Suzette Haden Elgin
Encyclopedia
Suzette Haden Elgin is an American
science fiction
author
. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association
, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed language
s. Elgin is also a linguist; she publishes non-fiction
, of which the best-known is the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense
series.
Born in 1936 in Missouri
, Elgin attended the University of California, San Diego
(UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics
, and was the first UCSD student to ever write two dissertations (on English
and Navajo
). She created the engineered language
Láadan
for her Native Tongue science fiction series. A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She is a supporter of feminist science fiction
, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only genre
of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of [X], where [X] is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women. Women need to treasure and support science fiction." http://www.womenwriters.net/editorials/hadenelgin.htm
In addition, she has published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include feminism
, linguistics
and the impact of language
, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her Ozark background and heritage.
Elgin became a professor at her alma mater
's cross-town rival, San Diego State University
(SDSU). She retired in 1980, and currently lives in the Ozarks in Arkansas
.
As of October 17, 2011 her status is disabled. She says that she's really sorry, but she just can't communicate anymore. She just can't focus on things well enough to even answer an email, let alone talk to anyone.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association
Science Fiction Poetry Association
The Science Fiction Poetry Association was established in 1978 by Suzette Haden Elgin to bring together poets and readers interested in science fiction poetry. The organization administers the Rhysling Award and publishes the journal Star*Line, as well as providing market listings and industry news...
, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
s. Elgin is also a linguist; she publishes non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
, of which the best-known is the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense
Verbal self defense
Verbal Self Defense, aka 'Verbal Judo', is defined as using one's words to prevent, de-escalate, or end an attempted assault. It is a way of using words as a way to maintain your mental and emotional safety...
series.
Born in 1936 in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Elgin attended the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
(UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, and was the first UCSD student to ever write two dissertations (on English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Navajo
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho is an Athabaskan language spoken in the southwestern United States. It is geographically and linguistically one of the Southern Athabaskan languages .Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the...
). She created the engineered language
Engineered language
Engineered languages are constructed languages devised to test or prove some hypotheses about how languages work or might work. There are at least three subcategories, philosophical languages , logical languages , and experimental languages...
Láadan
Láadan
Láadan is a constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis, specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would shape a culture; a subsidiary hypothesis was that Western natural languages may be better...
for her Native Tongue science fiction series. A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She is a supporter of feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of [X], where [X] is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women. Women need to treasure and support science fiction." http://www.womenwriters.net/editorials/hadenelgin.htm
In addition, she has published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and the impact of language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her Ozark background and heritage.
Elgin became a professor at her alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
's cross-town rival, San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
(SDSU). She retired in 1980, and currently lives in the Ozarks in Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
.
As of October 17, 2011 her status is disabled. She says that she's really sorry, but she just can't communicate anymore. She just can't focus on things well enough to even answer an email, let alone talk to anyone.
Coyote Jones series
- The Communipaths (1970)
- Furthest (1971)
- At the Seventh Level (1972) (cover and interior illustrations by George BarrGeorge Barr (artist)George Barr is a US science fiction and fantasy artist.-Career:Barr's work shows influences from Arthur Rackham, Hannes Bok and Virgil Finlay. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction describes him as one of the least appreciated SF/fantasy artists. His work is often romantic and whimsical...
) - Star-Anchored, Star-Angered (1979), ISBN 0-385-13564-5
- Yonder Comes the Other End of Time (1986), ISBN 0-88677-110-2
The Ozark Trilogy (1981)
- Twelve Fair Kingdoms, ISBN 0-385-15876-9
- The Grand Jubilee, ISBN 0-385-15877-7
- And Then There'll Be Fireworks, ISBN 0-385-15878-5
Native Tongue series
- Native Tongue (1984), ISBN 0-87997-945-3
- The Judas Rose (1987), ISBN 0-88677-186-2
- Earthsong (1993), ISBN 0-88677-592-2
Short stories
- "For the Sake of Grace" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1969 - "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1974 - "Modulation in All Things" - Reflections of the Future anthology, 1975
- "Lest Levitation Come Upon Us" - Perpetual Light anthology, 1982 (reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 9The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 9The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 9 is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Arthur W. Saha. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in 1983....
anthology, 1983) - "Magic Granny Says Don't Meddle" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1984 - "School Days" - Light Years and Dark anthology, 1984
- "Chico Lafleur Talks Funny" - A Treasury of American Horror Stories, 1985
- "Lo, How an Oak E'er Blooming" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1986 - "Hush My Mouth" - Alternate Histories anthology, 1986
- "Tornado" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1989 - "What the EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1990 - "Only A Housewife" - Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science FictionThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...
, 1995 - "Soulfedge Rock" - Space Opera anthology, 1996
- "Weather Bulletin" - 1999
- "Honor Is Golden" - Analog, 2003
- "We have always spoken Panglish"- SciFi.com, 2004 (Panglish appears in Native Tongue)
- "What We Can See Now, Looking In the Glass" - Glorifying TerrorismGlorifying TerrorismGlorifying Terrorism is a 2007 science fiction anthology edited by Farah Mendlesohn, which was compiled in direct response to the Terrorism Act 2006...
, 2007
Poetry
- The Less Said: A Book of Poems (1965)
- "McLuhan Transposed" - Burning with a Vision anthology, 1968
- "Lexical Gap" - Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 1985
- "Presuppositional Ghostbusting" - Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, 1985
- "Rocky Road to Hoe" - Star*Line, 1987
- "Binary Addendum" - Star*Line, 1989
Songs (partial list)
- Dead Skunk Song
- Song at the Ready
- When I Was a Young Girl (lyrics only, to the tune of "The Ash Grove")
- Where the Emerald Kudzu Twines
- The World They Call Terra
- Down In Holes (lyrics only, to the tune of "Frère Jacques")
- The Firelizard Song
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1980), ISBN 0-13-351080-8
- More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1983), ISBN 0-13-601120-9
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense Workbook (1987)
- The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1987), ISBN 0-13-524067-0
- Language in Emergency Medicine (1987), ISBN 0738812277
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense (Paperback; 1988; Barnes & Noble), ISBN 0-88-029257-1
- Growing Civilized Kids in a Savage World (1989)
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense for Business Success (1989), ISBN 0-13-921032-6
- Success with the Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1989), ISBN 0-13-688581-0
- Staying Well with the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1990), ISBN 0-13-845116-8
- GenderSpeak (1993), ISBN 0-471-58016-3
- The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense (1993), ISBN 1-56731-113-X
- The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense Letter Book (1993), ISBN 0-13-350422-0
- Language in Law Enforcement (1993), ISBN 1-878709-04-6
- Linguistics & Science Fiction Sampler (1994)
- Mastering the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (1995-05; Unabridged; audio-cassette); ISBN 0-78-710282-2
- BusinessSpeak (1995), ISBN 0-07-020000-9
- "You Can't Say That To Me!" (1995), ISBN 0-471-00399-9
- The Gentle Art of Communicating with Kids (1996), ISBN 0-471-03996-9
- How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable (1997-03; Wiley), ISBN 0-471-15705-8
- How to Turn the Other Cheek and Still Survive in Today's World (1997), ISBN 0-7852-7249-6
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work (2000-01-19; Second Edition; Prentice Hall), ISBN 0-7352-0089-0
- The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense: Revised and Updated (2009), ISBN 9781435113428
Other
- A Guide to Transformational GrammarTransformational grammarIn linguistics, a transformational grammar or transformational-generative grammar is a generative grammar, especially of a natural language, that has been developed in the Chomskyan tradition of phrase structure grammars...
(with John GrinderJohn GrinderJohn Grinder, Ph.D., is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with the co-creation with Richard Bandler of the field of Neuro-linguistic programming. He is co-director of Quantum Leap Inc., a management consulting firm founded by his partner...
) (1973), ISBN 0-03-080126-5 - What is Linguistics? (1973), ISBN 0-13-952390-1
- Bully for Us (with John GrinderJohn GrinderJohn Grinder, Ph.D., is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with the co-creation with Richard Bandler of the field of Neuro-linguistic programming. He is co-director of Quantum Leap Inc., a management consulting firm founded by his partner...
) (1974) - Pouring Down Words (1975), ISBN 0-13-686857-6
- A Primer of Transformational Grammar for Rank Beginners (1975), ISBN 0-8141-3693-1
- Never Mind the Trees (1980)
- The Great Grammar Myth (1982)
- A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan (1985, 2nd ed. 1988), ISBN 0-9618641-0-9
- Try to Feel It My Way (1997), ISBN 0-471-00670-X
- The Grandmother Principles (1998), ISBN 0-7892-0431-2
- The Language Imperative (2000), ISBN 0-7382-0254-1