Susan Griffin
Susan Griffin (January 26, 1943 – September 30, 2025) was an American radical feminist philosopher, essayist and playwright, particularly known for her innovative, hybrid-form ecofeminist works.
Susan Griffin

Sarfatims · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1943 · Los Angeles.
- Died
- 2025 · Berkeley.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- screenwriter · writer · women's rights activist · poet · environmentalist · opinion journalist
- Fields
- ecofeminism · literature · opinion journalism · feminism
- Education
- San Francisco State University
- Known for
- Berkeley in the Sixties · Woman and Nature
- Honours
- Guggenheim Fellowship · Emmy Award
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Susan Griffin (January 26, 1943 – September 30, 2025) was an American radical feminist philosopher, essayist and playwright, particularly known for her innovative, hybrid-form ecofeminist works.
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Note VALÉORINE
Susan Griffin (1943–2025) was an American environmentalist, opinion journalist and poet, among other activities. Born in Los Angeles, the environmentalist died in Berkeley.
Susan Griffin studied at San Francisco State University. The environmentalist worked for Ghent University. Susan Griffin was active in ecofeminism, feminism and literature.
Works include Berkeley in the Sixties and Woman and Nature. Languages used include English. The environmentalist received Emmy Award and Guggenheim Fellowship.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q7647892 · wikipedia · Susan Griffin
In this article
Background
Background
Susan Griffin studied at San Francisco State University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is ecofeminism, literature and opinion journalism. Employment is recorded with Ghent University. Works named in the authority record are Berkeley in the Sixties and Woman and Nature. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship and Emmy Award.
Griffin was born in Los Angeles, California on January 26, 1943. Following her father's death when she was 16, she bounced around the family but was eventually taken into the home and family of noted artist Morton Dimondstein. Her biological family were of Irish, Scottish, Welsh and German ancestry. Having spent a year in a post-War Jewish home, her German heritage wasn't openly spoken of and she initially demonized Germans, but later made several trips to Germany (including to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp) to reconcile her Jewish and German heritages. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, for two years, then transferred to San Francisco State College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing (1965) and her Master of Arts degree (1973), both degrees under the tutelage of Kay Boyle. She taught as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley as well as at Stanford University and California Institute of Integral Studies. Griffin also taught at the California Institute for Integral Studies, Pacifica Graduate Institute, the Wright Institute, and the University of California. Griffin died from Parkinson's disease in Berkeley, California, on September 30, 2025, at the age of 82. Griffin's papers are located at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, at Harvard University.
Work
Work
Griffin wrote 21 books, including works of nonfiction, poetry, anthologies, plays, and a screenplay. Her work has been translated into over 12 languages. Griffin described her work as "draw[ing] connections between the destruction of nature, the diminishment of women and racism, and trac[ing] the causes of war to denial in both private and public life." "Rape: The All-American Crime" (1971), an article published in Ramparts, was one of the first publications about rape from a feminist perspective. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her (1978) has sold more than 100,000 copies, and draws connections between ecological destruction, sexism, and racism. Considered a form of prose-poetry, this work is believed to have launched ecofeminism in the United States. Griffin attributed her connection to ecofeminism to her upbringing along the Pacific Coast, which she believed cultivated her awareness of ecology. Griffin articulated her anti-pornography feminism in Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature (1981). In this work she makes the case that although the pursuit of freedom of speech could lead to a position against the censorship of pornography, the freedom to create pornography leads to a compromise of "human liberation" (since liberation of humankind would include the emancipation of women). She argues that pornography and eros are separate and opposing ideas, with pornography "express[ing] not a yearning for sexual liberation but its opposite, a desire to silence eros." According to Griffin, pornography's origins are rooted in a widespread fear of nature, and pornographic imagery "objectifies and degrades the (usually female) body". This, according to Griffin, teaches women to self-deprecate, and fuels an unhealthy, perverted culture. In contrast, Griffin argues that "real sexual liberation requires a reconciliation with nature, a healing between body and spirit". Critics largely responded to Pornography and Silence with contempt, many complaining that it came off as more of a rant than realistic philosophical discussion.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1943
Susan Griffin born at Los Angeles.
2025
Susan Griffin died at Berkeley.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Los Angeles.
Birth place
Berkeley.
Death place
Published works
• Woman and Nature: the Roaring Inside Her (1978) Ecofeminist treatise (1st Edition, has since been reprinted) • Rape: The Politics of Consciousness (1979) OCLC 781089176 • Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature (1981) OCLC 964062418 • "Sadomasochism and the erosion of self: a critical reading of Story of O," in Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis, ed. Robin Ruth Linden (East Palo Alto, Calif.: Frog in the Well, 1982.), pp. 183–201 • Unremembered Country: poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1987) OCLC 16905255 • A Chorus of Stones: the Private Life of War (1993) Psychological aspects of violence, war, womanhood OCLC 1005479046 • The Eros of Everyday Life: Essays on Ecology, Gender and Society (1995) OCLC 924501690 • Bending Home: Selected New Poems, 1967-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1998) OCLC 245705378 • What Her Body Thought: a Journey into the Shadows (1999) • The Book of the Courtesans: a Catalogue of Their Virtues (2001) • Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy: On Being an American Citizen (2008) • Transforming Terror: Remembering the Soul of the World, co-edited with Karen Lofthus Carrington (University of California Press, 2011)
Criticism
Many critics praise Griffin's blunt takes and insights to the role of feminism in every major issue today, while others have criticized her writings for being too convoluted or ranting. Largely, reviews for Griffin's work take opposing views on the intertwining and complicated connections she suggests between the woman and larger worldly issues such as war, disease, pornography, and nature itself. These webs are mirrored in her unique writing style which critics have reflected upon extensively. In a 1994 review by Carol H. Cantrell, Griffin's Woman and Nature is characterised as "hard to describe. Most of it looks like prose on the page but the thought is fragmented, metaphorical, and discontinuous; there are plenty of stories, but they too are often elliptical and metaphorical." In a review of What Her Body Thought: A Journey into the Shadows, Susan Dion of The Women's Review of Books wrote: "...Griffin is not merely reiterating old themes in feminist scholarship or the history of medicine; rather, she probes, ponders, and suggests different ways of considering many interrelated issues...Griffin's musings and hypotheses are fresh, smart, and instructive, if not always convincing."
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Unremembered Country by Susan Griffin, Western American Literature, 1988
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 1988
reference work
- “Susan Griffin”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7647892: Susan Griffin
Unverified · Wikidata
Awards
Griffin received a MacArthur grant for Peace and International Cooperation, NEA and Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, and a local Emmy Award for the play Voices. She is featured in the 2014 feminist history film She's Beautiful When She's Angry. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1993 for A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War.
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
* • Poetry Foundation Biography • 1=Susan Griffin's reading lectures, RealAudio • Papers of Susan Griffin, 1914-2015 (inclusive), 1943-2015 (bulk): A Finding Aid. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. • Review of production of play Voices The Boston Phoenix (1982-07-06)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Green, Penelope. Susan Griffin, a Leading Voice of Ecofeminism, Is Dead at 82. The New York Times. October 12, 2025.
- 2.Poetry Foundation. Susan Griffin.
- 3.Encyclopedia.com. Griffin, Susan, referencing American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present, The Gale Group, Inc., 2000.
- 4.Utne Visionary. Susan Griffin. January 1995.
- 5.Pulse Berlin. SUSAN GRIFFIN: FEMININE AND MASCULINE. May 2, 2015.
- 6.Hear Her Roar: Ecofeminist Author Susan Griffin Isn't Going Away. Cal Alumni Association. March 28, 2017.
- 7.Papers of Susan Griffin, 1914-2015 (inclusive), 1943-2015 (bulk). hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu.
- 8.Remembering Susan Griffin, pioneering voice of ecofeminism. Berkeleyside. October 3, 2025.
- 9.Collection: Papers of Susan Griffin. Hollis for Archival Discovery.
- 10.Bio – Susan Griffin. susangriffin.com.
- 11.Griffin, Susan. Rape: The All-American Crime. Ramparts. 26–35. September 1971.
- 12.Willis, Ellen. NATURE'S REVENGE. The New York Times. July 12, 1981.
- 13.Willis, Ellen. NATURE'S REVENGE. The New York Times. July 12, 1981.
- 14.Tonella, Karla. Susan Griffin Pornography and Silence: transcript of KPFA broadcast. bailiwick @ the university of iowa libraries. The University of Iowa. 1981.
- 15.Griffin, Susan. Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature. Harper & Row. July 28, 2015.
- 16.Douglas, Carol Anne. Love and Politics : Radical Feminist and Lesbian Theories. ISM PRESS. 78–9. July 1990. 9780910383172.
- 17.WOMAN AND NATURE: The Roaring Inside Her by Susan Griffin Kirkus Reviews.
- 18.Susan Griffin: Plays. susangriffin.com.
- 19.'She's Beautiful When She's Angry' Tells The Feminist History Left Out Of Your School Textbook. The Huffington Post. December 15, 2014.
- 20.The Pulitzer Prizes: General Nonfiction. Pulitzer.
- 21.Cantrell, Carol H. Women and Language in Susan Griffin's Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. Hypatia. 9. 3. 225–238. 1994. 10.1111/j.1527-2001.1994.tb00459.x.
- 22.Dion, Susan. Sick and Tired. The Women's Review of Books. 17. 1. 11–12. 1999. 10.2307/4023361.
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