death_date influenced pseudonym birth_place nationality notableworks name birth_date period spouse genre article_title birth_name occupation
1948 h. p. lovecraft , a. merritt francis stevens minneapolis american '' of cerberus '' '' claimed '' the citadel of fear '' '' the heads gertrude barrows bennett 1883 1917 -- 26 -lrb- fiction writer -rrb- stewart bennett science fiction , fantasy gertrude barrows bennett
 gertrude mabel barrows writer , stenographer
gertrude barrows bennett

gertrude barrows bennett -lrb- 1883 -- 1948 -rrb- was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the united states , publishing her stories under the pseudonym francis stevens .
bennett wrote a number of highly acclaimed fantasies between 1917 and 1923 and has been called `` the woman who invented dark fantasy '' .
her most famous books include `` claimed '' -lrb- 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 '' -rrb- and the lost world novel `` the citadel of fear '' .
bennett also wrote an early dystopian novel , `` the heads of cerberus '' -lrb- 1919 -rrb- .
