Elissa Bassist edits the Funny Women column and teaches humor writing. Her next class is "How to Write a Comedic Memoir" on 3/30. She wrote Hysterical, a semi-finalist for The Thurber Prize for American humor, and is co-writing Inside Jokes: A Comedy and Creativity Guide for All Writers with Caitlin Kunkel (out in 2026). Her newsletter is Tragedy Plus Time.
In March of 2009, I wrote to Elaine Showalter on behalf of The Rumpus, saying she inspired me as a writer, editor, and feminist. She agreed to an interview, the…
Ann Friedman is one of the editors of my favorite feminist blog, feministing, where she writes the Weekly Feminist Reader (“I know what I’m looking forward to doing this holiday season?…
One of the funniest women on Internet–actually, one of the funniest women alive–is D.E. Rasso, did you know? Thanks to Maud Newton now I know. I really love Maud Newton.…
To start a revolution, we need more than just a column. Occasionally we’d like to link to particularly hysterical funny women all over the Internet. Edith Zimmerman at The Awl…
Dear writers and readers, Finally! The inaugural post for the new Rumpus column Funny Women can be read here. This is just the beginning. You, the writers and readers, will…