James Tiptree, Jr. Award
Encyclopedia
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction
or fantasy
that expand or explore one's understanding of gender
. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler
, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon
.
.
Fundraising efforts for the Tiptree include publications (two cookbook
s), "feminist bake sale
s", and auction
s. (The Tiptree cookbook The Bakery Men Don't See, edited by WisCon co-founder Jeanne Gomoll, was nominated for a 1992 Hugo Award
.) Tiptree Award juries
traditionally consist of four female jurors and one male juror (the "token man"). The funds are administrated by the "Tiptree Motherboard" (currently consisting of Fowler, Gomoll, Murphy, Ellen Klages
, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith ).
gave its 2011 "Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service" to the Tiptree Motherboard. The Clareson Award was presented to the Tiptree Motherboard for “outstanding service activities – promotion of SF teaching and study, editing, reviewing, editorial writing, publishing, organizing meetings, mentoring, and leadership in SF/fantasy organizations.”
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
or fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
that expand or explore one's understanding of gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
. It was initiated in February of 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation....
, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon
WisCon
Wiscon or WisCon, the Wisconsin Science Fiction Convention, is often called the world's leading feminist-oriented science fiction convention and conference. It was first held in Madison, Wisconsin in February 1977, and is held annually throughout the four day weekend of Memorial Day...
.
Background
The award is named for Alice B. Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. By choosing a masculine nom de plume, having her stories accepted under that name and winning awards with them, Sheldon helped demonstrate that the division between male and female science fiction writing was illusory. Years after "Tiptree" first published science fiction, Sheldon wrote some work under the female pen name "Raccoona Sheldon"; later, the science fiction world discovered that "Tiptree" had been female all along. This discovery led to widespread discussion over which aspects of writing, if any, have an intrinsic gender. To remind audiences of the role gender plays in both reading and writing, the award was named in Sheldon's honor at the suggestion of Karen Joy FowlerKaren Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation....
.
Fundraising efforts for the Tiptree include publications (two cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
s), "feminist bake sale
Bake sale
A bake sale is a fundraising activity where baked goods such as doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies, sometimes along with ethnic foods, are sold. Bake sales are usually held by small, non-profit organizations, such as clubs, school groups and charitable organizations...
s", and auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
s. (The Tiptree cookbook The Bakery Men Don't See, edited by WisCon co-founder Jeanne Gomoll, was nominated for a 1992 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
.) Tiptree Award juries
Juried (competition)
A juried competition is a competition in which participants' work is judged by a person or panel of persons convened specifically to judge the participants' efforts, either by the competition's stated rubric or by a subjective set of criteria dependent upon the nature of the competition or the...
traditionally consist of four female jurors and one male juror (the "token man"). The funds are administrated by the "Tiptree Motherboard" (currently consisting of Fowler, Gomoll, Murphy, Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages is a science fiction writer who lives in San Francisco. Her novelette "Basement Magic" won the 2005 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. She had previously been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell awards. Her first novel, The Green Glass Sea, was published by Viking Children's Books...
, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith ).
Award to the Tiptree Motherboard
In 2011, the Science Fiction Research AssociationScience Fiction Research Association
The Science Fiction Research Association , founded in 1970, is the oldest, non-profit professional organization committed to encouraging, facilitating, and rewarding the study of science fiction and fantasy literature, film, and other media...
gave its 2011 "Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service" to the Tiptree Motherboard. The Clareson Award was presented to the Tiptree Motherboard for “outstanding service activities – promotion of SF teaching and study, editing, reviewing, editorial writing, publishing, organizing meetings, mentoring, and leadership in SF/fantasy organizations.”
Anthologies
Selections of the winners, various short listed fiction, and essays have appeared in four Tiptree-related collections, Flying Cups and Saucers (1999) and a series of annual anthologies published by Tachyon Publications of San Francisco. These include:- Flying Cups and Saucers: Gender Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by The Secret Feminist Cabal and Debbie Notkin (1999)
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 1 edited by Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith (2005)
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2 edited by Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith (2006)
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3 edited by Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith (2007)
Winners
- Retrospective Award: Motherlines and Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee CharnasSuzy McKee CharnasSuzy McKee Charnas is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected...
; The Left Hand of DarknessThe Left Hand of DarknessThe Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin all set in the fictional Hainish universe....
by Ursula K. Le GuinUrsula K. Le GuinUrsula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
; The Female ManThe Female ManThe Female Man is a feminist science fiction novel written by Joanna Russ. It was originally written in 1970 and first published in 1975. Russ was an avid feminist and challenged sexist views during the 1970s with her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works...
and "When It ChangedWhen It Changed"When It Changed" is a science fiction short story by Joanna Russ. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1973, and won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1972. It was included in Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions....
" by Joanna RussJoanna RussJoanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny... - 1991: A Woman of the Iron PeopleA Woman of the Iron PeopleA Woman of the Iron People is an anthropological science fiction novel by Eleanor Arnason, originally published in 1991. It is a first contact story between peoples from a future Earth and an intelligent, furred race of people who live on an unnamed planet far from Earth.Along with White Queen, A...
by Eleanor ArnasonEleanor ArnasonEleanor Atwood Arnason is an American author of science fiction novels and short stories.Arnason is the daughter of H. Harvard Arnason, who became the director of the Walker Art Center in 1951, and Elizabeth Yard Arnason, a social worker by profession who has spent her childhood in China...
, and White Queen by Gwyneth JonesGwyneth Jones (novelist)Gwyneth Jones is an English science fiction and fantasy writer and critic, and a young adult/children's writer under the name Ann Halam.-Biography and writing career:... - 1992: China Mountain ZhangChina Mountain ZhangChina Mountain Zhang is a 1992 novel by science fiction author Maureen F. McHugh. The novel is made up of several stories loosely intertwined.-Title:...
by Maureen F. McHughMaureen F. McHughMaureen F. McHugh is a science fiction and fantasy writer.Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang , was nominated for both the Hugo and the... - 1993: AmmoniteAmmonite (novel)Ammonite is Nicola Griffith's first novel, published in 1992 . It won both the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT fiction, and the James Tiptree, Jr...
by Nicola GriffithNicola GriffithNicola Griffith is a British science fiction author, editor and essayist. Griffith is a 1988 alumnus of the Michigan State University Clarion science fiction writing workshop and has won a Nebula Award, the James Tiptree, Jr Award, the World Fantasy Award and six Lambda Literary Awards. She also... - 1994: "The Matter of Seggri" by Ursula K. Le Guin and Larque on the Wing by Nancy SpringerNancy SpringerNancy Connor Springer is an American author of fantasy, young adult literature, mystery, and science fiction. Her novel Larque on the Wing won the Tiptree Award, and she has also received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.-Series:Book of the Isle* 1. The White Hart * 2...
- 1995: Waking The Moon by Elizabeth Hand and The Memoirs Of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore RoszakTheodore Roszak (scholar)Theodore Roszak was professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay. He is best known for his 1969 text, The Making of a Counter Culture.-Background:...
- 1996: "Mountain Ways" by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Sparrow by Mary Doria RussellMary Doria RussellMary Doria Russell is an American novelist. -Biography:Russell was born in the suburbs of Chicago. Her parents were both in the military: her father was a Marine Corps drill instructor, and her mother was a Navy nurse. She graduated from Glenbard East High School and later she earned a Ph.D in...
- 1997: Black Wine by Candas Jane DorseyCandas Jane DorseyCandas Jane Dorsey is a Canadian poet and science fiction novelist.Born and still living in Edmonton, Alberta, Dorsey became a writer from an early age, and a freelance writer since 1980. She writes across genre boundaries, writing poetry, fiction, mainstream and speculative, short and long form,...
and "Travels With The Snow Queen" by Kelly LinkKelly LinkKelly Link is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism... - 1998: "Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation" by Raphael CarterRaphael CarterRaphael Carter is an American science fiction author whose work, while sparse, has met with considerable acclaim.-Work:Carter's first novel, the postcyberpunk The Fortunate Fall was well received...
- 1999: The Conqueror's Child by Suzy McKee Charnas
- 2000: Wild Life by Molly GlossMolly GlossMolly Gloss is an American writer currently best known for historical fiction and science fiction.-Life:Molly Gloss grew up in rural Oregon and began writing seriously when she became a mother. She now lives in Portland, Oregon and is close friends with fellow science fiction writer Ursula K. Le...
- 2001: The Kappa Child by Hiromi GotoHiromi GotoHiromi Goto is a Japanese-Canadian editor, fiction writer, cultural critic, arts advocate, youth organizer, teacher of creative writing and a mother of two children.-Life:...
- 2002: LightLight (novel)Light is a science fiction novel written by M. John Harrison and published in 2002. It received the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and a BSFA nomination in 2002, and was shortlisted for the Arthur C...
by M. John HarrisonM. John HarrisonM. John Harrison , known as Mike Harrison, is an English author and critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels and short stories, , Climbers , and the Kefahuchi Tract series which begins with Light . He currently resides in London.-Early years:Harrison was born in Rugby,...
and "Stories for Men" by John KesselJohn KesselJohn Kessel is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer and the author of two solo novels, Good News From Outer Space and Corrupting Dr... - 2003: Set This House In Order: A Romance Of Souls by Matt RuffMatt RuffMatthew Theron Ruff is an American author of thriller, science-fiction and comic novels.-Background and education:...
- 2004: CamouflageCamouflage (book)Camouflage is a 2004 science fiction novel by Joe Haldeman. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2005, and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award in 2004.- Plot summary :...
by Joe HaldemanJoe HaldemanJoe William Haldeman is an American science fiction author.-Life :Haldeman was born June 9, 1943 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His family traveled and he lived in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Maryland and Anchorage, Alaska as a child. Haldeman married Mary Gay Potter, known...
and Not Before SundownNot before sundownNot Before Sundown is a novel written by Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo in 2000. In the same year it won a Finlandia Prize for literature. Since then it has won several awards including The James Tiptree Jr...
by Johanna SinisaloJohanna SinisaloAila Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish science fiction and fantasy writer. She studied comparative literature and drama, amongst other subjects, at the University of Tampere... - 2005: AirAir (novel)Air, also known as Air: Or, Have Not Have, is a 2005 novel by Geoff Ryman. It won the British Science Fiction Association Award, the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and was on the short list for the Philip K. Dick Award in 2004, the Nebula Award in 2005, and the John W...
by Geoff RymanGeoff RymanGeoffrey Charles Ryman is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and surrealistic or "slipstream" fiction.Ryman currently lectures in Creative Writing for University of Manchester's English Department. His most recent full-length novel, The King's Last Song, is set in Cambodia, both at the time of... - 2006 The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. ValenteCatherynne M. ValenteCatherynne M. Valente , is a Tiptree–, Andre Norton–, and Mythopoeic Award–winning novelist, poet, and literary critic. Her short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, the World Fantasy Award–winning anthologies Salon Fantastique and Paper Cities, along with numerous Year's Best volumes...
and Half LifeHalf Life (novel)Half Life is the 2006 debut novel of American writer and artist Shelley Jackson. The novel presupposes an alternate history in which the atomic bomb resulted in a genetic preponderance of conjoined twins, who eventually become a minority subculture. It tells the story of a disenchanted conjoined...
by Shelley JacksonShelley JacksonShelley Jackson is a writer and artist known for her cross-genre experiments, including her groundbreaking work of hyperfiction, Patchwork Girl...
; with special recognition for Julie Phillips' biography of James Tiptree, Jr., James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon - 2007 The Carhullan Army by Sarah HallSarah Hall (writer)Sarah Hall is an English novelist, and poet. Her critically acclaimed second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, was nominated for the 2004 Man Booker Prize and achieved considerable international commercial success...
- 2008 The Knife of Never Letting GoThe Knife of Never Letting GoThe Knife of Never Letting Go is the first installment in the Chaos Walking Trilogy written by Patrick Ness and published on May 5, 2008. It has won numerous awards, including the Booktrust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Award, and the 2008 James Tiptree, Jr...
by Patrick NessPatrick NessPatrick Ness is an American author, journalist and lecturer who lives in London. He holds both American and British citizenship...
and Filter House by Nisi ShawlNisi ShawlNisi Shawl is an African-American writer and journalist. She is best known as a writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories.-Work:Shawl is the co-author of Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction, a book derived from the authors' workshop of the same name,... - 2009 Cloud and Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales by Greer GilmanGreer GilmanGreer Ilene Gilman is an American author of fantasy stories.Her stories are noted for their dense prose style, which is strongly focused on native English roots, sometimes reminiscent of Gerard Manley Hopkins...
and Ōoku: The Inner ChambersŌoku: The Inner Chambersis an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fumi Yoshinaga. The plot follows an alternate history of medieval Japan in which an unknown disease kills most of the male population, leading to a matriarchal society in which the Ōoku becomes a harem of men serving the now female...
by Fumi YoshinagaFumi Yoshinagais a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and shōnen-ai works.-Personal:Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She attended the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo.... - 2010 Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka UgresicDubravka UgrešicDubravka Ugrešić is a Croatian writer who lives in the Netherlands.- Background and education:Ugrešić was born in 1949 in Kutina, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia., She studied Comparative Literature and Russian Language and Literature at the University of Zagreb, pursuing parallel careers as a...
See also
- Gender in speculative fiction
- Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction
- Women in speculative fictionWomen in speculative fictionWomen have always been represented among science fiction writers and fans. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has been called the first science fiction novel, although women wrote utopian novels even before that, with Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, publishing the first, The Blazing World,...
- Women science fiction authors