When the book-length essay A Room of One's Own was published in 1929, it met head-on with controversy. It's an important essay for writers to read because it makes such a compelling argument for a complete change in worldview.
Woolf believed in a "materialistic approach," suggesting that if women had the same advantages as men, including access to education, they would be on equal footing. In A Room of One's Own, Woolf said, "A woman must have money and a room of her own," in order to write fiction. Woolf recommended that the room have a lock and that 500 pounds be provided ($40,000 in today's American dollars). Woolf came from a literary family and took degree-level course at King's College in London. While at King's College, she met some of the reformers of women's education---encounter that helped to shape this famous essay.
When viewed through today's cultural lens, the book still conveys a profound message that bears revisiting: women are just as capable as men at creating meaningful art.
"Women, then, have not had a dog's chance
of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much
stress on money and a room of one's one."
(Taken straight from The Writer's Devotional by Amy Peters.)
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