Few novelists have had greater social impact or fueled more debates than Erica Jong. From her 1973 blockbuster novel, Fear of Flying, to several worldwide bestsellers, her adventurous explorations of female emotion and empowerment have been credited with unlocking “a new female spirit.”

As an undergraduate studying literature at Barnard College, Jong was frustrated by the lack of female authors in her curriculum. “We’d had about 6,000 years of stories from a man’s point of view,” says Jong. “What I sought to do was to slice open a woman’s head and show everything that was happening inside.”
 
Published in 1973 at the heart of a period of self-exploration and sexual liberation, Fear of Flying caused a national sensation. The book’s heroine, Isadora Wing, transgressed sexual norms and became an inspiration for a whole generation of women. An astounding three million copies of Fear of Flying were sold in just three months. More than 20 million copies have now been sold worldwide, translated into 35 languages.

Her latest book is Seducing The Demon: Writing for My Life, which Kirkus Reviews called “A zesty, savvy, freewheeling memoir of the writing life.”

Jong has written eight other novels (including How to Save Your Own Life and Fanny), six award winning volumes of poetry, a mid-life memoir (Fear of Fifty), a biography as well as several other works (including What Do Women Want: Reflections on a Century of Change). Her most recent novel, Sappho’s Leap, tells the story of Sappho, the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece, whose life is largely a mystery. Hailed as “enormously entertaining and wisely provocative” by Booklist, Sappho’s Leap has created a new generation of Jong fans.
 

Her lunchtime talk was quite extraordinary and captivated the statewide Maryland audience.... I believe that everyone in the audience was moved.

The Horizon Foundation

In her speeches, Jong presents an insightful yet compassionate look at the many pressing issues facing modern women and men. Confronting questions of independence, self-esteem, stability, sex, wisdom, power and courage, Jong explores what these terms mean today and whether we have really come as far as we think.

Jong also enjoys lecturing about her Jewish heritage and how Jewish women have contributed to the success of America. In Inventing Memory: A Novel of Mothers and Daughters, she recounts the story of four generations of Jewish-American women, emphasizing the importance of cultivating and documenting family memories for personal fulfillment.

Jong is a board member of the Woodhull Institute, dedicated to creating strong women leaders. She has taught literature and writing at universities nationwide and in 1998 was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature.

Her most recent essays have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, USA Today, The Writer and Elle. She currently is working on a novel featuring Isadora Wing, the heroine of Fear of Flying, as a woman of a certain age.