From BookRiot:
Youth is often celebrated, especially in publishing; there is a pervasive idea that one must debut by Age X (often 30) or one has Failed Utterly. Every time a list of authors under age 35 (or whatever arbitrary age the list writer chooses) appears, there is a backlash because a young debut is a rarity and those lists ignore the many reasons that most authors debut later. Many of my favorite authors had their debuts in their 20s and 30s, but at age 40 and as yet unpublished, I find myself rather invested in older debuts.
. . . .
For the purposes of this list, I have selected women writers whose debut traditionally published full-length work came out after their 35th birthday. Because of the barriers to publishing, many older debuts are self-published, and I had to make a choice on whether to include them; I chose not to, but encourage you to seek them out on your own.
. . . .
GEORGE ELIOT
Best known for Middlemarch, her debut Adam Bede was published when she was 40 years old.
ANNIE PROULX
The author of The Shipping News and “Brokeback Mountain” was 57 when Postcards came out.
ISAK DINESEN (KAREN BLIXEN)
Best known for Out of Africa and “Babette’s Feast,” her debut was Seven Gothic Tales, which came out when she was 48.
ISABEL ALLENDE
The House of the Spirits was published when she was 40.
TONI MORRISON
The Bluest Eye came out when she was 39.
Link to the rest at BookRiot
I debuted in my 50s and finished my series this year–when I am 60.
I don’t feel old at all. I feel pretty damned proud of myself.
Well, that makes me feel real old at 62, and while arguably I finished my first novel before I was 60 the assumptions about the age a writer debuts makes is a fascinating topic for discussion.