [2022]).

This panel seeks to spark conversation about #WeirdGirlLit through analyses of literary and filmic texts that explore the more grisly parts of womanhood. We are interested in investigating the forces that engender these dark stories. Could the current tear of weird girl themes be a cathartic reaction to influencer culture (tradwives) and conservatives’ on-going attempts/successes to demolish women’s rights? How do these texts allow us to make sense of these extreme binaries? Moreover, what are the limitations of this categorization? I.e; why do we use the term weird girl and not weird woman? Likewise, what classifies a woman as weird? Is #WeirdGirlLit truly challenging the patriarchy or is it reaffirming it through this label? How does race, class, and sexuality come into play within this category?

We are interested in hearing from panelists from various international disciplines. In addition to aforementioned authors and  directors, admissions may address but are not limited to: Elif Batuman, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Octavia Butler, Michelle Garza Cervera, Diablo Cody, Akwaeke Emezi, Kate Folk, Charlotte Perkins Gilmore, Miranda July, Han Kang, Carmen Maria Machado, Toni Morrison, Otessa Moshfegh, Anita Rocha da Silveira, and Samanta Schweblin.