James Tiptree, Jr. Award

The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction ("SF") or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by SF authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon (the world's leading feminist-oriented science fiction convention).

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 SF writing was illusory. Years after "Tiptree" first published SF, Sheldon wrote some work under the female pen name "Raccoona Sheldon"; later, the SF world discovered that "Tiptree" had been female all along. According to the Tiptree Award council, this discovery led to widespread discussion over which aspects of writing, if any, have an intrinsic gender. To remind audiences of the complicated role gender plays in both reading and writing, the award was named in Sheldon's honor.

Fundraising efforts for the Tiptree have included publications (two cookbooks), feminist bake sales, and auctions.

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)

The James Tiptree Award Anthology 4 was originally announced for late 2007 or early 2008.

Winners

• Retrospective Award: Motherlines and Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee Charnas; The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin; The Female Man and "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ
• 1991: A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason, and White Queen by Gwyneth Jones
• 1992: China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
• 1993: Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
• 1994: "The Matter of Seggri" by Ursula K. Le Guin and Larque on the Wing by Nancy Springer
• 1995: Waking The Moon by Elizabeth Hand and The Memoirs Of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore Roszak
• 1996: "Mountain Ways" by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• 1997: Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey and "Travels With The Snow Queen" by Kelly Link
• 1998: "Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation" by Raphael Carter
• 1999: The Conqueror's Child by Suzy McKee Charnas
• 2000: Wild Life by Molly Gloss
• 2001: The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto
• 2002: Light by M. John Harrison and "Stories for Men" by John Kessel
• 2003: Set This House In Order: A Romance Of Souls by Matt Ruff
• 2004: Camouflage by Joe Haldeman and Not Before Sundown by Johanna Sinisalo
• 2005: Air by Geoff Ryman
• 2006 The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente and Half Life by Shelley Jackson; 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 Hall
• 2008 The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and Filter House by Nisi Shawl

See also

• Gender in speculative fiction
• Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction
• Women in speculative fiction
• Women science fiction authors

Further reading

• "On James Tiptree, Alice Sheldon and bake sales", by Karen Joy Fowler

External links

• James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council
• Site for Tachyon Publications