Francis Stevens
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Gertrude Barrows Bennett (September 18, 1884February 2, 1948), known by the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
Francis Stevens, was a pioneering American author of
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
and
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
.''Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965'' by Eric Leif Davin, Lexington Books, 2005, pages 409-10. Bennett wrote a number of fantasies between 1917 and 1923. and has been called "the woman who invented
dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...
"."The Woman Who Invented Dark Fantasy" by Gary C. Hoppenstand from ''Nightmare and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy'' by Francis Stevens,
University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...
, 2004, page x.
Her most famous books include ''Claimed'' (which Augustus T. Swift, in a letter to '' The Argosy'' called "One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will ever read") and the
lost world The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The ...
novel ''The Citadel of Fear''. Bennett also wrote an early
dystopian novel Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...
, '' The Heads of Cerberus'' (1919).''The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction'' by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, Cambridge University Press, 2003, page 30.


Life

Gertrude Mabel Barrows was born in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
in 1884, to Charles and Caroline Barrows (''née'' Hatch). Her father, a Civil War veteran from Illinois, died in 1892. Gertrude completed school through the eighth grade, then attended night school in hopes of becoming an illustrator (a goal she never achieved). Instead, she began working as a stenographer, a job she held on and off for the rest of her life."The Woman Who Invented Dark Fantasy" by Gary C. Hoppenstand from ''Nightmare and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy'' by Francis Stevens,
University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...
, 2004, p. xvi.
In 1909 Barrows married Stewart Bennett, a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and
explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...
, and moved to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. A year later her husband died during a tropical storm while on a treasure hunting expedition.The Influential Pulp Career of Francis Stevens
/ref> With a new-born daughter to raise, Bennett continued working as a stenographer. When her father died toward the end of World War I, Bennett assumed care for her invalid mother. Virtually all of Bennett's work dates from 1917 to 1920, when she began to write short stories and novels to support the household. She stopped writing when her mother died in 1920; one later work published in 1923 appears to have been written during the late 'teens, and submitted to ''
Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...
'' when that magazine was just starting up. In the mid-1920s, Bennett placed her daughter in the care of friends and moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Because she was estranged from her daughter, for a number of years researchers believed Bennett died in 1939 – a 1939 letter from her daughter was returned as undeliverable, and her daughter did not hear from Bennett after this date. However, new research, including her death certificate, shows that she died in 1948.


Writing career

Gertrude Mabel Barrows wrote her first short story at age 17, a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
story titled "The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar". She mailed the story to '' Argosy'', then one of the top pulp magazines. The story was accepted and published in the March 1904 issue, under the byline "G. M. Barrows". Although the initials disguised her gender, this appears to be the first instance of an American female author publishing science fiction, and using her real name. That same month, ''
Youth's Companion ''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with '' The American Boy'' in 19 ...
'' published her poetry. Once Bennett began to take care of her mother, she decided to return to fiction writing as a means of supporting her family. The first story she completed after her return to writing was the
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...
"The Nightmare", which appeared in ''All-Story Weekly'' in 1917. The story is set on an island separated from the rest of the world, on which
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
has taken a different course. "The Nightmare" resembles
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...
' '' The Land That Time Forgot'', itself published a year later. While Bennett had submitted "The Nightmare" under her own name, she had asked to use a pseudonym if it was published. The magazine's editor chose not to use the pseudonym Bennett suggested (Jean Vail) and instead credited the story to Francis Stevens. When readers responded positively to the story, Bennett chose to continue writing under the name. Over the next few years, Bennett wrote a number of short stories and novellas. Her short story "Friend Island" (''All-Story Weekly'', 1918), for example, is set in a 22nd-century ruled by women. Another story is the novella "Serapion" ('' Argosy'', 1920), about a man
possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...
by a supernatural creature. This story has been released in an electronic book entitled ''Possessed: A Tale of the Demon Serapion'', with three other stories by her. Many of her short stories have been collected in ''The Nightmare and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy'' (University of Nebraska Press, 2004). In 1918 she published her first, and perhaps best, novel ''The Citadel of Fear'' (''Argosy'', 1918). This
lost world The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The ...
story focuses on a forgotten
Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...
city, which is "rediscovered" during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.''Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature'' by Frank Northen Magill, Salem Press, 1983, p. 287. It was the introduction to a 1952 reprint edition of the novel which revealed that "Francis Stevens" was Bennett's pen-name. A year later she published her only science fiction novel, ''The Heads of Cerberus'' (''
The Thrill Book ''The Thrill Book'' was a U.S. pulp magazine published by Street & Smith in 1919. It was intended to carry "different" stories: this meant stories that were unusual or unclassifiable, which in practice often meant the stories were fantasy or s ...
'', 1919). One of the first
dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
novels, the book features a "grey dust from a silver phial" which transports anyone who inhales it to a totalitarian
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
of 2118 AD. One of Bennett's most famous novels was ''Claimed!'' (Argosy, 1920; reprinted 1966, 2004, 2018), in which a supernatural artifact summons an ancient and powerful god to early 20th century
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. Augustus T. Swift called the novel "One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will ever read". Apparently ''The Thrill Book'' had accepted more of her stories when it was cancelled in October 1919, only seven months after the first issue. These were never published and became lost. It has been hypothesized that "Sunfire", which appeared in ''Weird Tales'' in 1923, was one of these stories that had originally been accepted by ''Thrill Book''; it was the only 'new' story published by Bennett after 1920, although it was almost certainly written in 1919 or earlier.


Influence

Bennett has been credited as having "the best claim at creating the new genre of
dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...
". It has been said that Bennett's writings influenced both
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
and
A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...
, both of whom "emulated Bennett's earlier style and themes". Lovecraft was even said to have praised Bennett's work. However, there is controversy about whether or not this actually happened and the praise appears to have resulted from letters wrongly attributed to Lovecraft. As for Merritt, for several decades critics and readers believed "Francis Stevens" was a pseudonym of his. This rumor only ended with the 1952 reprinting of ''Citadel of Fear'', which featured a biographical introduction of Bennett by
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (June 20, 1910 – October 29, 2003) was an American science fiction science fiction fandom, fan, publisher and writer, secular and religious publisher, and minister. Biography Born in Palm, Pennsylvania, Palm, Pennsyl ...
. Critic
Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...
said she was the "greatest woman writer of science fiction in the period between
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
and C.L. Moore". Because Bennett was the first American woman to have her fantasy and science fiction widely published, she qualifies as a pioneering female fantasy author.


Bibliography


Novels

*
The Citadel of Fear
' (1918; reprinted in ''Famous Fantastic Mysteries'', February 1942, and in paperback form in 1970, Y: Paperback Library 1984 Y: Carroll & Graf 2015 rmchair Fiction * ''The Labyrinth'' (serialized in ''All-Story Weekly'', July 27, August 3, and August 10, 1918; later reprinted as a paperback novel) * '' The Heads of Cerberus'' 1st book edition. 1952, Cloth, also leather backed, Reading, PA. Polaris Press (Subsidiary of Fantasy Fress, Inc.) ill. Ric Binkley. Intro by
Lloyd Arthur Eshbach Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (June 20, 1910 – October 29, 2003) was an American science fiction science fiction fandom, fan, publisher and writer, secular and religious publisher, and minister. Biography Born in Palm, Pennsylvania, Palm, Pennsyl ...
(Thrill Book, August 15, 1919; reprinted as a paperback novel in 1952 and 1984; Dover 2014; Modern Library 2019) * ''Avalon'' (serialized in ''Argosy'', August 16 to September 6, 1919; reprinted in ''Claimed! and Avalon'', Black Dog Books, 2018) * ''
Claimed "Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the The Walking Dead season 4, fourth season of the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Horror fiction, horror television series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'', wh ...
'' (1920; reprinted in April 1941, 1985, 1996, 2004, 2018) 192pp, cloth and paper, Sense of Wonder Press, James A. Rock & Co., Publishers in trade paperback and hard cover.


Short stories and novellas

*
The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar
(''Argosy'', March 1904; as by G. M. Barrows) * "The Nightmare," (''
All-Story Weekly ''The All-Story Magazine'' was a pulp magazine founded in 1905 and published by Frank Munsey. The editor was Robert H. Davis; Thomas Newell Metcalf also worked as a managing editor for the magazine. It was published monthly until March 1914, ...
'', April 14, 1917) *
Friend Island
(''All-Story Weekly'', September 7, 1918; reprinted in ''Fantastic Novels'', September 1950; reprinted in
Under the Moons of Mars
', edited by Sam Moskowitz, 1970) * "
Behind the Curtain ''Behind the Curtain'' is the second book in the Echo Falls mystery series by best-selling crime novelist Peter Abrahams. Plot summary Ingrid lives in a small community called Echo Falls. She's in the school soccer team and is in the drama c ...
" (''All-Story Weekly'', September 21, 1918; reprinted in ''Famous Fantastic Mysteries,'' January 1940) * " Unseen—Unfeared" (''People's Favorite Magazine'' February 10, 1919; reprinted in ''Horrors Unknown'', edited by Sam Moskowitz, 1971) * " The Elf-Trap" (''Argosy'', July 5, 1919; reprinted in ''Fantastic Novels Magazine'', November 1949) * "Serapion" (serialized in ''Argosy Weekly'', June 19, June 26, July 3, and July 10, 1920; reprinted in ''Famous Fantastic Mysteries'', July 1942) * "Sunfire" (1923; original printed in two parts in ''Weird Tales'', July–August 1923, and ''Weird Tales'', September 1923; also reprinted as trade paperback in 1996 by Apex International)


Collections

* ''Possessed: A Tale of the Demon Serapion'' (2002; contains the novella "Serapion", retitled, and the short stories "Behind the Curtain", "Elf-Trap" and "Unseen-Unfeared") * ''Nightmare: And Other Tales of Dark Fantasy'' (
University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...
, 2004; contains all Stevens' known short fiction except "The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar", i.e. "The Nightmare", "The Labyrinth", "Friend Island", "Behind the Curtain", ""Unseen-Unfeared", "The Elf-Trap", "Serapion" and "Sunfire")


See also

*
Feminist science fiction Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction (abbreviated "SF") focused on such feminist themes as: gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist SF is political because of its tendency to ...
* Women science fiction authors *
Women in science fiction The role of women in speculative fiction has changed a great deal since the early to mid-20th century. There are several aspects to women's roles, including their participation as authors of speculative fiction and their role in science fiction ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* Cottrill, Tim. '' Bookery's Guide to Pulps & Related Magazines, 1888-1969''. Bookery Press, 2005. ''Internet Archive''. *R. Alain Everts. "The Mystery of Francis Stevens (1883–1948)". ''Outsider'' 4 (2000): 29–30. *Knight, Damon. “
The Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...
.” ''In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction'', Advent Publishers, 1967, pp. 9–11. *Kröger, Lisa, and Melanie R. Anderson.
Seer of the Unseen
” ''Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction'', Random, 2019, pp. 139–143. ''Google Books''. * Bryce J. Stevens. "Into the Abyss: Did Francis Stevens' 1920 Novel ''Claimed'' Influence H.P. Lovecraft?". Presents textual evidence that ''Claimed'' may have influenced "
The Call of Cthulhu "The Call of Cthulhu" is a cosmic horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in February 1928. The story is a founding document of the Cthul ...
". *
Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...
. "The Woman Who Wrote 'Citadel of Fear'". ''The Citadel of Fear'' by Francis Stevens. NY: Paperback Library, 1970. *Moskowitz, Sam, editor. '' Under the Moons of Mars: A History and Anthology of "The Scientific Romance" in the Munsey Magazines, 1912-1920''. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970. ''Internet Archive''. * Robert Weinberg. "A Forgotten Mistress of Fantasy". ''The Citadel of Fear'' by Francis Stevens. NY: Carroll & Graf, 1994.


External links

* *
Francis Stevens
a
Manybooks.net


* *

at Luminist Archives *Serialized issues with
The Labyrinth
' at Luminist Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Gertrude Barrows 1884 births 1948 deaths Writers from Minneapolis American women short story writers American science fiction writers American fantasy writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women novelists 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Minnesota American weird fiction writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers