For some readers, it's hard to imagine speculative fiction without female writers. After all, Margaret Cavendish and Mary Shelley practically created the genre. More recently there are authors like Octavia Butler and Ursula LeGuin. Not to mention J.K. Rowling - who you may have heard of if you've been alive in this century.
The genre has often been a boys club - and some readers prefer it that way - but while women have historically been underrepresented, today women seem to be selling more books and winning more awards than ever before. Today we look at the past, present and future of the genre with three women.
Suggestions for future reading:
Octavia Butler, Caitlin Kiernan, George Saunders, Vandana Singh.
GUESTS:
- Ann VanderMeer is a publisher and editor who most recently co-edited the anthology Sisters of Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology.
- Kit Reed is the Resident Writer at Wesleyan University and the author of dozens of novels and short story story collections including the new novel Where.
- Catherynne Valente is an award-winning fiction writer and poet and the author of more than a dozen books, most recently The Boy Who Lost Fairyland.
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Alex Dueben produced this show. Colin McEnroe, Chion Wolf, and Betsy Kaplan contributed to this show.
