Suzette Haden Elgin
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Suzette Haden Elgin (born Patricia Anne Suzette Wilkins; November 18, 1936 – January 27, 2015) was an American researcher in experimental linguistics, construction and evolution of languages and poetry and science fiction writer. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages. Her best-known non-fiction includes her Verbal Self-Defense series.<ref name=":0" />
Early life
Patricia Anne Suzette Wilkins was born in 1936 in Jefferson City, Missouri.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Linguistics, teaching and writing
She attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She gained a PhD in linguistics, and was the first UCSD student ever to write two dissertations (on English and Navajo).
She created the engineered language Láadan for her Native Tongue science fiction series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She supported 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 [Y], where [Y] 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In addition, she published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include feminism, linguistics and the impact of proper language, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her Ozark background and heritage.<ref>Elgin blog, ozarque.livejournal.com; accessed April 26, 2015.</ref><ref>Elgin biography, sfwa.org; accessed April 26, 2015.</ref>
Later years and death
Elgin became a professor at San Diego State University (SDSU). She retired in 1980 and lived in Arkansas with her second husband, George Elgin. She died at age 78 in 2015 from undisclosed causes. She was survived by her husband until his own death in 2020. Her son Michael pre-deceased her.<ref>notice of death opg Suzette Haden Elgin, SFSite News; accessed April 26, 2015.</ref><ref>Locus Online obituary, locusmag.com; accessed April 26, 2015.</ref><ref>[1], 7th draft of her poem about Michael's death.</ref>
Bibliography
References
- Mohr, Dunja M. Worlds Apart: Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias. Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 2005. [extensive chapter on Native Tongue series]
External links
- Official site
- Official blog at LiveJournal
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- Suzette Haden Elgin at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- "Why a Woman Is Not Like a Physicist" Elgin's Guest of Honor speech at WisCon 6 (March 6, 1982)
- "What the EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them"
- Database search for recordings of her songs
- Entrevista en español http://escritorasfantastikas.blogspot.com.es/2015/04/entrevista-suzette-haden-elgin.html
- ¿Por qué una mujer no es como un físico? http://escritorasfantastikas.blogspot.com.es/2015/05/por-que-una-mujer-no-es-como-un-fisico.html
- 1936 births
- 2015 deaths
- 20th-century American novelists
- 20th-century American women novelists
- 21st-century American writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- American bloggers
- American science fiction writers
- American women bloggers
- American women linguists
- American women science fiction and fantasy writers
- Constructed language creators
- Linguists from the United States
- Place of death missing
- Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem winners
- San Diego State University faculty
- University of California, San Diego alumni