Millennial Women

Millennial Women is a 1978 science fiction anthology, edited by Virginia Kidd, in which all the stories are written by women and have a female character as the primary protagonist. The themes which these stories have in common are those of social science fiction: that which is perceived as alien, the uses of language, careers, familial relationships, sexual politics, social constructions of gender, political freedom and equality.

Contents

• "Prayer for My Daughter" by Marilyn Hacker (prefatory poem);
• "Introduction" by Virginia Kidd;
• "No One Said Forever" by Cynthia Felice (short story);
• "The Song of N'Sardi-El" by Diana L. Paxson (short story);
• "Jubilee's Story" by Elizabeth A. Lynn (short story);
• "Mab Gallen Recalled" by Cherry Wilder (short story);
• "Phoenix in the Ashes" by Joan D. Vinge (novelette);
• "The Eye of the Heron" by Ursula K. Le Guin (novel); and
• Biographical Notes (not included in all editions).

"Introduction" by Virginia Kidd

The anti-feminist, anti-women in science sentence from the "Introduction" written by Virginia Kidd:

"But what seems to me one of the most impressive aspects of the collection is that all of these science-fiction writers avoid hard-core science fiction for sociology, soft-pedal radical feminism for humanism, and write about women simply as women." – Virginia Kidd

These stories deserve better than Kidd's second-rate, misogynist introduction and so do the women who read them.

Awards and nominations

• 1979, Locus Magazine Poll Awards, Best SF Anthology category, 12th place.

Release details

• 1978, Millennial Women, edited by Virginia Kidd, U.S., Delacorte Press (Dell Publishing), ISBN-10: 0440055997, ISBN-13: 978-0440055990, pp. 305, 1978, hardcover
• 1979, Millennial Women, edited by Virginia Kidd, Dell Publishing, ISBN-10: 0440163013, ISBN-13: 978-0440163015, April 1979, serial?
• 1980, The Eye of the Heron and Other Stories, edited by Virginia Kidd, UK, Panther Books (Granada Publishing), ISBN-10 0586050892, pp. 251, 5 June 1980, softcover

External links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database entry for Millennial Women