Shaken & Stirred: Tiptree-ing

May 04, 2007

Tiptree-ing

I've been meaning to post this for a month now, but keep forgetting. I'm chairing the extremely awesome 2007 Tiptree Award jury, with my fellow jurors being Geoff Ryman, Meghan McCarron, Charlie Anders, and Sheree Thomas. Anyway, I say this because we want you to submit recommendations for "SF and fantasy published this year exploring gender roles that should be considered for the award." The nomination form is here, or you can drop me an email (Gwenda007ATGMAILDOTCOM), with recs for novels and short stories that might fit the bill.

And, yes, for those of you less familiar with the award, this includes stuff published outside the genre, so long as it has a fantastical or SF bent. (The 2006 winners are Shelley Jackson and Catherynne M. Valente, for instance -- Half-Life was published as literary fiction and The Orphan's Tales as fantasy.) Oh, and yes, children's and YA books are absolutely eligible for consideration, so kidlit bloggers pony up any relevant titles too.

Recommend early and often, por favor.

Posted at 08:27 AM in Scientifiction | Permalink

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Hot damn!

Posted by:David Moles | May 04, 2007 at 08:55 AM

How fancy!

[aside]Fun fact: This spring I ended up as the third reader on an undergrad thesis about the two Alices of SF, Andre Norton and James Tiptree Jr. Now, I know sweet f*ck all about the history of the genre, so imagine my delight when I came across Justine L's name among the citations.[/aside]

Congratulations.

Posted by:cinetrix | May 04, 2007 at 10:32 AM

Please define "this year".

Posted by:Chris McLaren | May 04, 2007 at 12:06 PM

2007 -- but we can also look at stuff from 2006 so long as the previous jury didn't consider it.

Posted by:Gwenda | May 04, 2007 at 01:25 PM

And I should butt in to say that while it's okay to recommend 2007 stuff directly to Gwenda (random strangers can recommend works to jurors they bump into on street corners), 2006 works should be entered on the nomination form so that they can be checked against last year's nominations.

The nomination form is best overall, because if you enter something on that we will try to get the publisher to send copies to all five jurors.

(Okay, be responsible. Don't start nominating things off the jurors' Amazon wish lists just to try and get them a copy!)

Posted by:Jeff Smith | May 06, 2007 at 10:25 AM

Thanks for dropping in to clarify, Jeff!

Posted by:Gwenda | May 06, 2007 at 12:38 PM

Hey Gwenda--Congrats on the chair! You'll be great...let's have a passing of the baton coffee (ok...maybe a drink is better!) at Wiscon

Posted by:Midori | May 06, 2007 at 07:08 PM

Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.

Picture This