Female Publishers

The daughter of American publisher and financier Eugene Meyer, Katharine Graham later carried forward her family’s newspaper, The Washington Post. While the newspaper was initially handed over to her husband, Philip Graham, by her father, she took over as the owner, following Philip’s suicide. She later penned a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir.

Alison Tyler is the pen name of an American writer, editor, and publisher. The publisher of erotica, Tyler is credited with writing over 20 explicit novels. She has also edited over 60 erotic anthologies and is credited with founding her own publishing company called Pretty Things Press. Her work, which focuses on erotic themes, has been translated into many languages.

The first North American Black woman to publish a newspaper, USA-born Mary Ann Shadd was the founder of the Canadian newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. Concurrently serving as its anonymous editor and contributor, she also became one of the first women to pursue journalism in Canada. She was also one of the first Black women to earn a degree in law.

Frances Lear was an American activist, writer, editor, and magazine publisher. She is best remembered as an activist for the civil rights, women's movement, and mental health. She is also remembered for founding Lear's, a monthly women's magazine targeting women over 50. In 1989, Frances Lear was named Advertising Age Editor of the Year.

Margaret Busby is a Ghanaian-born British writer, editor, publisher, and broadcaster. In the 1960s, Busby became the first black female and Britain's youngest book publisher when she co-founded Allison and Busby, a London-based publishing house. In 2020, she featured in the 100 Great Black Britons list. In 2021, Margaret Busby won the prestigious London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born to park ranger parents, Irish entrepreneur Norah Casey grew up loving animals and even worked in Dublin Zoo for a while. She then studied nursing but moved on to journalism later, working with Sky and BBC. She now owns the publishing giant Harmonia, the name behind magazines such as Food&Wine.

Laure Adler is a French journalist, TV and radio producer, publisher, and writer. Over the course of her writing career, Adler has written several biographies and numerous essays. Laure Adler achieved popularity as a radio and TV figure when she began interviewing famous personalities like Pierre Vital Georges Bergé, Francis George Steiner, and Pierre de Bénouville.

Aušra Maldeikienė is a Lithuanian politician, political economist, teacher, lecturer, publicist, and author. Having served as the Vilnius City Councilor and Member of the Seimas between 2015 and 2019, Maldeikienė was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019.

Rubén Darío Prize-winning Nicaraguan poet and women’s suffrage activist María Teresa Sánchez is remembered for her immense contribution to Nicaraguan culture. She mostly wrote on themes of pain and sadness. She also established the Círculo de Letras association and founded her own publishing house, Nuevos Horizontes.

Christianne Meneses Jacobs is a Nicaraguan American teacher, writer, and editor. She is best known as the publisher of a Spanish-language children's magazine called Iguana. In 2009, Iguana was awarded the Multicultural Children's Publication Award. Christianne Meneses Jacobs is also credited with founding another children's magazine called YO SÉ!