Joanna Russ: 2015 ReaderCon discussion panels

I was unaware of Joanna Russ's unfortunate post-electroconvulsive therapy lack of desire to write...I thought most of her relative silence toward the end of her life was more a matter of treating with her chronic back/spine problems...I still marvel at those who think that Russ thought of Whileaway, in The Female Man, as a utopia, when Russ clearly (to me) satirically incorporates ridiculous and taken-for-granted cruelty as part of the society. (Anyone who tries to withdraw from Whileaway society can be and, they think, should be hunted down and killed--that's Janet Evason's job.)--TM

What Joanna Russ's Work Meant to Me. Elizabeth Bear, Lila Garrott (leader), Nicola Griffith, Eileen Gunn, Gary K. Wolfe. Russ, Alice Sheldon, Ursula K. Le Guin, and other feminist writers of the 1970s inspired a whole generation of female writers and readers—and also stirred things up within fandom as a whole, upending expectations of what women could write and what they should write. Now a new generation of writers is reading Russ through the lenses of third-wave feminism, womanism, and other philosophies both distinct from and responding to that pioneering work. Our panelists will talk about their experiences of reading Russ (and her contemporaries) and the ways that her work invigorates, challenges, and connects with today's writers and readers.


The Works of Joanna Russ. Gwynne Garfinkle, David G. Hartwell, Barbara Krasnoff (moderator). Joanna Russ (1937-2011) was, arguably, the most influential writer of feminist science fiction the field has ever seen. In addition to her classic The Female Man(1975), her novels include Picnic on Paradise (1968), We Who are About to… (1977), and The Two Of Them (1978). Her short fiction is collected in The Adventures of Alyx (1976), The Zanzibar Cat(1983), (Extra)Ordinary People (1984), and The Hidden Side of the Moon (1987). She was also a distinguished critic of science fiction; her books include The Country You Have Never Seen: Essays and Reviews (2007). Of her works outside the SF field, she is perhaps best known for How to Suppress Women's Writing (1983). Join us to discuss her works.


Joanna Russ: Critical Importance Then and Now. Gwynne Garfinkle, Lila Garrott (leader), David G. Hartwell. How has the importance of Joanna Russ's critical work changed over time, and in what ways? Younger writers and readers are still discovering How to Supress Women's Writing and finding that it resonates, but what of her other work? We'll discuss the writers she's influenced, the availability of her nonfiction, and the resonance of her work today.

Taper's Note: At the 14:16 mark someone bumped or moved the camera and it pointed up, just above the heads of the panelists. The audio of course is still intact but for the next 45 minutes you have a lovely video of the wall of room Enliven in the Burlington Mass Marriott. I was running 5 other cameras at this convention otherwise I would have fixed this problem. Please enjoy the wall.

Readercon 26
July 9-12, 2015
Burlington Marriott, Burlington, Massachusetts.

http://readercon.org/

Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ (1937-2011) was, arguably, the most influential writer of feminist science fiction the field has ever seen. In addition to her classic The Female Man (1975), her novels include Picnic on Paradise (1968), We Who are About to… (1977), and The Two Of Them (1978). Her short fiction is collected in The Adventures of Alyx (1976), The Zanzibar Cat (1983), (Extra)Ordinary People (1984), and The Hidden Side of the Moon (1987). She was also a distinguished critic of science fiction, her books including The Country You Have Never Seen: Essays and Reviews (2007). Of her works outside the sf field, she is perhaps best known for How To Suppress Women’s Writing (1983). Join us as we celebrate her work and life at Readercon.