4 More Women Sci-fi Authors You Haven’t Heard Of

The more science fiction books I add to my TBR, the more I learn about pioneering women’s science fiction. So I thought I would create another list of women sci-fi authors! You might have heard of some of these authors, but do you know about their lives? Have you read any of their work? If you have, let me know in the comments below!

Here are five more women science fiction authors you may or may not have heard of.

Anna Kavan

Anna Kavan, or Helen Emily Woods, appears first on this list. Born in 1901, Kavan initially began painting before also turning to writing in the 1930s. Kavan wrote several novels during this period, under the name Helen Ferguson (the last name of her first husband). These books, however, weren’t science fiction, but rather books that dealt with issues she experienced in her own life. Kavan experienced depression as well as drug addiction, eventually leading to hospitalization.

However, Kavan went on to write more novels, including Ice, a book best described as science fiction. However, the book ultimately defies genre. Originally titled The Cold World, the book follows an unnamed protagonist as a massive ice shelf threatens the world during the apocalypse. The book remains Anna Kavan’s best-known work.

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Judith Merril

American-Canadian author Judith Merril, real name Judith Josephine Grossman, wrote science fiction while also being an activist and editor. Born in 1923, Merril first began writing novels in other genres. She eventually turned to science fiction, publishing under the joint pen name Cyril Judd. She often collaborated with Futurian and author C. M. Kornbluth.

Merril wrote a number of short stories and novels through the 1940s and 50s, becoming well-known throughout the community alongside authors such as James Blish and Damon Knight. She founded the Milford Writers’ Conference as well. Her 1950 work, Shadow on the Hearth, remains one of her best-known works.

Gertrude Barrows Bennett 

Also known as Francis Stevens, Bennett wrote a number of novels in both fantasy and science fiction. Born in 1884, her work predates the Golden Age, but of course I needed to place her on this list. She mostly wrote short stories between 1917 and 1920, though some of her work may or may not predate that. For example, she wrote and published her first short story at seventeen years old. After publishing the story in The Argosy, Bennett became likely the first woman to publish a science fiction short story.

Bennett eventually turned to writing novellas, as well as publishing her best-known work, The Citadel of Fear, in 1918. Unfortunately, some of her work was lost when one of the magazines she planned to publish with folded. To this day, Gertrude Barrows Bennett stands as a pioneer in fantasy and science fiction, as well as an influence on different authors such as H. P. Lovecraft.

Joanna Russ

Lastly, besides writing science fiction and fantasy, Joanna Russ also wrote feminist criticism. Born in 1937, she initially started out as an academic. She graduated from Cornell University as well as the Yale Drama School before teaching at several different universities. She eventually started writing science fiction, publishing her first novel in the late 1960s. The work, Picnic on Paradise, depicts several feminist science fiction short stories at a time when SF was mostly written by men.

Russ, however, challenged this idea. She wrote several novels as well as feminist criticism, including the criticism How to Suppress Women’s Writing. Her best-known science fiction work, The Female Man, remains an iconic feminist satire during the period. She also wrote reviews for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. She also became part of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2013.

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If there are any authors I haven’t covered yet, let me know in the comments below! Check out my previous post where I covered some other sci-fi women authors as well. Happy reading!

7 Women Sci-fi Authors You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

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