As someone who wrote part of her graduate thesis on feminist literary utopias, I loved Helen Merrick's The Secret Feminist Cabal (Aqueduct Press, 2009). It joins and chronicles the "grand conversation" about feminist science fiction. I found it irresistible, and picked it up at WisCon 35, the feminist science fiction convention. Published by Seattle's feminist sf Aqueduct Press, the book is on the 2010 Tiptree Award Honor List. As well as a good read, I admit it is also sheer fun carrying around a book entitled The Secret Feminist Cabal.
The book pairs well with Justine Larbalestier's The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction and Daughters of the Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century (both on my bookshelves and highly recommended) and Pamela Sargent's Women of Wonder anthologies (on my wish list). It also points to Aqueduct Press and Tachyon Publications for more fantastic feminist sf reading.
I most enjoyed the chapters: "Birth of a Sub-Genre: Feminist SF and its Criticism" (about the emergence of the writing and including a discussion of utopias); "Another Science "Fiction?"? Feminist Stories of Science" (about women in science); and "Beyond Gender? Twenty-First Century SF Feminisms" (which includes discussion of the Tiptree Award, its judging process, and its texts).
It includes discussion of some of my favorite books including Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood (formerly Xenogenesis trilogy); and Joan Slonczewski's A Door into Ocean as well as The Carhullan Army (which I just read with Seattle's Feminist Science Fiction Book Club).
I already had a long feminist science fiction reading list, but after reading this I also added Sheila Finch's Triad, Judith Moffet's The Ragged World, and Theodore Roszak's The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein. And I moved Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, and Gwyneth Jones' Life to the top of my to-read list.
I noted how in her critique, Merrick points out that WisCon is not a "utopian feminist space" with regard to some of the short fallings of the genre and conversation particularly with regard to race. As a newcomer, I described my own my first WisCon as rather utopian in my earlier post: Why WisCon? A Quest: Utopia Found!.
Merrick raises the discussion of whether the Tiptree Award is still needed to raise awareness of women's writing and feminist contributions to the field — Are women more well known and accepted in the field making this special recognition unnecessary? My own answer is an emphatic, "Yes, it's still needed." Even as an avid reader, as a young woman growing up in a small town, it took me a long time to find the reading I connected to and this conversation. The award helped. Also, it brings attention to more challenging and interesting texts which might otherwise be overlooked.
The book pairs well with Justine Larbalestier's The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction and Daughters of the Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century (both on my bookshelves and highly recommended) and Pamela Sargent's Women of Wonder anthologies (on my wish list). It also points to Aqueduct Press and Tachyon Publications for more fantastic feminist sf reading.
I most enjoyed the chapters: "Birth of a Sub-Genre: Feminist SF and its Criticism" (about the emergence of the writing and including a discussion of utopias); "Another Science "Fiction?"? Feminist Stories of Science" (about women in science); and "Beyond Gender? Twenty-First Century SF Feminisms" (which includes discussion of the Tiptree Award, its judging process, and its texts).
It includes discussion of some of my favorite books including Nicola Griffith's Ammonite, Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood (formerly Xenogenesis trilogy); and Joan Slonczewski's A Door into Ocean as well as The Carhullan Army (which I just read with Seattle's Feminist Science Fiction Book Club).
I already had a long feminist science fiction reading list, but after reading this I also added Sheila Finch's Triad, Judith Moffet's The Ragged World, and Theodore Roszak's The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein. And I moved Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, and Gwyneth Jones' Life to the top of my to-read list.
I noted how in her critique, Merrick points out that WisCon is not a "utopian feminist space" with regard to some of the short fallings of the genre and conversation particularly with regard to race. As a newcomer, I described my own my first WisCon as rather utopian in my earlier post: Why WisCon? A Quest: Utopia Found!.
Merrick raises the discussion of whether the Tiptree Award is still needed to raise awareness of women's writing and feminist contributions to the field — Are women more well known and accepted in the field making this special recognition unnecessary? My own answer is an emphatic, "Yes, it's still needed." Even as an avid reader, as a young woman growing up in a small town, it took me a long time to find the reading I connected to and this conversation. The award helped. Also, it brings attention to more challenging and interesting texts which might otherwise be overlooked.
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