Judith Merril

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Judith Merril (real name: Judith Josephine Grossman ) (* 21st January 1923 in Boston , USA ; † 12. September 1997 in Toronto , Canada ) was an American and then Canadian science fiction - writer and - editor and a political Activist . She had her pseudonym Judith Merril since around 1945, she also wrote under the pseudonyms Cyril Judd and occasionally Rose Sharon .

Life

Judith Merril was born in Boston on January 21, 1923 . Merril's father committed suicide while she was in school, after which her mother moved her to the Bronx because she had found a job there. Merril became interested in Zionism and Marxism during her youth .

Frederik Pohl , Merril's second husband (picture from 2008)

After graduating from Morris High School in 1939 at the age of 16, she reconsidered her political views under the influence of the Hitler-Stalin Pact . A year later she married Dan Zissman, with whom she had a relationship of only four months and whom she had met during Trotskyite actions. In December 1942, Merril gave birth to a daughter, Merril Zissman. At this time she also became a member of the Futurians , to which Cyril M. Kornbluth also belonged. Merril and Zissman separated around 1945, a year later, in 1946, she lived with Frederik Pohl . After her divorce from Zissman became final, she married Pohl in 1948.

In 1950, Merril gave birth to their second daughter, Ann. In 1952 she separated from Pohl, and the divorce became final a year later. She lived with Walter M. Miller for six months . She remarried in 1960, the marriage separated in 1963, but never officially divorced.

In 1968, Merril emigrated to Canada on political grounds , believing that anti-war rallies were being undemocratically suppressed by the US government.

In the 1970s, Merril began to set up a foundation at the Toronto Public Library with the aim of collecting all English-language science fiction works. She donated all of her unpublished manuscripts to the library. The library then opened the "Spaced Out Library," as Merril called it, with Merril in the role of director. In the last decade of Merril's life, it was renamed the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy. Merril received a small annual scholarship to be a director, but it was insufficient to provide a living, so there were times when she had to live and sleep in her office during bad times.

Merril received Canadian citizenship in 1976. She was active in the Canadian peace movement from the mid-1970s until her death . To demonstrate against US cruise missile tests over Canadian territory, she traveled to Ottawa disguised as a witch to symbolically “enchant” the Canadian parliament, which had allowed these tests.

In addition, Merril remained the science fiction as an active commentator and mentor. Her life's work was honored at the International Authors Festival . The Association Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named her "Author Emeritus" in 1997.

In anticipation of her death, she donated a comparatively large amount of money for a memorial party at a club in Toronto. Merril himself prepared the telephone lists that regulated who should notify whom of the event.

Judith Merril died on September 12, 1997 in Toronto .

Merril's granddaughter Emily Pohl-Weary , the daughter of Merril's daughter Ann, also became an author and writes books for young people and science fiction stories. She wrote a biography of Merril after her death using drafts, notes, and letters from her grandmother.

plant

For Merril, as for many Futurians, New York was the scene of her work (picture from 1931).

Merril's first paid writings were not science fiction works. Right at the beginning of her career as a science fiction author, she wrote her three novels, all except the first in collaboration with Cyril M. Kornbluth , as well as several stories. Her writing, which lasted roughly four decades, resulted in 26 published short stories and a similar number of anthologies . Merril's first published science fiction work was the short story That Only a Mother , which appeared in Astounding in 1948 . Her first novel was titled Shadow on the Hearth (1950) and deals with nuclear war from the perspective of a housewife. The novel was made into a film under the title Atomic Attack . The two following novels were titled Outpost Mars (1952, the plot revolves around the colonization of Mars) and Gunner Cade (1952, this is about a society in which war is understood as an entertainment sport).

From 1945 Merril wrote full-time, mostly short stories about sports , until she published her first science fiction story in 1948. Some of their stories were published in magazines published by former Futurians who were friends . Merril co-founded the Hydra Club during this time . Her short story Dead Center (published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , November 1954) is one of the only two short stories from any fantasy or science fiction magazine ever to be included in The Best by Martha Foley during the 1950s . American Short Stories collections had been included.

During the 1950s, Merril also began publishing science fiction short stories in anthology form, which she continued until 1985. A “Years Best” anthology in particular, which was printed from 1956 to 1967, achieved great popularity. In her editorial forewords, conversations and other writings, she advocated that science fiction should no longer be viewed as an isolated marginal phenomenon, but rather as a normal literary genre. Science fiction expert Rob Latham portrayed Merril's special role in this regard in 2005:

"Throughout the 1950s, Merril, along with fellow SF authors James Blish and Damon Knight had taken the lead in promoting higher literary standards and a greater sense of professionalism within the field" (p.203)
"During the 1950s, Merril, along with fellow science fiction writers James Blish and Damon Knight , spearheaded the advancement of higher literary standards and greater professionalism in the field."

According to Lantham, this was done in particular by organizing annual writers' meetings in Milford , Pennsylvania , where Merril was then living. Manuscripts prepared during these meetings encouraged more accurate and thoughtful planning of the stories. The solidarity that also developed among the authors through these meetings facilitated the later founding of the Science Fiction Writers Association . Still, the changes Merril made in their meetings were also criticized:

"Disaffected authors began griping about a 'Milford Mafia' that was endangering SF's unique virtues by imposing literary standards essentially alien to the field"
"Dissatisfied authors began to blaspheme the" Milford Mafia ", which endangered the unique values ​​of science fiction by introducing new and completely alien standards [for science fiction]"

A project that Merril began in the early 1960s in collaboration with Lion Books in Chicago was unsuccessful, but inspired its editor, Harlan Ellison , to continue the project in a modified form: the short story collection Dangerous Visions (published by Doubleday in 1967), which was of great importance for the development of the New Wave . As a result, Merril, as one of the initiators of the New Wave, published the anthology England Swings SF a year later . The short stories were collected by her during a year-long stay in England.

From 1978 to 1981, Merril announced the Canadian broadcasts of Doctor Who . In short (three to seven minute) comments, she spoke about the philosophical topics covered in the series.

In 2016, Merril posthumously received the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award for forgotten or no longer adequately appreciated science fiction authors.

Awards

bibliography

Novels
  • Shadow on the Hearth (1950)
    • German: Dark shadows. Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31056, 1983, ISBN 3-548-31056-7 .
  • Outpost Mars (1952, together with CM Kornbluth as Cyril Judd)
    • German: Children of Mars. Translated by Lothar Heinecke . Moewig (Terra Extra # 152), 1967. Also as: Mars outstation. Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31087, 1984, ISBN 3-548-31087-7 .
  • Gunner Cade (1952, together with CM Kornbluth as Cyril Judd)
    • German: The traitor. Pabel (Utopia Grossband # 72), 1958. Also called: The Rebellion of the Sagittarius Cade. Translated by Birgit Reß-Bohusch . Ullstein 2000 # 10 (2839), 1971, ISBN 3-548-12839-4 .
  • The Tomorrow People (1960)
    • German: people of tomorrow. Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31069, 1984, ISBN 3-548-31069-9 .
Short story collections
  • Out of Bounds: Seven Stories (1960)
  • Daughters of Earth and Other Stories (1968)
    • German: Daughters of the Earth. Ullstein Science Fiction & Fantasy # 31051, 1983, ISBN 3-548-31051-6 .
  • Survival Ship and Other Stories (1973)
  • The Best of Judith Merril (1976)
  • Homecalling and Other Stories: The Complete Solo Short SF of Judith Merril (2005)
Short stories

If only the title and year are given as sources for short stories, the complete information can be found under collections .

  • That Only a Mother (1948)
    • German: Just a mother. Translated by Franziska Zinn. In: Robert Silverberg, Wolfgang Jeschke (eds.): Titan 15. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3787), 1981, ISBN 3-453-30688-0 . Also as: Just a mother. Translated by Eva Malsch. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph Olander (eds.): Star mail: 1st delivery. Moewig (Playboy Science Fiction # 6733), 1983, ISBN 3-8118-6733-4 . Also as: Just a mother. Translated by Michael Windgassen. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • Death Is the Penalty (1949)
  • Barrier of Dread (1950)
  • Survival Ship (1951)
  • Woman's Work Is Never Done! (1951)
  • The Robot, the Girl, the Poet, and the Android (1952, play, with Fritz Leiber and Fredric Brown)
  • I could kill you! (1952)
  • Hero's Way (1952)
  • Daughters of Earth (1952)
    • German: Daughters of the Earth. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • Whoever You Are (1952)
    • German: Whoever you are. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • A Little Knowledge (1953)
  • So Proudly We Hail (1953)
    • German: The emigrants. In: Frederik Pohl, Wolfgang Jeschke (eds.): Titan 3. Heyne (Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3520), 1976, ISBN 3-453-30386-5 .
  • A Big Man with the Girls (1953, with Frederik Pohl, as Judith Merril and James MacCreigh)
  • Sea-Change (1953, with CM Kornbluth as by Cyril Judd)
  • Peeping Tom (1954)
    • German: The Voyeur. In: Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg (eds.): The 7 deadly sins of science fiction. Moewig (Playboy Science Fiction # 6738), 1984, ISBN 3-8118-6738-5 .
  • Rain Check (1954)
  • Stormy Weather (1954)
    • German: Stormy Weather. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • Connection Completed (1954)
  • Dead Center (1954)
    • German: The dead point. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • Pioneer Stock (1955)
  • Project Nursemaid (1955)
  • Exile from Space (1956)
  • Homecalling (1956)
  • The Lady Was a Tramp (1957, as Rose Sharon)
    • German: The lady was a tramp. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • A Woman of the World (1957)
    • German: Welt der Zukunft 2. The woman. Translated by Wulf H. Bergner . In: Wulf H. Bergner (Ed.): World of the future. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 3305, 1972.
  • Wish Upon a Star (1958)
    • German: Luftschlösser. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • Death Cannot Wither (1959)
  • The Deep Down Dragon (1961)
  • The Shrine of Temptation (1962)
    • English: The Shrine of Temptation. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • The Lonely (1963)
    • German: The symbol. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983. Also as: Die Einsamen. In: Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph Olander (eds.): Star mail: 3rd delivery. Moewig (Playboy Science Fiction # 6735), 1984, 3-8118-6735-0.
  • In the Land of Unblind (1974)
    • German: In the realm of the blind. In: Daughters of the Earth. 1983.
  • The Future of Happiness (1979)
Editor (selection)
  • Shot in the Dark (1950)
  • Beyond Human Ken (1953)
  • Beyond the Barriers of Space and Time (1954)
  • Human (1954)
  • Galaxy of Ghouls (1955)
  • SF: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy (1956)
  • SF '57: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy (1957)
  • SF '58: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy (1958)
  • SF '59: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy (1959)
  • The 5th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1960)
  • The 6th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1961)
  • The 7th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1962)
  • The 8th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1963)
  • The 9th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1964)
  • The 10th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1965)
  • The 11th Annual of the Year's Best SF (1966)
  • SF12 (1967)
  • England Swings SF (1967)
  • Tesseracts (1985)

literature

  • Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs , Ronald M. Hahn : Reclam's science fiction guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , p. 291.
  • Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn, Wolfgang Jeschke : Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-02453-2 , p. 722 f.
  • John Clute : [XXX Merril, Judith.] In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated March 14, 2018.
  • Stephen H. Goldman: Merril, Judith . In: James Gunn : The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Viking, New York et al. a. 1988, ISBN 0-670-81041-X , p. 308 f.
  • Elizabeth Anne Hull: Merril, Judith . In: Noelle Watson, Paul E. Schellinger: Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers. St. James Press, Chicago 1991, ISBN 1-55862-111-3 , pp. 556 f.
  • Damon Knight: In Search of Wonder. 2nd ed. Chicago, 1967.
  • Rob Latham, David Seed: A Companion to Science Fiction. Oxford, Blackwell 2005, pp. 202-216.
  • Judith Merril, Emily Pohl-Weary: Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril. Toronto, Between the Lines 2002, ISBN 1-896357-57-1 .
  • Robert Reginald : Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. A Checklist, 1700–1974 with Contemporary Science Fiction Authors II. Gale, Detroit 1979, ISBN 0-8103-1051-1 , p. 999.
  • Robert Reginald: Contemporary Science Fiction Authors. Arno Press, New York 1974, ISBN 0-405-06332-6 , pp. 183 f.
  • Donald H. Tuck : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968. Advent, Chicago 1974, ISBN 0-911682-20-1 , pp. 306-309.
documentary
  • What if? A film about Judith Merril. Documentary about Judith Merril, by Helene Klodawsky, produced by Imageries, Montreal. First broadcast on the Canadian Space Channel in February 1999.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c John Clute , Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . St. Martin's Press, New York 1993, ISBN 1-85723-124-4
  2. ^ Alan Weiss, Not Only A Mother: An Interview with Judith Merril . In: Sol Rising . Friends of the Meril Collection. April 1997. Archived from the original on September 7th, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 13, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.friendsofmerril.org
  3. ^ Judith Merril / Emily Pohl-Weary, Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merrill . Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002. Emily Pohl-Weary gives the marriage date 1948; John Clute / Peter Nicholls give in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . St. Martin's Press, New York 1993, ISBN 1-85723-124-4, however , indicates 1949 as the marriage date. However, since Emily Pohl-Weary was able to rely on original texts from her grandmother, her version seems more likely.
  4. ^ Emily Pohl-Weary (2002). Better to Have Loved: the Life of Judith Merril , Toronto: Between the Lines, 282 pages, ISBN 1-896357-57-1 .
  5. ↑ a b Latham, 2005, p. 204.
personal data
SURNAME Merril, Judith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grossman, Judith Josephine (real name); Judd, Cyril; Sharon, rose
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American science fiction writer, editor, and political activist
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Boston , Massachusetts, United States of America
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1997
Place of death Toronto , Canada