James Tiptree, Jr. Award
The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore our understanding of gender. It was initiated in February of 1991 by authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon (then the world's only feminist-oriented science fiction convention).
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, auctions, and feminist bake sales.
Discussion
The Tiptree Award is one of the few awards that embodies science fiction-ness in its award process. It's not a popularity contest; it's not an award for literary quality; it's not an award based on sales. It's an award for "exploring" a concept -- a fundamentally science fictional thing to do. Popularity and attention to a work give it impact; literary quality makes it possible to deliver the exploration and make it work. But the science fictional notion of exploration is at the heart of the Tiptree Award.
Winners
- 2009: Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga and Cloud and Ashes: Three Winter Tales by Greer Gilman
- 2008: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness and Filter House by Nisi Shawl
- 2007: The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall (U.S. title, Daughters of the North)
- 2006: The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente and Half Life by Shelley Jackson; with special recognition for James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, a biography of Alice Sheldon written by Julie Phillips.
- 2005: Air by Geoff Ryman
- 2004: Camouflage by Joe Haldeman and Not Before Sundown by Johanna Sinisalo
- 2003: Set This House In Order: A Romance Of Souls by Matt Ruff
- 2002: Light by M. John Harrison and "Stories for Men" by John Kessel
- 2001: The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto
- 2000: Wild Life by Molly Gloss
- 1999: The Conqueror's Child by Suzy McKee Charnas
- 1998: "Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation" by Raphael Carter
- 1997: Black Wine by Candas Jane Dorsey and "Travels With The Snow Queen" by Kelly Link
- 1996: "Mountain Ways" by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
- 1995: Waking The Moon by Elizabeth Hand and The Memoirs Of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore Roszak
- 1994: "The Matter of Seggri" by Ursula K. Le Guin and Larque on the Wing by Nancy Springer
- 1993: Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
- 1992: China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
- 1991: A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason, and White Queen by Gwyneth Jones
- Retrospective Award:
- Suzy McKee Charnas, Motherlines and Walk to the End of the World;
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness
- Joanna Russ, When It Changed and The Female Man
Anthologies
- Flying Cups and Saucers (1998). reprinted 2008 through Lulu.com
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 1 (Tachyon Publications, 2004)
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 2 (Tachyon Publications, 2005)
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3 (Tachyon Publications, 2007)