Surprise! Harper Lee is in fact a woman

Twitter reactions to news of a follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird including one from a BBC editor flub one rather important detail: its author is female

Never mind terrible book covers for female authors – this is, frankly, small potatoes in the world of gender and literature. Because even if you’re one of the most successful female novelists of the 20th century, some people will naively think that only a male pen could craft a classic. For proof, look no further than tweets following the announcement of Harper Lee’s newest book today.

BBC North America editor (no less!) Jon Sopel ate humble pie immediately after posting this gem (he later deleted it):

Related: Harper Lee to publish new novel, 55 years after To Kill a Mockingbird

Just announced Harper Lee will publish second novel 55 years after "to Kill a Mockingbird" - glad his writers block got sorted #norush

good point everyone....

Harper Lee the author of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is going to publish his second novel. Source:@nytimes #ToKillamockingbird

Harper Lee will have his second novel this July! After almost 50 years.

i had thought that Harper Lee was a man. :/

I Still Don't Know If Harper Lee Is A Man Or A Woman And At This Point I'm Too Afraid To Ask

Harper Lee... male or female? Years of research and scientists are still unsure

#YesAllWomen because Currer and Ellis Bell, Harper Lee, and Robert Galbraith were only taken seriously under male or androgynous names

Harper Lee cheat sheet: she's not a man; it's a book AND a film; both are rather good; she's not on Twitter; she's not copying Zoella

Continue reading...