Farah Mendlesohn

Farah Mendlesohn is a con-runner, a retired history professor, a charity manager, co-editor of the Hugo Award-Winning Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, author of the Hugo-nominated The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, and is currently working on a short book about Joanna Russ's The Female Man (preorder Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ, or, As the Bear Swore). Farah has chaired three Eastercons, has served in various capacities in Worldcons and Eastercons, and is part of the World Fantasy 2025 team. (Farah/they/she)

Fantastic Fiction: Joanna Russ

June 25, 2025June 6, 2025 by Farah Mendlesohn

The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

I am partial. I truly believe that Joanna Russ is one of the greatest writers that the science fiction field has ever produced, and from 1977–1991 she was a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Fantastic Fiction: Fascism

June 25, 2025April 18, 2025 by Farah Mendlesohn

We live in worrying times. Fascism is on the rise across Europe and America, according to the consensus of many commentators. In this post, I will highlight SF that has speculated on the rise and activities of fascism. In a later blog post, I’ll discuss science fiction that has thought about ways to resist.

Fantastic Fiction: Resistance

June 25, 2025March 28, 2025 by Farah Mendlesohn

One of my favorite novels when I was a teen science fiction reader was Andre Norton’s Catseye. In the 1960s, Andre Norton, better known for adult science fiction, was also one of the most important writers of science fiction for teens.

Fantastic Fiction: A Golden Age of Young Adult Science Fiction?

June 25, 2025October 8, 2024 by Farah Mendlesohn

In 2005 I was scrambling to find new—never mind excellent—science fiction titles for young adults. In 2010 my book The Inter-Galactic Playground was nominated for a Hugo. It was already out of date. In 2024 I can’t keep up.