Monique Wittig is one of relatively few French feminist writers whose work has made an impact on both sides of the Atlantic, even though her audience has been largely restricted to radical feminist groups and progressive academic circles. Within these two groups, however, Wittig has become an important point of reference.

Belonging to a generation of French writers and theorists which distinguishes clearly between an author's private life and his or her work, Wittig has ceded very few personal details. Born in Belgium in 1935, the daughter of the Belgian poet Henri Dubois, Wittig achieved literary prominence with the 1964 publication of L'Opoponax, which won the Prix Médicis. Wittig's commitment to the feminist movement came to the fore in 1970 in her emergence as the spokeswoman of the newly formed Féministes Révolutionnaires, a consciousness-raising feminist association aiming to subvert the patriarchal order. Wittig was also...