Remembered as one of science fiction’s best editors, Judith Merril (1923–1997) also wrote prolifically and stands as one of the genre’s central figures in the United States and Canada. This work offers a much-needed literary biography and critical commentary on Merril’s groundbreaking science fiction, anthologies, reviews, memoir and other endeavors. A thorough account of Merril’s 50-year career, it is a valuable source for students of science fiction, women’s life writing, women’s contributions to frontier mythology and women’s activism.

Dianne Newell is a professor of history and former director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia. A historian of technology, she has authored or coauthored many articles on women and science fiction.
Victoria Lamont is an associate professor of English literature at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada. Her research and publication areas include western American frontier mythology, American popular culture, and American women writers.

Dianne Newell and Victoria Lamont
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 255
Bibliographic Info: 9 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4836-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8985-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      viii

Note on Archival Sources      xvi

Introduction      1

Part One. The Postwar Fiction

1. Judith Merril and the Myth of the Frontier      11

2. Atomic Frontier and the Advent of a Writer      25

3. The Space Stories      44

4. Alien Encounters      65

5. Psychology and “Primary Communication”      89

Part Two. Shifting the Dimensions of Speculative Fiction

6. Merril in Dialogue      113

7. New Waves and New Communities      147

8. The Memoir      179

Epilogue: The Future of Judith Merril      208

Bibliography      213

Index      229

“well-researched…Newell and Lamont achieve their goal of preventing Merril’s erasure from science fiction by making well-researched, theoretically grounded arguments about the significance of her fiction and non-fiction writing”—SFRA Review; “Newell and Lamont’s study should do much to restore Merril’s reputation, and is greatly welcomed”—Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction; “a critical examination…Merril was indeed far ahead of her time…her writing as well as her editorial work are covered here in some detail…interesting…a good bibliography”—Critical Mass; “a literary biography and critical commentary on the work of science fiction writer, editor, and anthologist Judith Merril…[the authors] apply the theory of American science fiction as a form of frontier mythology to her works”—Reference & Research Book News; “undertaken by two well-qualified academic writers…I cannot imagine it will be bettered”—Canadian Literature.