Exploring modes of portraiture, this project looks at four famous female writers: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Emily Dickinson. The first series of portraits imagines these authors as alive in 2011. The second series removes the subject from the portrait completely, and focuses on their writing. The third series returns back to what they looked like during their lifetimes, juxtaposed with contemporary calendars. Inspired by Roland Barthes "The Death of the Author." this series raises questions about the authority of the author, and the amount which is left up to the reader.