Isabel Allende is a master storyteller in the genre of magical realism. Her novels have been translated into 30 languages, and have sold more than 51 million copies worldwide.

Her list of honours, awards and accomplishments is truly staggering. But none of this, according to her, reflects who she is, or what has been important in her life.

This spellbinding 2007 TED Talk by world-renowned writer and feminist Isabel Allende alternately made me laugh, cry, and reflect.

So much of what she says revolves around themes that I’ve recently been exploring in my own life. It truly resonated with me, as I hope it will with you.

Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE (born 31 July 1965; married name Murray), better known under the pen name J. K. Rowling.

Rowling is a British author best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990.

Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years.

Pullitzer Prize winner Laurel Ulrich is a historian of early America and the history of women, a university professor at Harvard University.

She is author of the quote: "Well-behaved women rarely make history."

Ulrich's innovative and widely influential approach to history has been described as a tribute to "the silent work of ordinary people."

Emma Goldman (June 27 (NS), 1869 – May 14, 1940) was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She was born in Kovno in the Russian Empire (now Kaunas in Lithuania).

She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.