Judith Berman (born 1958) is an American anthropologist and science fiction and fantasy writer.

Biography

Berman grew up in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Univers ...

, and read works from Golden Age science fiction during her childhood. She began writing and making up her own stories around the age of five or six. She graduated from

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

in 1979, where she majored in Anthropology, Russian, and comparative literature. After working as an editorial assistant at W.W. Norton, she received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1991. As of 2013 she lives in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

with her husband John Holland and their son Sam, born 1999. Berman has a form of

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who rep ...

Fiction

Berman's fiction was short listed for the Nebula, the Sturgeon, and Crawford awards. She won a best critical length essay of its year SFRA Pioneer Award from the Science and Fiction Research Association for her 2001 essay, “Science Fiction Without the Future” Her short fiction appeared in Asimov’s, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and Black Gate. Her science fiction and fantasy occasionally draws on her anthropological background, including her first novel, ''Bear Daughter'' (2005), nominated for the Crawford Award. Although about fictional characters, ''Bear Daughter'' is inspired by Native American stories and the indigenous traditions of the north Pacific coast. Berman wanted to be as true as possible to worldviews that were contained in the indigenous sources even though the story is fundamentally about her own personal concerns. In her acknowledgments, she thanks various cultures in their own language for their contribution: Gunalchéesh (

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

), Hàw’aa (

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

), T'ooyaksiy nisim ( Nisga), T'ooyaxsiy nisim, N t'oyaxsasm, Analhzaqwnugwutla, Giáxsia, Gianakasi, Stutwinii ( Nuxalk Nation), Gelakas’la ( Gwa'sala people), and Tl'eekoo ( Huu-ay-aht First Nations).

Linguistic anthropology

Berman is trained as a

linguistic anthropologist Linguistic anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life. It is a branch of anthropology that originated from the endeavor to document endangered languages and has grown over the past century to encompass mos ...

who published articles about Native American myth and translations, in particular those of the Pacific Northwest. She specializes in oral literature, ethnohistory, and history or ethnographic research on the Northwest Coast, focusing on the lives and work of indigenous ethnographers

George Hunt George Hunt may refer to: Sport *George Hunt (American football) (born 1949), American football player *George Hunt (footballer, born 1910) (1910–1996), English international footballer for Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal * George Hunt (footballer, ...

and

Louis Shotridge Louis Situwuka Shotridge (April 15, 1883 – August 6, 1937) was an American art collector and ethnological assistant who was an expert on the traditions of his people, the Tlingit people, Tlingit nation of southeastern Alaska. His Tlingit name ...

. She was a research associate at the

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly known as the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighb ...

in 2005. She was adjuncts in the University of Victoria School of Environmental Studies anthropology department (2013–2016), with research interests in Northwest Coast oral literature and ethnohistory and is a

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

scholar. Berman discusses

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate fro ...

in her interview with

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, an ...

Works

Fiction

* “The Year of Storms” (1995) * “Lord Stink” (1997) * “The Window” (1999) (third place Sturgeon winner) * “Dream of Rain” (2000) * “Lord Stink and Other Stories” (chapterbook, appeared from

Small Beer Press Small Beer Press is a publisher of fantasy and literary fiction, based in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was founded by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link in 2000 and publishes novels, collections, and anthologies. It also publishes the zine A zi ...

in 2002) * “The Fear Gun” (2004) (2005 Sturgeon finalist) *“The Poison Well” (2004) *''Bear Daughter'' (2005) *"Awakening" (2008) (nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novella)

Non-Fiction

* ''Topics in the Clausal Syntax of German'' * "The Culture as it Appears to the Indian Himself" (History of Anthropology Volume 8, Volksgeist As Method and Ethic, Essays on Boasian Ethnography and the Germ Anthropological Tradition)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Judith 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women novelists 1958 births Living people Women science fiction and fantasy writers 21st-century American women writers American anthropologists American women anthropologists Linguists from the United States Women linguists