Presents essays ranging from the consideration of the aesthetic of science fiction to a reading of lesbian identity. This book includes essays on horror stories and the supernatural, feminist utopias, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, popular literature for women (the 'modern gothic'), and the feminist education of graduate students in English.

Joanna Russ has written extensively - as novelist, short story writer, and critic - on feminism, science fiction, and fantasy. These essays, spanning almost twenty years of that career, range from Russ's consideration of the aesthetic of science fiction to a reading of Willa Cather's lesbian identity as it emerges in her writing. “To Write Like a Woman” includes essays on horror stories and the supernatural: feminist utopias; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the 'mother' of science fiction; popular literature for women (the 'modern gothic'); what the fascination with 'technology' often hides in popular culture, especially in science fiction movies and “Star Trek”; and the feminist education of graduate students in English. As a writer, Russ also addresses theorists and critics of literature - as they address her own work and the work of other writers.