From Mary Shelley to Margaret Atwood, science fiction has been shaped by some phenomenal female writers… Christy), slipstream (Sanem OzduralsLiGa) and epic space opera (Zoe SumrasUndersideseries).
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Over the years, many of the greatest writers of science fiction have been female.
Almost a century afterFrankensteins publication Virginia Woolf released her first novel,The Voyage Out, in 1915.
Classics such asMrs DallowayandTo The Lighthousefollowed, but one surprising aspect of her career is her connection to sci-fi.
Rumours that she wrote science fiction stories under the pen name E.V.
Odle persisted for years, although thats seemingly down to a misreading of a satirical article onCheck Your Facts.
What is true, however, is her novelOrlandobearing a striking similarity toDoctor Who.
Woolf was seemingly 100 years ahead of Jodie Whittakers Doctor.
Another early 20th century author who broke ground in feminist science fiction was Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain.
The pulp era was winding down and the publics appetites shifting toward scientific wonder and high concept space operas.
Bracketing the Golden Age to just those eight years does a disservice to the decades that followed, though.
Le Guins work helped pave the way for Octavia E. Butlers success in the 70s.
Harlan Ellison called it that rare magical artifact… the novel one returns to, again and again.
In recent years Hollywood has embraced science fiction and fantasy works from other female authors.
For critically-acclaimed fare, you need look no further than Alfonso Cuarons 2006 adaptation of P.D.
Jamess novelThe Children Of Men.
The storys bleak dystopian future, in which infertility threatens human survival, mirrors Margaret AtwoodsThe Handmaids Talefrom 1985.
This signals a bright future for female writers of the genre.
In the past, as examples such as P.D.
James, J.K. Rowling and C.J.
An ostensibly male name on the cover was seen as more important than having arresting cover art.
Despite facing significant obstacles, female authors have continually proved to be a huge creative force in science fiction.
I began writing about power because I had so little, Octavia E. Butler once said.
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