The emergence of a new generation of women writers from the pesantren tradition is an interesting issue in the landscape of Indonesian Islam. Especially, after for a long time, the authorship in the pesantren tradition has been dominated by men. This paper provides a brief description of the writing tradition in the pesantren. It examines how the writing tradition has been developed by the students. It also describes the extent to which women are involved in the writing tradition of pesantren and explores some differences between older generations and the new generation. The paper argues that the most influential factor in the writing achievement among young women writers is self-esteem and learning environments including family and pesantren. Self-esteem is partly developed in a learning environment in which the writers can sharpen their writing skills, strengthen their identities, and broaden their minds. The education system in the pesantren can offer valuable programs to support for this career development.