The Otherwise Award, originally known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science fiction authors Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion at WisCon, a feminist SF conference.

In addition to the award itself, the judges publish an Honor List, which they describe as "a strong part of the award's identity", "used by many readers as a recommended reading list".

In 2024, the award administrators announced that they would be switching from a single winner each year to a shortlist of three to six winners.

The award was originally named for Alice B. Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr. Due to controversy over the appropriateness of naming an award after Tiptree, the committee administering the award announced on October 13, 2019, that the award would be renamed the Otherwise Award.

Background Choice of the Tiptree name By choosing a masculine nom de plume, having her stories accepted under that name and winning awards with them, Alice 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 Fowler.

Controversy and name change In 2019, controversy arose over the appropriateness of naming an award after Tiptree. In 1987, Alice Sheldon shot and killed her ailing husband Huntington Sheldon before killing herself in the same manner. Although some have called the killing a "suicide pact" based on Sheldon's personal writings, others characterize the act as "caregiver murder"—i.e., the murder of a disabled person by the person responsible for caring for them. In light of these allegations, the Tiptree Motherboard received requests to change the name of the award. On September 2, 2019, in response to these requests, the Motherboard made a statement that "a change to the name of the Tiptree Award is [not] warranted now"; but nine days later, on September 11, they announced that the award "can't go on under its existing name".

On October 13, 2019, the Tiptree Motherboard released an announcement stating that the Tiptree Award would become the Otherwise Award. The name refers to "the act of imagining gender otherwise" at the core of what the award has always honored, as well as being "wise to the experience of being the other". The title also draws from the Black queer scholarship of Ashon Crawley around what is termed "otherwise politics". According to the statement, "Otherwise means finding different directions to move in—toward newly possible places, by means of emergent and multiple pathways and methods."

Administration The Otherwise award is administered by a panel called the "Motherboard".

Fundraising efforts for the award have included publications (two cookbooks), "feminist bake sales", and auctions. The Tiptree cookbook The Bakery Men Don't See, edited by WisCon co-founder Jeanne Gomoll, was nominated for a 1992 Hugo Award. Otherwise Award juries traditionally consist of four female and one male juror (the "token man").Merrick, Helen. The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of Science Fiction Feminisms Seattle: Aqueduct Press, 2009; pp. 172–176 The auctions were one of the keynote events of WisCon, and they were run by author Ellen Klages from their inception in 1994 until 2016. A variety of items were auctioned, ranging from signed first editions of art or written works by SF luminaries and authors, such as Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, Suzette Haden Elgin, Freddie Baer, and many others, to quirky items with some connection to feminism, science fiction, or fandom, such as a hand-knitted uteruses created by Klages, letters, photos, memorabilia, toys, and art. Artist Freddie Baer produced an annual collage, which was printed on t-shirts and posters, in support of the organization.

In 2011, the Motherboard received the Science Fiction Research Association's Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service for its "outstanding service activities – promotion of SF teaching and study, editing, reviewing, editorial writing, publishing, organizing meetings, mentoring, and leadership in SF/fantasy organizations"."Tiptree Motherboard Receives Clareson Award" Locus Online August 29, 2011

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

+ YearAuthor(s)WorkPublisherRef.1991William MorrowWhite QueenVictor Gollancz Ltd1992China Mountain ZhangTor1993AmmoniteDel Rey Books1994Broken Mirrors PressLarque on the WingAvoNova1995Waking the MoonHarperPrismRandom HouseMotherlinesBerkeley-PutnamWalk to the End of the WorldBallantineWalker & Co.Bantam BooksDoubleday1996Random House1997Black WineTorSmall Beer Press1998Tor1999Tor2000Wild LifeSimon & Schuster2001Red Deer Press2002LightVictor Gollancz Ltd2003Set This House in Order: A Romance of SoulsHarperCollins2004CamouflageAceNot Before Sundown (Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi)Published in the United States as Troll – a love storyPeter Owen Publishers2005AirSt. Martin's Griffin2006Half LifeHarperCollinsSpectra BooksJames Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. SheldonSt. Martin's Press2007Faber and Faber (UK 2007); HarperCollins (US 2008)2008Walker & Co. (UK); Candlewick Press (US)Filter HouseAqueduct Press2009Cloud and Ashes: Three Winter's TalesSmall Beer PressHakusensha (Japan); VIZ Media (English-speaking world)2010Baba Yaga Laid an EggCanongate Books2011Redwood and WildfireAqueduct Press2012Roc BooksAncient, AncientAqueduct Press2013RupettaTartarus Press2014Penguin Random HouseMy Real ChildrenTor2015Dell MagazinesLizard RadioCandlewick Press2016When the Moon Was OursThomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Griffin2017Who Runs the World?Macmillan2018Latin American Literature Today2019FreshwaterGrove Press2020Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of ImadeyunuagbonAurelia Leo2021Light from Uncommon StarsTor BooksSorrowlandMCD Books2022On hold2023On hold2024In UniversesHarperCollins"Kiss of Life"FIYAHRakesfallMacmillanWalking PracticeHarperCollins 2025 Luminous Simon & Schuster

See also Gender in speculative fiction Sense of Gender Awards Sex and sexuality in speculative fiction Women in speculative fiction Women science fiction authors

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