Women writers were also active in the Norwegian literature scene from the last century, starting with Camialla Collett (1813-1895), a pioneer of women’s literature who fought for women’s rights and became one of the most prominent prose writers of her time. A contemporary of Wergeland and Welhaven (she was the sister of Wergeland and became romantically involved with Welhaven), she published (anonymously) Amtmannens døtre ('The District Governor’s Daughters', 1855) and claimed that ‘the time has come when women will study the novel, not for the purpose of aimless reverie, but to gain information, achieve awareness and find evidence.’ Whilst some time would elapse before gender equality was achieved in the literary field, significant progress was made in the following decades and between 1850 and 1870 the work of no fewer than 13 women writers was published.

One of the most important literary figures of the late 19th century was Amalie Skram (1846-1905), who wrote naturalistic novels in which she openly portrayed and analysed contemporary social injustices, shocking her readers. In 1887-1889 she published the four-volume novel Hellemyrsfolket ('The People of Hellemyr'), which is considered to be the most extreme exponent of naturalism in Norway.

Another significant woman writer is Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 (see 1890-1945 - modern psychology).