If I’m honest if I don’t feel entirely comfortable with contributing to the women in science fiction debate that’s been filling the blogs and tweets of people whose opinion I like and respect (links below). It’s not that I don’t support equal opportunities for modern women writers (or even just women in general) or that I’m against promoting the neglected works of women writers of the past \u2013 on the contrary I fully support both the principles and the practice of what people are trying to do.<\/p>\n
My concerns stem from an awareness of the fact that I’m probably not the best person to comment. For a start I’m, you know, a man and therefore this is not an area where I have experience of the pressures and the discrimination facing women writers trying to break through in the sf genre. I know how bloody hard it is as a white man trying to sell stories so I\u2019m sympathetic to those with the same ambition who face higher hurdles but I can\u2019t claim to know what that\u2019s like. But the second, and more salient, point is that I’m a bit of an offender in the whole \u201cignoring-women-in-sf\u201d thing.<\/p>\n
If someone asked me to list my top ten favourite science fiction novels, I don\u2019t think that a woman writer would make it into my list. If you look at my bookshelves then you will find an overwhelming majority of male writers. The same is true in music and films. If you asked me to name my favourite ten albums I don’t think there would be a female performer on that list either nor would there be a woman director in my list of top 10 films.<\/p>\n
Is that a sign that I\u2019m an unreconstructed sexist? Possibly, but I hope not. It’s certainly something I feel somewhat guilty about. I don\u2019t believe it is because I set out to deliberately belittle or ignore the work of women artists. It is possible that my attitudes are shaped by my position in what I am certain is a fundamentally patriarchal society and by biases I’m not aware of \u2013 this is not just plausible but likely \u2013 so I’m not about to argue that my personal preferences represent any kind of assessment of what is objectively \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbest\u201d. By the same token, however, there’s no point lying and pretending that I’m somehow \u201cwithout sin\u201d or speaking from some kind of moral high ground in this debate.<\/p>\n
There are female writers whose work I feel that I should like or that are highly praised but which I just can’t get along with, but I don\u2019t believe my attitude to their writing has anything to do with their gender \u2013 I could fill a fairly large book with rants about highly regarded male authors whose popularity leaves me bewildered.<\/p>\n
However, in the spirit of supporting the Russ Pledge<\/a>, I\u2019m not going to talk any further about works I don\u2019t like. Instead, and in no particular order (other than the how they pop into my head as I type) I want to talk about some of the women writers whose work I enjoy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karen Traviss<\/strong> Lauren Beukes<\/strong> Nina Allan<\/strong> Aliette de Bodard<\/strong> Ursula LeGuin<\/strong> Margaret Atwood<\/strong> Tricia Sullivan<\/strong> Pat Cadigan<\/strong> KJ Parker<\/strong> <\/p>\n So that\u2019s my contribution. I don\u2019t claim anything for my recommendations other than that they\u2019re writers that I like.<\/p>\n Does any of this do any good? I have no idea, only a degree of hope. I certainly don\u2019t think that sympathetic men taking the time to write about and read more work by female sf authors is going to be enough to overcome deeply entrenched social prejudices and institutional bias. But at the same time I can\u2019t see how it does any harm either. In many ways this isn\u2019t my battle to fight \u2013 I\u2019ll assist, cheerlead and support enthusiastically \u2013 but the real struggle will inevitably fall to those women who wish to write science fiction and have their work taken seriously. Dismissing the issue or claiming that it is all some sort of \u201cpolitical correctness gone mad\u201d only ignores the basic duty of civility we owe every person we interact with and the basic right of each person to freedom of expression \u2013 which is not just the right to free speech but the right to strive to reach their fullest potentials without unnecessary hindrance.<\/p>\n If nothing else the ongoing debate about women in sf has encouraged me to broaden my horizons and discover new works that have brought me pleasure. There are now books by Joanna Russ, James Tiptree Jnr, Bharati Mukherjee and Jainne Fenn on my to-be-read-pile along with all those male authors and I intend to ensure that there are more to follow. Perhaps, in some small way, I can encourage you to think about stretching your buying and reading habits beyond your usual tastes and trying something new. Perhaps, together, if we make even a small change in our buying patterns and if we talk about the issue loudly enough, publishers will notice and consider putting more weight behind female sf authors.<\/p>\n As I\u2019ve said, I\u2019ve a little experience of how hard it can be to get published without any obvious disadvantages (apart from my writing), so I have sympathy for anyone struggling down that path with extra burdens placed upon them. Obstacles created by outdated attitudes to gender, race, sexual orientation or creed can be removed if we work hard at it. Ignorance can\u2019t be an excuse for not caring \u2013 which means that those who aren\u2019t willing (even in some small way) to be part of the solution are content to be part of the problem. And that, surely, is not acceptable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some Links<\/strong> Niall Harrison (@niallharrison) did some work on the reviewing of works by women on the Strange Horizon\u2019s site: http:\/\/www.strangehorizons.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/the_sf_count.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n Ian Sales (@Ian_Sales) launched the admirable SF Mistressworks meme: http:\/\/iansales.com\/2011\/03\/17\/the-sf-mistressworks-meme\/<\/a><\/p>\n Damien G Walter (@damiengwalter) at The Guardian<\/em> followed up a piece on science fiction in its Saturday Review section by asking readers to recommend their favourite sf works. The lack of female representation on the list prompted this online article on The Guardian<\/em> website: http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/books\/booksblog\/2011\/may\/31\/women-science-fiction-writers?intcmp=239<\/a><\/p>\n That process prompted a host of responses \u2013 amongst the most influential were Nicola Griffiths (@nicolaz): And Cheryl Morgan (@CherylMorgan <\/strong>):
\nKaren Traviss doesn\u2019t write literature \u2013 in fact she writes books I shouldn\u2019t like \u2013 military sf that\u2019s often set in spin-off worlds from film and video games. No other writer could persuade me to read that mix. But, unlike many mil-sf writers she doesn\u2019t get bogged down in technical details \u2013 she\u2019s good at plot but she\u2019s also excellent at making her characters (and especially her soldiers) feel like real people and their relationships feel like real relationships. She writes like a journalist, has a viewpoint somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan and doesn\u2019t have much time either for UK fandom or literary pretensions \u2013 and yet I think she deserves to be taken seriously as a writer. I\u2019d like to see her do more of her own original fiction but, again, I\u2019ll buy more or less anything she puts her name to.<\/p>\n
\nHas broken through with a superb debut novel (Moxyland<\/em>) and a very good (but not as good?) follow-up (the Clarke-winning Zoo City<\/em>) and is currently riding a wave of critical acclaim that she deserves and which deserves to translate into big sales for her future work. Beukes is an excellent writer with and interesting voice who benefits from bringing a rarely-seen (in Europe and US) South African slant to her work. I will be buying her future novels.<\/p>\n
\nFor me she\u2019s simply the most interesting emerging sf\/fantasy writer in the UK today. She writes beautifully. She has a wonderfully sideways imagination. Her work is smart and challenging and unusual and I can\u2019t wait to read her novel Stardust<\/em> coming from PS Publishing next year. Her first collection of short stories (The Thread of Truth<\/em>) published by Eibonvale Press is very good but she\u2019s grown perceptibly as a writer even since that came out in 2007.<\/p>\n
\nAliette writes sharp, well-defined characters and places them in exotic, precisely realised environments. I\u2019ve enjoyed the first two Obsidian & Blood books and think that she\u2019s only going to improve as a writer. She won this year\u2019s BSFA Short Story Award and racked up a number of award nominations this year, so I\u2019m hardly alone in spotting a developing talent here.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m a very late-comer to the Ursula LeGuin appreciation society. The first book I read by her was Lavinia<\/em> (2009) \u2013 which I found astonishing and revelatory. I\u2019ve since gone back and started to work my way through her back catalogue. I confess to starting with the obvious choices The Dispossessed<\/em>, The Lathe of Heaven<\/em>, The Left Hand of Darkness<\/em>. There\u2019s an extraordinary energy and passion in these books, she is a tremendous writer. Sadly, though, I don\u2019t think even she is good enough to encourage me to buy a series of books with wizards in them. Some prejudices aren\u2019t so easily overcome.<\/p>\n
\nI am going to call her a sf author and I don\u2019t care what she or anyone else says \u2013 is that an example of male oppression? Pfft! I know Atwood has had her disagreements with fandom and I know some people have felt hurt by some of the things she\u2019s said, but the books speak for themselves, or at least they should.<\/p>\n
\nAlthough her latest novel (Lightborn<\/em>) rather washed over me the author of Dreaming in Smoke<\/em>, Double Vision<\/em> and Maul<\/em> has done more than enough to warrant a place here. Another author who I\u2019ll buy every new book she produces.<\/p>\n
\nSince it was cyberpunk that dragged me back into sf after my teenage years away, I could hardly leave out Pat Cadigan. Mindplayers<\/em>, Fools<\/em>, Synners<\/em>, Tea From An Empty Cup<\/em>, Dervish is Digital<\/em> \u2013 I\u2019ve really enjoyed every novel she\u2019s written. I only wish she was more prolific.<\/p>\n
\nI was recently sent The Hammer<\/em> to review. I thought it was an excellent book \u2013 very smartly written and well researched and cleverly constructed. On the surface it is a fantasy novel, but without magic or dragons or hero-quests or elves, it\u2019s fantasy that this sf nerd thoroughly enjoyed. The blurb says the author is a woman, the internet scuttle says she\u2019s a pseudonym for a male writer. In the context of this debate I\u2019m not sure this disqualifies a recommendation for her book here (if a book sold as being written by a female author sells lots of copies then the publishers have less defence for not promoting more books by other \u2013 genuinely \u2013 female authors) although it would, of course, be preferable if s\/he were female. I\u2019ve since gone back and bought The Folding Knife<\/em> and The Company<\/em> and will be reading them soon.<\/p>\n
\nLate last year the BSFA\u2019s Torque Control blog shone some light on good modern books by women and sparked some debate. There are links to that discussion here: http:\/\/vectoreditors.wordpress.com\/sf-by-women-2001-2010\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/asknicola.blogspot.com\/2011\/05\/shocking-uk-sf-favourites-score-men-500.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.cheryl-morgan.com\/?p=10805<\/a><\/p>\n