The increased attention to women's literature of the early modern period has reinvigorated literary study, not by supplanting the traditional canon but by renewing our interest in it. This summarises the latest scholarship on British women writers who lived from roughly 1500 to 1700 and suggests strategies for presenting their works in the classroom. Thirty-six essays discuss frequently anthologised pieces as well as the writings of women who have come to the notice of scholars only recently.