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Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
,
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...
and feminist literary criticism such as '' How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as well as a contemporary novel, ''On Strike Against God'', and one children's book, ''Kittatinny''. She is best known for '' The Female Man'', a novel combining utopian fiction and satire, and the story " When It Changed".


Background

Joanna Russ was born in
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
, New York City, to Evarett I. and Bertha (née Zinner) Russ, both teachers. Her family was Jewish. She began creating works of fiction at a very early age. Over the following years she filled countless notebooks with stories, poems, comics and illustrations, often hand-binding the material with thread. As a senior at William Howard Taft High School, Russ was selected as one of the top ten Westinghouse Science Talent Search winners. She graduated from
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...
, where she studied with
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...
, in 1957, and received her MFA from the Yale Drama School in 1960. She was briefly married to Albert Amateau. Russ taught at Queensborough Community College from 1966-1967, at Cornell from 1967-1972, SUNY Binghamton, from 1972-1975, and at the University of Colorado, Boulder, from 1975-1977. In 1977 she started teaching at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
. She became a full professor in 1984 and retired in 1991. Russ was awarded a
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
fellowship in 1974-1975.


Science fiction and other writing

Russ came to be noticed in the science fiction world in the late 1960s, in particular for her award-nominated novel ''Picnic on Paradise.'' At the time, SF was a field dominated by male authors, writing for a predominantly male audience, but women were starting to enter the field in larger numbers. Russ was one of the most outspoken female authors to challenge male dominance of the field, and is generally regarded as one of the leading feminist science fiction scholars and writers. She was also one of the first major science fiction writers to take
slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...
and its cultural and literary implications seriously. Over the course of her life, she published over fifty short stories. Russ was associated with the American New Wave of science fiction. Along with her work as a writer of prose fiction, Russ was also a playwright, essayist, and author of nonfiction works, generally literary criticism and feminist theory, including the essay collection ''Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts''; '' How to Suppress Women's Writing''; and the book-length study of modern feminism, '' What Are We Fighting For?''. Her essays and articles have been published in '' Women's Studies Quarterly'', ''
Signs Signs may refer to: * ''Signs'' (2002 film), a 2002 film by M. Night Shyamalan * ''Signs'' (TV series) (Polish: ''Znaki'') is a 2018 Polish-language television series * ''Signs'' (journal), a journal of women's studies *Signs (band), an American ...
'', ''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies'', '' Science Fiction Studies'', and ''
College English ''College English'' is an official publication of the American National Council of Teachers of English and is aimed at college-level teachers and scholars of English. The peer-reviewed journal publishes articles on a range of topics related to the ...
''. Russ was a self-described socialist feminist, expressing particular admiration for the work and theories of
Clara Fraser Clara Fraser (March 12, 1923 – February 24, 1998) was a socialist feminist political organizer, who co-founded and led the Freedom Socialist Party and Radical Women. Biography Early life and activism Clara Fraser was born in 1923 to J ...
and her
Freedom Socialist Party The Freedom Socialist Party is a left-wing socialist political party with a revolutionary feminist philosophy based in the United States. It views the struggles of women and minorities as part of the struggle of the working class. It emerged from ...
. Both fiction and nonfiction, for Russ, were modes of engaging theory with the real world; in particular, '' The Female Man'' can be read as a theoretical or narrative text. The short story, " When It Changed," which became a part of the novel, explores the constraints of gender and asks if gender is necessary in a society. Russ's writing is characterized by anger interspersed with humor and irony.
James Tiptree Jr Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...
, in a letter to her, wrote, "Do you imagine that anyone with half a functional neuron can read your work and not have his fingers smoked by the bitter, multi-layered anger in it? It smells and smoulders like a volcano buried so long and deadly it is just beginning to wonder if it can explode." In a letter to Susan Koppelman, Russ asks of a young feminist critic "where is her anger?" and adds "I think from now on, I will not trust anyone who isn't angry." For nearly 15 years she was an influential (if intermittent) review columnist for ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...
''. Though by then she was no longer an active member of
science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...
, she was interviewed by phone during Wiscon (the feminist
science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...
in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...
) in 2006 by her friend and member of the same cohort, Samuel R. Delany. Her first SF story was "Nor Custom Stale" in F&SF (1959). Notable short works include Hugo winner and Nebula Award finalist "Souls" (1982), Nebula Award and Tiptree Award winner " When It Changed" (1972), Nebula Award finalists "The Second Inquisition" (1970), "Poor Man, Beggar Man" (1971), "The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand" (1979), and "The Mystery of the Young Gentlemen" (1982). Her fiction has been nominated for nine Nebula and three Hugo Awards, and her genre-related scholarly work was recognized with a Pilgrim Award in 1988. Her story "The Autobiography of My Mother" was one of the 1977 O. Henry Prize stories."In Memoriam: Joanna Russ (1937–2011)"
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...
. April 29, 2011.
She wrote several contributions to feminist thinking about
pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,
and sexuality including "Pornography by Women, for Women, with Love" (1985), "Pornography and the Doubleness of Sex for Women", and "Being Against Pornography", which can be found in her archival pieces located in the University of Oregon's Special Collections. These essays include very detailed descriptions of her views on pornography and how influential it was to feminist thought in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, in "Being Against Pornography", she calls pornography a feminist issue. Her issues with pornography range from feminist issues, to women's sexuality in general and how porn prevents women from freely expressing their sexual selves, like men can. Russ believed that anti-pornography activists were not addressing how women experienced pornography created by men, a topic that she addressed in "Being Against Pornography".


Reputation and legacy

Her work is widely taught in courses on science fiction and feminism throughout the English speaking world. Russ is the subject of Farah Mendlesohn's book ''On Joanna Russ'' and Jeanne Cortiel's ''Demand My Writing: Joanna Russ, Feminism, Science Fiction''. Russ and her work are prominently featured in Sarah LeFanu's'' In the Chinks of the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction'' (1988). She was named to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013. Gwyneth Jones wrote a 2019 book about Joanna Russ that was part of the University of Illinois Press series called Modern Masters of Science Fiction. In a 2004 essay about the connections between Russ's work and
D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
's film '' Intolerance'', Samuel R. Delany describes her as being "one of the finest - and most necessary - writers of American fiction" since she published her first professional short story in 1959. Her papers are part of the University of Oregon's Special Collections and University Archives.


Critical writings

The late 1960s and 1970s marked the beginnings of feminist SF scholarship—a field of inquiry that was all but created single-handedly by Russ, who contributed many essays on feminism and science fiction that appeared in journals such as ''
College English ''College English'' is an official publication of the American National Council of Teachers of English and is aimed at college-level teachers and scholars of English. The peer-reviewed journal publishes articles on a range of topics related to the ...
'' and '' Science Fiction Studies''.Yaszek, Lisa. "A History of One's Own: Joanna Russ and the Creation of a Feminist SF Tradition". In . She also contributed 25 reviews to the '' Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', covering more than 100 books of all genres.James, Edward. "Russ on Writing Science Fiction and Reviewing It". In . In their article "Learning the 'Prophet Business': The Merril-Russ Intersection," Newell and Tallentire described Russ as an "intelligent, tough-minded reviewer who routinely tempered harsh criticism with just the sort of faint praise she handed out to Judith Merril", who in turn was among the foremost editors and critics in American science fiction in the late 1960s. Russ was also described as a fearless, incisive, and radical person, whose writing was often characterized as acerbic and angry. Russ was acclaimed as one of science fiction's most revolutionary and accomplished writers.
Helen Merrick Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, G ...
went so far as to claim that Russ was an inescapable figure in science fiction history.
James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known un ...
once commented on how Russ could be an "absolute delight" one minute, but then she "rushes out and bites my ankles with one sentence". For example, Russ criticized Ursula K. Le Guin's 1969 '' The Left Hand of Darkness'', which won both the 1969
Nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...
and 1970 Hugo awards for best science fiction novel, arguing that gender discriminations that permeated science fiction by men showed up just as frequently in science fiction by women. According to Russ, Le Guin's novel represented these stereotypes. However, Russ was well aware of the pressures of writing for a living since she was also an author herself. Russ also felt that science fiction gives something to its readers that cannot be easily acquired anywhere else. She maintained that science should be accurate, and seriousness is a virtue. She insisted on the unique qualities of her chosen genre, maintaining that science fiction shared certain qualities with art and its flexibility compared to other forms writing. Russ was also interested in demonstrating the unique potentials of women science fiction writers. As her career moved into its second decade in the 1980s, she started to worry about reviewing standards. She once said, "The reviewer's hardest task is to define standards." Russ's reviewing style was characterized by logic. She was attacked by readers because of her harsh reviews of
Stephen R. Donaldson Stephen Reeder Donaldson (born May 13, 1947) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist, most famous for ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'', his ten-novel fantasy series. His work is characterized by psychological complexity ...
's '' Lord Foul's Bane'' (1977) and Joy Chant's '' The Grey Mane of Morning'' (1977). She organized attacks into these seven categories, taken directly from the cited article: *Don't shove your politics into your reviews. Just review the books. "I will," Russ said, "when authors keep politics out of their books." *You don't prove what you say; you just assert it. "There is no way to "prove" anything in aesthetic or moral matters." *Then your opinion is purely subjective. "I might be subjective, but not arbitrary. It is based on a critic's whole education." *Everyone's entitled to his icown opinion. "Writing is a craft too, and it can be judged. And some opinions are worth a good deal more than others." *I knew it. You're a snob. "Science fiction is a small world that often doesn't look outside of its own bounds." *You're vitriolic too. "The only way to relieve oneself of the pain that has to be endured by reading every line is to express one's opinions vividly, precisely, and compactly." *Never mind all that stuff. Just tell me what I'd enjoy reading. "Bless you, what makes you think I know?" However, she felt guilty about dire and frank criticism. She apologized for her harsh words on Lloyd Biggle's ''
The Light That Never Was ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
'' (1972) by saying, "It's narsty to beat up on authors who are probably starving to death on turnip soup ('' ghoti'' soup) but critics ought to be honest."


Personal life

Around the time of the publication of ''The Female Man'' in 1975, Russ came out as a lesbian. However, Russ remained protective of her personal life, and as late as a December 1981 interview with Charles Platt, she was still evasive on the subject for the first third of the interview.


Health

In her later life she published little, largely because of
chronic pain Chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than three to six months. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain is sometimes determined by the amount of time since onset. Two commonly used markers are pain that continues ...
and
chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The Pathophysiology, causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing c ...
. On April 27, 2011, it was reported that Russ had been admitted to a hospice after suffering a series of strokes. Samuel R. Delany was quoted as saying that Russ was "slipping away" and had long had a " do not resuscitate" order on file. Silver, Steven H. (April 27, 2011)
"Joanna Russ in Hospice"
'' SF Site''.
She died early in the morning on April 29, 2011.


Selected works

;Novels * ''
Picnic on Paradise ''The Adventures of Alyx'' is a 1976 collection of feminist science fiction stories by American writer Joanna Russ, initially entitled ''Alyx'' by Gregg Press in hardback without a dustjacket. It was published in 1983 with the title ''The Adventure ...
'' (1968) * ''
And Chaos Died ''And Chaos Died'' (1970) is a science fiction novel by American writer Joanna Russ, perhaps the genre's best-known feminist author. Its setting is a dystopian projection of modern society, in which Earth's population has continued to grow, with ...
'' (1970) * '' The Female Man'' (1975) * '' We Who Are About To...'' (1977) * '' The Two of Them'' (1978) * ''On Strike Against God: A Lesbian Love Story'' (1980) (novella) ;Short fiction collections * '' The Adventures of Alyx'' (1976) (includes ''Picnic on Paradise'') * '' The Zanzibar Cat'' (1983) * ''
Extra(ordinary) People ''Extra(ordinary) People'' is a 1984 collection of feminist science fiction stories by Joanna Russ. The novella "Souls" won the 1983 Hugo Award for the best novella. Contents * "Souls" (1982) novella, originally published in F&SF, January 1982. * ...
'' (1985) * '' The Hidden Side of the Moon'' (1987) ;Children's fiction * ''Kittatinny: A Tale of Magic'' (1978) ;Play * "Window Dressing" in ''The New Women's Theatre'' edited by Honor Moore. New York, Random House (1977) ;Nonfiction: essays and collections * ''Speculations on the Subjunctivity of Science Fiction'' (1973) * ''Somebody's Trying to Kill Me and I Think It's My Husband: The Modern Gothic'' (1973) * '' How to Suppress Women's Writing'' (1983) * ''Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts: Feminist Essays'' (1985) * ''
To Write Like a Woman ''To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction'' is a collection of essays by Joanna Russ, published in 1995.''To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction'' Russ, Joanna. Indiana University Press. 1995. . Many o ...
'' (1995) * ''What Are We Fighting For?: Sex, Race, Class, and the Future of Feminism'' (1997) * ''The Country You Have Never Seen: Essays and Reviews'' (2007)


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* BBC Radio 4 Programm
Cat Women of the Moon

Guide to the Joanna Russ papers at the University of Oregon


at NY Times
''Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts: Feminist Essays''
by Joanna Russ (1985) ; Databases *
Joanna Russ
entry at
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, contin ...

NovelGuide.com Biography
*
Joanna Russ
at
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
Authorities, with 23 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Russ, Joanna 1937 births 2011 deaths 20th-century American novelists American essayists American feminist writers American science fiction writers American speculative fiction critics Women science fiction and fantasy writers American socialists American women novelists Cornell University alumni Cthulhu Mythos writers Feminist studies scholars Hugo Award-winning writers Jewish American writers Jewish feminists Jewish socialists LGBT Jews American lesbian writers Nebula Award winners Radical feminists Science fiction academics Science fiction critics Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees University of Washington faculty Writers from the Bronx Writers from Seattle Yale School of Drama alumni American LGBT novelists American women essayists Women horror writers 20th-century American women writers Novelists from Washington (state) Novelists from New York (state) American socialist feminists Weird fiction writers