women as literary artists doubtless existed prior to the nineteenth century. It may be presumed without fear of contradiction that in precolonial times,alongside the menfolk, women also invented riddles,proverbs,songs and tales. when the printing press was introduced by the Spaniards and with it the custom of appending a by-line to a literary piece as a sign of ownership, mysteriously not a single poem or essay ever got attributed to a woman. why? Researchers have not yet come up with a definitive reply. Perhaps writing for print carried with it a set of expectations that women,in the social setting of the times, were not given the opportunity to meet.