Carl Brandon Society
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The Carl Brandon Society is a group originating within the science fiction community "dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror... to foster dialogue about issues of race, ethnicity and culture, raise awareness both inside and outside the fantastical fiction communities, promote inclusivity in publication/production, and celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in science fiction, fantasy and horror."
The Society was founded in 1997 following discussions at the feminist science fiction convention WisCon 23 in Madison, Wisconsin. It was named after the fictional black fan writer "Carl Brandon", created in the mid-1950s by Terry Carr and Pete Graham.[1] This was also an allusion to the way the James Tiptree, Jr. Award group (also founded after a discussion at a WisCon) named itself after the fictitious male persona used by the writer long known as "James Tiptree, Jr.".[2]
The Society maintains lists of fantastical works published by writers of color each year.
The CBS Parallax and Kindred Awards
Inaugurated in 2005, the Carl Brandon Parallax Award is a juried award given annually to a work of speculative fiction in English written by a person of color and published in the year of the award. The 2006 Parallax, the first to be awarded, went to Walter Mosley for his young adult novel 47.
Inaugurated in 2005, the Carl Brandon Kindred Award is a juried award given annually to a work of speculative fiction in English which deals with issues of race and ethnicity; nominees may be of any racial or ethnic group. Relevant works published in the year of the award are eligible. The 2006 Kindred Award went to Susan Vaught for her young adult novel, Stormwitch.
Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2006
- Ashok Banker: Prince of Ayodhya (Penguin India)
- Tobias Buckell: "Toy Planes" (Nature, Oct. 13, 2005)
- Octavia Butler: Fledgling (Seven Stories Press)
- Daliso Chaponda: "Trees of Bone" (Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, #3)
- Marcia Douglas: "Marie-Ma" (Femspec, Vol. 6, #1)
- Hiromi Goto: "Nostalgia" (Nature, Sept. 1, 2005)
- N.K. Jemisin: "Cloud Dragon Skies" (Strange Horizons, Aug. 1, 2005)
- A.H. Jennings: "Owasa" (Farthing, July, 2005)
- Alaya Dawn Johnson: "Shard of Glass" (Strange Horizons, Feb. 14, 2005)
- Ahmed Khan: "The Meaning of Life and Other Clichés" (Another Realm, March, 2005)
- Gail Nyoka: Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale (Sumach Press)
- Nnedi Okorafor: Zahrah the Windseeker (Houghton Mifflin)
- Nisi Shawl: "Wallamelon" (Aeon Magazine, #3)
- Vandana Singh: "The Tetrahedron" (Intranova, March 15, 2005)
Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2006
- Tobias Buckell: "Toy Planes" (Nature, Oct. 13, 2005)
- Octavia E. Butler: Fledgling (Seven Stories Press)
- Daliso Chaponda: "Trees of Bone" (Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, #3)
- Marg Gilks: "Before the Altar on The Feast of All Souls" (Tesseracts 9)
- Walter Mosley: 47 (Little, Brown)
- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: Zahrah the Windseeker (Houghton Mifflin)
- Liz Williams: "La Gran Muerte" (Asimov's Science Fiction, April 2005)
The 2006 Carl Brandon Society Awards were presented during a ceremony at WisCon 30.
Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship
The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship was established in Butler's memory in 2006 by the Society. Its goal is to provide an annual scholarship to enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops where Butler got her start. The first scholarship was awarded in 2007.