This was the entire contribution by women writers worthy of collection in every fan’s library according to these male critics who were asked. On first glance, a diverse variety of women’s works were listed in the responses but on closer inspection, when removing the answers (which were varied and diverse) provided by the women who were asked, in part 1, the lists made by the male respondents were either devoid of women or repeated the same one title – The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. In this particular Mind Meld, presented in two parts over two weeks, the question was “What Science Fiction Books Should be In Every Fan’s Library?” The answers were fascinating. Mind Melds pose the same question to a variety of prominent people in the SF community including writers, editors and critics. The first was a Mind Meld at SF Signal in May. That they happened in rapid succession made interesting commentary material. Both projects sought to make commentary on the field, both sought to build the canon of the genre – that is, to establish a concise list and record of who the greatest writers are or were and which works are the best of all time. Two recent SF projects leapt out at me as additional examples of the ongoing reinforcement of the invisibility cloak over women in science fiction.

To me, this seems like a significant wall that needs to be broken down in the quest to see women equally respected and represented in this genre. One of the issues that has become apparent is that those who commentate and review the genre wield much power in directing what works get read and recognised. We still see low representations of women in science fiction magazines and anthologies, many awards shortlists, and in criticism of the genre. Over the last couple of years, there has been increasing discussion online about the ongoing gender disparity in science fiction (SF). Alisa Krasnostein is also Executive Editor of the review website ASif! and part of the Not if you Were the Last Short Story on Earth crew. Forthcoming works in 2010 include the short story collection Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres and the suburban fantasy anthology Sprawl. In 2009, she published several multi award nominated works including the short story collection A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti, the science fiction anthology New Ceres Nights, the novella Horn by Peter M Ball and the novella double Roadkill/Siren Beat by Robert Shearman/Tansy Rayner Roberts. Guest Post by Alisa Krasnostein: The Invisibility of Women in Science FictionĪlisa Krasnostein is editor and publisher at Twelfth Planet Press, maintains a blog at livejournal and is part of the team at the podcast Galactic Suburbia. Home › Sociology › gender & feminism › Guest Post by Alisa Krasnostein: The Invisibility of Women in Science Fiction

Rimworld mind meld