PCL MS 007 Joanna Russ Papers

The Joanna Russ Papers consist of approximately 1.85 cubic feet of manuscript materials. In 1969, Russ began transferring her manuscripts to the Browne Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green State University, with additions in 1976 and 1998. The collection has no restrictions placed on its use for scholarly purposes. Researchers are responsible for securing copyright permission when using all unpublished manuscripts and published works, whether authored by Joanna Russ or by other writers whose works may be found in this collection. Any questions about the collection may be directed to the BPCL reference email.

This register was compiled by Nancy White Lee, Library Associate II, in April 1986 and updated in July 1992 with an addendum and again in August 2009 by Patricia Falk. The collection was reprocessed, the inventory revised and finding aid updated in April 2017 by Manuscripts and Outreach Archivist Steve Ammidown.

Joanna Ruth Russ was born on February 22, 1937, in New York, New York. Russ was an author of science fiction and feminist literary criticism, writing for science fiction and literary magazines, fanzines, and academic publications. She received a B.A. with Distinction and High Honors in English from Cornell University in 1957 and a M.F.A. in Playwriting and Dramatic Literature from Yale University in 1960.

Russ was a member of the Modern Language Association of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She was awarded the Nebula Award, Science Fiction Writers of America, 1972, for the short story, "When it Changed". She was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, 1974-1975, a winner of the Hugo Award, World Science Fiction Convention, 1983, and the Nebula Award, 1983, both for novella "Souls". 

Russ is best known for two works- one fiction and one non-fiction. Her most famous fictional work is The Female Man, a satirical feminist science fiction novel. How to Suppress Women's Writing is the most well-known non-fiction work by Russ, and has been deeply influential on feminist literary criticism since its publication in 1983.

She taught at Queensborough Community College, Bayside, New York; Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; The State University of New York at Binghamton; and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Russ was an associate professor of English at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Joanna Russ passed away on April 29, 2011 in Tucson, AZ.

The Joanna Russ Collection houses manuscripts of books, poetry, articles, and book reviews; class papers written in Russ' last year at Yale University; speeches; and a manuscript diary. The manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by title.

The Joanna Russ Collection is primarily focused on the early years of Russ' career, beginning with her childhood in the Bronx. A prolific writer from the start, the earliest story in the collection is dated 1942 (marked "dictated"), when she would have been around 5 years old. The bulk of the writing comes from Russ' high school and college years, where she wrote poems, short stories, and plays- both for classes and for pleasure. Russ was published in Epoch magazine while in high school, but her first paid story was "Nor Custom Stale", sold to Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1959. Both stories, along with her numerous poems and stories published in The Cornell Writer can be found in the collection.

As indicated, a substantial amount of juvenilia is included in the collection. These early works by Russ are most often short stories and poems, written in notebooks or hand sewn together into collections and illustrated with crayon and colored pencil. Most of the stories and materials are handwritten, but several typed school papers are included in this category as well.

In 1953, Joanna Russ was a recipient of a Westinghouse Science Talent Search award. Photographs, program, newspaper and magazine articles about this award are included in the awards series.

In 1966, Russ began occasionally reviewing science fiction books for Fantasy & Science Fiction. Original manuscripts of those reviews are included as well.

Russ began to turn towards literary criticism in the 1960s, and some of that is reflected here. Of particular interest is the original manuscript for her article "Dream Literature and Science Fiction", featured in Extrapolation: A Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 1969.

Box 5 of the collection includes a manuscript for The Two of Them, the last science fiction novel written by Russ, published in 1979.  In a letter dated December 17, 1976, Russ notes that this manuscript for The Two of Them is strictly a rough draft. It appears to be in reverse pagainated order, and many page numbers are repeated multiple times, sometimes with similar content and sometimes not. No attempt has been made to reorganize the manuscript, as it is believed to be in the condition that Russ delivered it in.

Researchers will be particularly interested in the notations made by Russ on each manuscript, presumably just before donating them to the Browne Popular Culture Library. These range from indications of the manuscript version to commentary on her own feelings about a particular story. Nearly every manuscript is heavily edited by the author.

Russ is a keystone figure in New Wave Science Fiction as well as feminist literary criticism. This collection offers scholars of her work a significant insight into her development as a writer and thinker.

The remainder of Russ' papers are held by the University of Oregon.

The book, Extra Ordinary People, has been transferred from this collection to the Popular Culture Library main stack area. The call number for this book may be found by clicking on the title above.

In 1998, Russ donated her collection of Star Trek slashzines, fanzines dedicated to the pairing of Kirk/Spock (or K/S). In 1985 she published "Another Addict Raves About K/S" in Nome #8, republished as "Pornography by Women, for Women, with Love" in her book Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts. Her zines have been incorporated into the zine collection of the Browne Popular Culture Library.