 First edition | |
| Cover artist | Ann Dalton |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Published | May 1976 |
| Publisher | Fawcett Gold Medal |
| Media type | Anthology |
| OCLC | 633283420 |
Aurora: Beyond Equality is an anthology of feminist science fiction edited by Vonda N. McIntyre and Susan Janice Anderson and published in 1976. [1] [2]
Vonda N. McIntyre and Susan Janice Anderson began work on Aurora: Beyond Equality in 1974. The anthology followed other collections, such as the 1975 volume Women of Wonder edited by Pamela Sargent, that sought to explore gender in science fiction and the variation in writing style between male and female authors. McIntyre's "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" was among the pieces published in Women of Wonder. [1] For Aurora: Beyond Equality, McIntyre and Anderson asked contributors for stories that, in their words, "would explore the future of human potential after equality between the sexes had been achieved". The editors disliked many of the stories they received, and the collection needed a year to be put together. It was eventually published in May 1976 by Fawcett Gold Medal. [1] [2] [3]
Aurora: Beyond Equality contained eight stories by seven authors, along with an essay by Ursula K. Le Guin. [1] Le Guin's essay, titled "Is Gender Necessary", was a defense of the society of androgynous individuals she depicted in The Left Hand of Darkness , and her choice to use male pronouns for all of them. [3] McIntyre and Anderson were under the impression that they had selected stories from four men and four women; in fact, two of the stories had come from the same author, Alice Sheldon, writing under two different pseudonyms (James Tiptree Jr. and Raccoona Sheldon). [1] The other women authors were Mildred Downey Broxon, Joanna Russ, and Marge Piercy, while the male authors were Dave Skal, P. J. Plauger and Craig Strete. [1]
Science fiction scholar Mike Ashley stated that most of the stories in the collection failed in their attempt to portray a humanistic society, instead depicting "how hopeless men were and how superior women could be". According to Ashley, Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time", an excerpt from a novel of the same name published later that year, was the only piece depicting a non-sexist future. [1] Tiptree's Houston, Houston, Do You Read? won the Nebula and Jupiter awards for best novella in 1976, [4] [5] and the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1977, [6] though it was criticized by some reviewers, including Marion Zimmer Bradley. [1] Plauger's story "Here Be Dragons" entirely avoided using a pronoun for one of the characters, thereby leaving their gender ambiguous. The technique, later also used by McIntyre in her novel Dreamsnake , is described as delivering a feminist lesson, that an individual's capabilities and character were of greater importance than their gender. [2]
Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction focused on such feminist themes as: gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist SF is political because of its tendency to critique the dominant culture. Some of the most notable feminist science fiction works have illustrated these themes using utopias to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.
Science fiction and fantasy serve as important vehicles for feminist thought, particularly as bridges between theory and practice. No other genres so actively invite representations of the ultimate goals of feminism: worlds free of sexism, worlds in which women's contributions are recognized and valued, worlds that explore the diversity of women's desire and sexuality, and worlds that move beyond gender.
Alice Bradley Sheldon was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 until her death. It was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1985 she also occasionally used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. Tiptree was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012.
The Otherwise Award, originally known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon.
"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" is a science fiction novella by American writer James Tiptree, Jr. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1974.
Houston, Houston, Do You Read? is a novella by James Tiptree Jr.. It won a Nebula Award for Best Novella and a Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1977.
Vonda Neel McIntyre was an American science fiction writer and biologist.
Star Songs of an Old Primate is the third short story collection by Alice Sheldon. It was published by Del Rey Books in 1978. It was the first of Tiptree's books published after the revelation that Tiptree was a female, rather than male, writer.
Dreamsnake is a 1978 science fiction novel by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. It is an expansion of her 1973 novelette "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand", for which she won her first Nebula Award in 1974. The story is set on Earth after a nuclear holocaust. The central character, Snake, is a healer who uses genetically modified serpents to cure sickness—one snake is an alien "dreamsnake", whose venom gives dying people pleasant dreams. The novel follows Snake as she seeks to replace her dreamsnake after its death.
Gender has been an important theme explored in speculative fiction. The genres that make up speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural fiction, horror, superhero fiction, science fantasy and related genres, have always offered the opportunity for writers to explore social conventions, including gender, gender roles, and beliefs about gender. Like all literary forms, the science fiction genre reflects the popular perceptions of the eras in which individual creators were writing; and those creators' responses to gender stereotypes and gender roles.
The 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Seacon '79, was held on 23–26 August 1979 at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton, United Kingdom.
Nebula Winners Thirteen is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Samuel R. Delany. It was first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in February 1980, with a paperback edition following from Bantam Books in August 1981.
Nebula Winners Twelve is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Gordon R. Dickson. It was first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in February 1978, and reprinted in December of the same year. A paperback edition followed from Bantam Books in April 1979.
The role of women in speculative fiction has changed a great deal since the early to mid-20th century. There are several aspects to women's roles, including their participation as authors of speculative fiction and their role in science fiction fandom. Regarding authorship, in 1948, 10–15% of science fiction writers were female. Women's role in speculative fiction has grown since then, and in 1999, women comprised 36% of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's professional members. Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley has been called the first science fiction novel, although women wrote utopian novels even before that, with Margaret Cavendish publishing the first in the seventeenth century. Early published fantasy was written by and for any gender. However, speculative fiction, with science fiction in particular, has traditionally been viewed as a male-oriented genre.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was an American author of speculative fiction, realistic fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, librettos, essays, poetry, speeches, translations, literary critiques, chapbooks, and children's fiction. She was primarily known for her works of speculative fiction. These include works set in the fictional world of Earthsea, stories in the Hainish Cycle, and standalone novels and short stories. Though frequently referred to as an author of science fiction, critics have described her work as being difficult to classify.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #3 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the third volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in July 1974, and reissued in July 1976.
Nebula Award Stories 11 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was first published in the United Kingdom in hardcover by Gollancz in November 1976. The first American edition was published in hardcover by Harper & Row in February 1977. Paperback editions followed from Corgi in the U.K. in July 1978, and Bantam Books in the U.S. in August 1978. The American editions bore the variant title Nebula Award Stories Eleven.
Nebula Awards Showcase 2004 is an anthology of award-winning science fiction short works edited by Vonda N. McIntyre. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in March 2004.
"Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vonda N. McIntyre. First published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in October 1973, it was anthologized multiple times, and also formed the first chapter of McIntyre's 1978 novel Dreamsnake. Set after a nuclear holocaust, "Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand" tells of Snake, a healer who uses the venom of three genetically engineered snakes to heal, and follows her effort to heal a nomad boy of a tumor. The story won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1974. It was also nominated for the Hugo Award in the same category, and for the Locus Award for Best Short Fiction. Scholar Anne Hudson Jones called it a powerful story, and stated that its themes were "mythic and universal".
Vonda Neel McIntyre was an American science fiction writer and biologist. This bibliography includes all of her published novels, short fiction, edited volumes, and all collections that include material not previously published.
Women of Wonder, The Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s is an anthology of short stories, novelettes, and novellas edited by Pamela Sargent. It was published in 1995, along a companion volume, Women of Wonder, The Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the Present.
