Women of Science Fiction: Judith Merril

Judith Merril (1923-1997) was a pioneering political activist, sci-fi writer and editor, whose dark and dystopian stories were told through the perspectives of characters who were mothers and housewives. 

For Further Reading:

• Better to Have Loved: The life of Judith Merril 

• Galactic Suburbia: Recovering Women’s Science Fiction

• Atomic Attack (1954)

This month, we’re talking about Women of Science Fiction. These women inspire us to imagine impossible worlds, alien creatures, and fantastical inventions, revealing our deepest fears... and hopes for the future.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, and Abbey Delk. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. 

Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about women of science fiction.
These women inspire us to imagine impossible worlds, alien creatures,
and fantastical inventions, revealing our deepest fears and hopes for
the future. Today, we're talking about a woman who pulled

(00:24):
inspiration for her dystopian and speculative stories from headlines and
books she was reading and experiencing in her own time.
She infused political and social messages into her writing by
focusing on characters like mothers and housewives who were also
grappling with the horrors and whims of a high tech future.
Meet Judith Merril. Judith was born on January twenty first,

(00:48):
nineteen twenty three, in Boston. Her writing roots reached back
to her childhood. When she was seven years old, Judith
published her first poem in a summer camp newspaper. At fifteen,
though she quit, she realized her mom wanted her to
be a writer, so she rebelled. When she was around

(01:09):
thirteen years old, the family moved to the Bronx High School.
For Judith was a time of political exploration, debate, and analysis.
She was a Socialist and liked to argue with another
student who was a Communist. Eventually she found Trotskyism. Judith
met her husband, Dan Zisman, at a Trotskyist youth picnic,

(01:33):
and in nineteen forty they got married. She credited Dan
with sparking her interest in science fiction. In nineteen forty two,
he was drafted into the Navy. That same year, Judith
got pregnant and gave birth to her first child, a
daughter named Meryl. Judith would later use Meryl's name to
make up her pen name. When Danny was shipped off

(01:53):
to the war, Judith found herself on her own, a
young mother living in New York City. In New York,
Judith met the Futurians, a group of rebellious, mostly male,
mostly leftist writers who were obsessed with sci fi. They
wanted to set a new and modern standard for the genre.

(02:15):
Judith claimed that she went into sci fi writing because
it was a genre that allowed for political dissent. Writers
could highlight socially conscious themes during the post war era,
using the lens of the future to critique the present.
But her first published story wasn't science fiction. It was
printed in Cracked Detective magazine by one of her fellow futurians.

(02:36):
In nineteen forty five, she wrote to her husband in
celebration here after, in addressing your wife, you will kindly
restrain yourself to the use of the official title, oh,
most revered, high and worshipful professional hack Writer. The letter
may have been a little sarcastic, but she really was

(02:56):
excited about getting published. She went on to write sports
story for pulp magazines. She didn't know or care much
for sports, but it made her money. Judith struggled at
times with having to be both a mother and a writer.
She wrote and did research to make money to support
herself and her family, all the while she felt the

(03:18):
pull of her young kid's demands on her time. In
nineteen forty eight, Judith published her first sci fi story,
which was titled That Only a Mother. The story is
told from the perspective of a woman living a few
years in the future, as World War III rages on.
Her husband is off to fight while she works through
her final moments of pregnancy. She stresses about mutations, which

(03:44):
are increasingly common in the post nuclear age, and she
worries about the news reports of fathers killing their children
when they're born with mutations. When she gives birth, she
assures her husband the baby's perfect. The infant may have
grown teeth and learned to speak a little early, but
nothing to be worried about. When her husband finally returns

(04:08):
for leave, he meets his new daughter and discovers she
was born without any limbs. Judith originally wrote the short
story as part of a bet with an editor. He
said that women couldn't write sci fi good enough to
get published in an Astounding science fiction magazine. He was wrong.

(04:29):
On the heels of her success with her first sci
fi short story, Judith published her first novel, Shadow on
the Hearth, in nineteen fifty. That same year, her second daughter,
Anne was born. Judith's novel also deals with the threat
of nuclear war from the perspective of a young mother
and housewife. While the book didn't garner much fanfare on release,

(04:51):
it did get her review in The New York Times.
A few years later, it was adapted into a TV
drama called Atomic Attack. In the nineteen fifties, Judith became
known for the science fiction anthologies she edited. She was
one of the very few prominent women editors of her time.
She also co founded and served as a board member

(05:11):
for the Milford Science Fiction Writers Conference, which is still
held today. While Judith's professional career took off, she was
dealing with some turbulence in her personal life. In nineteen
fifty three, she and her second husband divorced. She would
go on to Mary once more and went through a
handful of custody battles. Judith also grew uncomfortable with the

(05:33):
power she wielded as an editor. It put her on
a different level, one she wasn't fond of. That, coupled
with the political reality of the US in the late
nineteen sixties, led her to spend a year in England,
and then she immigrated to Canada. In Canada, Judith joined
the staff of Toronto's Rockdale College, an experiment in alternative education,

(05:55):
offering free tuition and cooperative living space. She also kept
up her anti war activism, helping to organize the Committee
to Aid Refugees for Militarism. In nineteen seventy, Judith donated
her personal collection of books and literature to the Toronto
Public Library, calling it the Spaced Out Library. Now it's

(06:16):
known as the Marrow Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy.
It contains more than seventy thousand volumes. On September twelfth,
nineteen ninety seven, Judith died from heart failure. Always an editor,
she left behind a draft of her memoir and a
thorough set of instructions. Her granddaughter published the book for

(06:37):
her in two thousand and two. The next year, it
won a Hugo Award, and in twenty thirteen, Judith was
inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
All month, we're talking about women in science fiction. For
more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica
Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and

(06:59):
co creator Talk to Tomorrow