The idea of writing a poem might feel frightening     1     (initial) — do you need to follow a certain structure, does it need to have a rhyme, or do you need to have recited a dictionary to be a “proper” poet? The truth is: absolutely not. While there are “types” of poem that offer structure to serve     2     a guide, the reality is that poetry doesn’t have to follow a set of rules — it’s much more about conveying a feeling, and that opens up a lot of creative     3     (free) for us to explore.

2 . This month, science fiction magazine Lights peed changed its normal publishing schedule to bring readers a special issue: “Women Destroy Science Fiction! ”

It’s more than just a collection of stories entirely edited and written by women. It’s an exhibition of all the ways in which women are writing—and have written.

Many of the stories will be considered the best hard science fiction even by the pickiest critics (评论家). For example, Tananarive Due’s Like Daughter deals with what happens when humans have easy access to cloning. The Unfathomable Sisterhood of Ick by Charlie Jane Anders takes place in a future where changing brain chemistry is as common as taking vitamins now.

However, it is also true that the authors are more focused on the relations between people, or between people and society, or changing cultural and gender roles. There are stories that refuse to stay firmly within science fiction borders. For example, James Tiptree Jr. ’s Love Is the Plan and the Plan Is Death is a mixture of horror, mystery and even love, something not commonly seen in science fiction.

So are women destroying science fiction?

If your idea of science fiction is limited to the concept formed by works like Isaac Asimov’s Night Fall and Arthur Charles Clarke’s Childhood’s End, then many of the stories within these pages may well seem like devastation.

“But the stories we read and the stories we tell shape who we are, ” Pat Murphy once said in a famous speech back in 1991. “They also shape the culture they’re born into. Thus, if women keep writing such kind of science fiction, and keep calling it science fiction, the room for science fiction will expand. They will exist nicely beside other kinds of science fiction. ”

I cannot agree more. Women have the right to create a space for themselves within science fiction. one filled with their dreams, experiences and realities.