TheOtherwise Award, originally known as theJames Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works ofscience fiction orfantasy that expand or explore one's understanding ofgender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science fiction authorsPat Murphy andKaren Joy Fowler, subsequent to a discussion atWisCon, 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".[1]
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.[2]
The award was originally named for Alice B. Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonymJames Tiptree Jr. Due tocontroversy 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.[3]
By choosing a masculinenom 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 ofKaren Joy Fowler.
In 2019, controversy arose over the appropriateness of naming an award after Tiptree. In 1987, Alice Sheldon shot and killed her ailing husbandHuntington 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".[4]
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 theother". The title also draws from the Black queer scholarship ofAshon Crawley around what is termed "otherwise politics".[3] 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."[3]
The Tiptree award is administered by the Tiptree "Motherboard".[5]
Fundraising efforts for the Tiptree have included publications (two cookbooks), "feministbake sales", and auctions. The Tiptree cookbookThe Bakery Men Don't See, edited byWisCon co-founderJeanne Gomoll, was nominated for a 1992Hugo Award. Tiptree Awardjuries traditionally consist of four female and one male juror (the "token man").[6] The auctions were one of the keynote events of WisCon, and they were run by authorEllen Klages from their inception in 1994 until 2016.[7][8][9] A variety of items were auctioned, ranging from signed first editions of art or written works by SF luminaries and authors, such asOctavia 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.[9] ArtistFreddie Baer produced an annualcollage, which was printed on t-shirts and posters, in support of the organization.[10][8]
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 bythe 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)
^Merrick, Helen.The Secret Feminist Cabal: A Cultural History of Science Fiction FeminismsISBN978-1-933500-33-1 Seattle: Aqueduct Press, 2009; pp. 172–176
^"Ellen Klages Steps Down from Motherboard".otherwiseaward.org. November 10, 2016. RetrievedNovember 20, 2025.After the two Founding Mothers, perhaps no one has been more important to the success and identity of the Tiptree Award than Ellen Klages, whose legendary auctions gave the Award much of its visibility, character, and flair (not to mention raising enough money to keep us going as a stable organization for over 20 years
^"Store".otherwiseaward.org. RetrievedNovember 20, 2025.Each year, artist Freddie Baer creates an intricate collage celebrating that year's Award. These designs are silkscreened on t-shirts to create wearable art and are sold at the site of the Tiptree Ceremony that year.
