‘Things are definitely opening up’: the rise of older female writers

The poet and author Jane Aldous, at home in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/The Guardian

The literary world is often accused of an obsession with youth, from multiple awards targeted at authors under 40 to publishers who hunt for new voices exclusively among young writers with a thriving – and instantly marketable – social media following.

But all that is changing, experts say: older, unpublished writers are now at a premium – with radical, edgy women aged into their 80s particularly sought-after.