Although she made her Broadway debut with Indecent in 2016, playwright Paula Vogel has long been hailed for her unflinching exploration of taboo topics, from the AIDS crisis to child abuse.

Judith Herzberg has been hailed as one of the greatest living Dutch poets for her ability to imbue everyday objects with unexpected meaning.

One of the great poets of modern Israeli literature, Lea Goldberg used the forms of Eastern European folk songs to capture the world lost in the Holocaust.

While Carrie Fisher was best known for her early film roles, she spent most of her career as a script doctor, shaping characters for others to play.

Ellen Kushner’s revolutionary fantasy novel Swordspoint offered an important early example of a strong, successful gay hero in a committed relationship.

Fashion writer Tavy Stone reached the pinnacle of her career when she was chosen as one of only seven American reporters allowed to cover the wedding of Lady Diana and Prince Charles.

One of the youngest playwrights ever to have a play produced on Broadway, Liz Swados was unafraid of tackling heavy subjects like politics, racism, and mental illness.

Standup comedian Judy Gold won two Daytime Emmys for her work writing and producing the Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1998 and 1999.

Through performance art pieces like Kate Bornstein Is a Queer and Pleasant Danger and The Opposite Sex is Neither, Kate Bornstein questions society’s understanding of gender as a binary.