In a time of environmental crisis, war, and social unrest, Science Fiction can provide an escape from reality and a speculative vision of our future.

Although many works within the genre tend to show the negative consequences of scientific and technological advancements in a post-apocalyptic world, this group will focus on stories that show the possibility of utopia through societal and environmental change. This reading group will discuss works by feminist writers who use the genre to explore the link between human oppression and dominance over nature, addressing themes of gender & sexuality, collectivism & community, and our relationship with the natural world.

This group will meet on the third Sunday of the month from 2-3:30pm in the Athenæum’s Bound.

Some of these books are out of print and you will need to find used copies. We recommend using bookfinder.com which pulls up all available listings across a number of sites. Books will also be available to purchase from Cellar Stories.

Sun, September 18
And Chaos Died, Joanna Russ (1970)

Sun, October 16
The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You, Dorothy Bryant (1971)

Sun, November 20
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin (1974)

Sun, December 18
Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy (1976)

Sun, January 15
Not By Bread Alone, Naomi Mitchison (1983)

Sun, February 19
A Door Into Ocean, Joan Slonczewski (1986)

Sun, March 19
Grass, Sheri S. Tepper (1989)

Sun, April 16
The Color of Distance, Amy Thomson (1995)

Victoria Forsberg-Lary is a bookseller and bookbinder living in Providence, RI. Since 2014, she has served as manager of retail operations at Cellar Stories Bookstore, the oldest and largest used bookstore in the state. She also apprentices at the Currier Bindery in Newport, RI, where she has been learning to restore antiquarian books since 2017. She attended the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar in 2019 and has served as a judge for the John Russell Bartlett Society’s annual Stillwell Prize for book collecting. She was interviewed by Fine Books & Collections for their Bright Young Booksellers blog series, which you can read here.