Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 13:09:24 -0500 From: Ray Schnitzler Penny, > We're thinking of closing the > course with a short story or novel that presents a utopian or science > fiction vision that centrally includes gay or lesbian issues. Any > suggestions? I have several thoughts. 1) Starhawk's novel, _The Fifth Sacred Thing._ It is a utopia/dystopia story, and it is particularly good at putting orientation issues into a context of multiculturalism, linking various oppressions, etc. The content is excellent, but it is her first novel, and at times it shows. I thought it was the most important (if not necessarily quite the 'best') book I read in 1993. And it won a Lammy. 2) Marge Piercy's _Woman on the Edge of Time_ is good, even better is her _He, She and It_. Both are utopia/dystopia stories, both deal with LGB issues, but in neither is it central. 3) Lists on the net. I know of a + List of Bisexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Other Fiction" + Requests, corrections and contributions to + daveb@harlequin.co.uk (Dave Berry). I suspect that you can find something similar on gay and lesbian scifi in the QRD. Let me know if you are unable to do that, and I'll take a look for you. Ray Schnitzler Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 01:35:37 -0500 From: "C. Marlatt" >Penny, >Have you read Joanna Russ's "When it Changed." It is included in her >collection of short stories entitled _The Zanzibar Cat_. I originally >saw the story in a collection of gay/lesbian science fiction, but, >sorry, I don't remember the name of the collection. My guess is that >someone else on the list will. >Cindy >kistenberg@dt.uh.edu Try the short story collection, "The Hidden Side of the Moon" by Joanna Russ. Also by Russ, there is "The Female Man" in which looks at parallel (and alternate) realities. For an overview of the genre, "Uranian Worlds: A Reader's Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy," edited by Eric Garber is a very good sampling of lesbian/gay/* science-fiction and fantasy short stories, many which look at "utopias." Cindy Marlatt PHY_SA405344@emuvax.emich.edu Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 08:37:49 -0500 From: Mel Netzhammer I don't know whether this would qualify as utopian (and it's definitely not sci fi), but my choice would be the final monologue in David Drake's "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me." It's entertaining, and it's the best written piece in the collection. Mel Netzhammer Buffalo State College NETZHAEC@SNYBUFAA.CS.SNYBUF.EDU Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 08:06:45 -0700 From: Luci Malin Utah Daughters of a Coral Dawn, by Katherine Forrest; Wanderground, by Sally Gearhart Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 12:39:11 +1000 From: William Rodgers I just finished re-reading some Women's Press sci-fi short stories, (this thread re-fired my enthusiasm), and I think a fabulous utopian tale is "Mab" by Penny Casadagli. Check it out....Here's the ref: Casadagli, P. 1985 "Mab" in _Despatches From the Frontiers of the Female Mind_. Jen Green & Sarah Lefanu (eds). Pp. 190-208. London: Women's Press. Bright Blessings and Spiral Dreams, _______Willow_Fey_________________________________ Faeries are a pale and motley race that flowers in the minds of decent folk. Never will they be entitled to broad daylight, to real sun. But remote in these limbos, they cause curious disasters which are the harbingers of new beauty. Jean Genet. _____________________________________________________________________________ Date: Tue, 8 Nov 1994 13:09:24 -0500 From: Ray Schnitzler I have several thoughts. 1) Starhawk's novel, _The Fifth Sacred Thing._ It is a utopia/dystopia story, and it is particularly good at putting orientation issues into a context of multiculturalism, linking various oppressions, etc. The content is excellent, but it is her first novel, and at times it shows. I thought it was the most important (if not necessarily quite the 'best') book I read in 1993. And it won a Lammy. 2) Marge Piercy's _Woman on the Edge of Time_ is good, even better is her _He, She and It_. Both are utopia/dystopia stories, both deal with LGB issues, but in neither is it central. 3) Lists on the net. I know of a + List of Bisexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Other Fiction" + Requests, corrections and contributions to + daveb@harlequin.co.uk (Dave Berry). I suspect that you can find something similar on gay and lesbian scifi in the QRD. Let me know if you are unable to do that, and I'll take a look for you. Ray Schnitzler Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 01:35:37 -0500 From: "C. Marlatt" >Penny, >Have you read Joanna Russ's "When it Changed." It is included in her >collection of short stories entitled _The Zanzibar Cat_. I originally >saw the story in a collection of gay/lesbian science fiction, but, >sorry, I don't remember the name of the collection. My guess is that >someone else on the list will. >Cindy >kistenberg@dt.uh.edu Try the short story collection, "The Hidden Side of the Moon" by Joanna Russ. Also by Russ, there is "The Female Man" in which looks at parallel (and alternate) realities. For an overview of the genre, "Uranian Worlds: A Reader's Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy," edited by Eric Garber is a very good sampling of lesbian/gay/* science-fiction and fantasy short stories, many which look at "utopias." Cindy Marlatt PHY_SA405344@emuvax.emich.edu Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 08:37:49 -0500 From: Mel Netzhammer I don't know whether this would qualify as utopian (and it's definitely not sci fi), but my choice would be the final monologue in David Drake's "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me." It's entertaining, and it's the best written piece in the collection. Mel Netzhammer Buffalo State College NETZHAEC@SNYBUFAA.CS.SNYBUF.EDU Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 08:06:45 -0700 From: Luci Malin Utah Daughters of a Coral Dawn, by Katherine Forrest; Wanderground, by Sally Gearhart Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 12:39:11 +1000 From: William Rodgers I just finished re-reading some Women's Press sci-fi short stories, (this thread re-fired my enthusiasm), and I think a fabulous utopian tale is "Mab" by Penny Casadagli. Check it out....Here's the ref: Casadagli, P. 1985 "Mab" in _Despatches From the Frontiers of the Female Mind_. Jen Green & Sarah Lefanu (eds). Pp. 190-208. London: Women's Press. Bright Blessings and Spiral Dreams, _______Willow_Fey_________________________________