I was recently going through some of my old SciFi mags and came across Evelyn E. Smith’s name. It got me thinking; which is something I should do more often. Anyway, I realized women don’t get the respect they should in this genre. OK, big duh, I just never thought about it. I guess it’s the inherent man-pig in all of us men. The point is, I’m here to repent and make amends like any reformed male-chauvinist should.
Back to Evelyn E. Smith and her writing. She started her career in the 50’s when female science fiction writers usually worked under a male pseudonym. Ms. Smith took the bold move, at the time, of using her real name. She wrote four science fiction novels. Her first, The Perfect Planet, was about a world where looks are everything. Kind of sounds like the world we live in. Her short stories numbered in the dozens, which include, The last of the Spode and The Martian and The Magician.
Ms. Smith was a prolific writer, and in later life penned The Miss Melville Mystery series of novels. Not surprisingly, the protagonist is a strong willed, intelligent woman that just happens to be an assassin.
Evelyn Smith is just one of many women that have made significant contributions to SciFi.
Dorothy Fontana is another fantastic writer I have previously overlooked. She did a great job on the original Star Trek TV series.
I will update my pages to include these women, and the many other women in the world of science fiction.
Gnostic Science Fiction 