When I met science fiction writer and essayist Joanna Russ at her home in
Seattle in October 1991, she was confined to bed with chronic back pain
and chronic fatigue syndrome. Despite exhaustion and discomfort, she
spoke with me for nearly three hours, about topics ranging from her life
and works to the politics of publishing and the attraction of science fiction
for feminist writers. A prolific writer and elegant talker, Russ sounds like
many of her narrators: irreverent, smart, and passionate.

With eight novels, three short-story collections, and two critical books, as
well as dozens of articles, Russ has established herself as one of the most in-
novative and controversial writers working today. She's best known for her
award-winning science fiction, but within the feminist and academic com-
munities she's equally famous as a social commentator and literary critic with
strong opinions on everything from capitalism to pornography (two subjects
she sees as interrelated). How to Suppress Women's Writing ( University of
Texas Press, 1983), in which she traces the ways women's voices have been si-
lenced throughout history, remains a feminist classic. In essays collected in
the irreverent Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts
( Crossing Press, 1985), she exposes the limitations of feminism (due to the
lack of class analysis), criticizes the antipornography movement (for lacking
data and detracting from more serious issues), and unearths the sexual fan-
tasy elements in stories written by female Trekkies [fans of the 1960s
television series Star Trek].

Photo: Copyright © Ileen Weber

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