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Women science fiction authors Wikipedia

Although the novel Frankenstein, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley, has been called the first science fiction novel, there is a persistent but false belief that women did not enter the field of science fiction writing until the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, authors like Leigh Brackett, Katherine MacLean and Margaret St. Clair|Idris Seabright had been writing science fiction almost from the genre's birth in 1926. Some, like Andre Norton were amongst the most popular writers in the field, even if they had to use male sounding pseudonyms, or like C. L. Moore had to hide the fact that they were female by using their initials. A key female figure central to the American SF scene throughout the 1950s and 60s was Judith Merril, influential writer and editor whose catalytic Year's Best anthology series of SF stories ran from 1956 to 1967.

Important anthologies of early women sf writers are Women of Wonder (1974) and More Women of Wonder (1976), both edited by Pamela Sargent.

What happened in the 1960s in science fiction was a mirroring of what happened in society as a whole. Thanks to the New Wave (science fiction)|New Wave, championed by Judith Merril, old taboos were broken and a new generation of women writers could enter the field. This was followed in the late 1960s and 1970s by a wave of feminist science fiction, by such writers as Joanna Russ and Sheri S. Tepper. In books like The Female Man and The Gate to Women's Country these writers used science fiction to explore feminist, gender and sexual issues, building on the work done in the 1960s by people like Ursula LeGuin.

Since then, women science fiction writers have entered all parts of the field, from hard science fiction to science fantasy and everything in between.

Notable women in the science fiction field include:

• Patricia Anthony

• Catherine Asaro

• Margaret Atwood

• Kage Baker

• Leigh Brackett

• Marion Zimmer Bradley

• Lois McMaster Bujold

• Octavia Butler

• Pat Cadigan

• Suzy McKee Charnas

• C. J. Cherryh

• Jo Clayton

• Brenda Clough

• Julie E. Czerneda

• Candas Dorsey

• Suzette Haden Elgin

• Kate Elliott

• Esther Friesner

• Mary Gentle

• Lisa Goldstein

• Kathleen Ann Goonan

• Nicola Griffith

• Eileen Gunn

• Barbara Hambly

• Zenna Henderson

• Nathalie Henneberg

• Nalo Hopkinson

• Tanya Huff

• Marina Jadrejcic

• Tatjana Jambrisak

• Gwyneth Jones

• Janet Kagan

• Nancy Kress

• Mercedes Lackey

• Sue Lange

• Tanith Lee

• Ursula K. Le Guin

• Doris Lessing

• Julian May

• Anne McCaffrey

• Maureen McHugh

• Vonda McIntyre

• Katherine MacLean

• Judith Merril

• Elizabeth Moon

• C. L. Moore

• Pat Murphy

• Linda Nagata

• Andre Norton

• Rebecca Ore

• Kristine Kathryn Rusch

• Joanna Russ

• Pamela Sargent

• Mary Shelley

• Susan Shwartz

• Joan Slonczewski

• Martha Soukup

• Margaret St. Clair

• Sheri S. Tepper

• James Tiptree, Jr

• Joan D. Vinge

• Elisabeth Vonarburg

• Cherry Wilder

• Kate Wilhelm

• Connie Willis

• Heidi Wyss

• Sarah Zettel

Last Modified:   2005-12-19