Stories for women, for men, and for the rest of us.
Female, male, gay, bisexual, straight, transgender, human, alien, or simply other, the Tiptree Award honors fiction that explores and expands our notions of gender. This anthology includes the most recent Tiptree winners and short-listed stories plus thought-provoking tales from previous years and essays that continue the conversation. As one of the Tiptree judges said, “I’m damned if I know what gender is, but I do know when a story is about it.”
This year’s winners, according to juror Cecilia Tan, “stand completely opposed in so many ways—you could almost say they define the opposite edges of what is conceivable for the Tiptree. Haldeman, the well-known, Hemingway-esque, male, very American, hard SF writer at one end, and Sinisalo, the European, not well known (in the U.S. and within our genre, I mean), female contemporary-fantasy writer at the other.”
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman considers what would happen if a shape-shifting alien predator became, essentially, human. This ageless, sexless entity can take any form. Initially indifferent to gender, the creature faces a gender choice as it grows more human. Haldeman has previously won five Hugo Awards, four Nebula Awards, and the World Fantasy Award.
Johanna Sinisalo’s winning novel was published in the United States as Troll: A Love Story (Grove Press, 2004), in the United Kingdom as Not Before Sundown (Peter Owen, 2003), and in Finland as Ennen päiävanlaskua ei voi (Tammi, 2000). “A deft novel of how human society is ruled by complex territorial relationships,” Cecilia Tan writes of this novel. Sinisalo has previously won the prestigious Finlandia Prize and is known in her home country for her writing for television and comic strips as well as for her science fiction and fantasy.
Following the successful debut of the series, this second serving of innovative storytelling continues to celebrate thought-provoking and provocative speculative fiction. Touching on the most fundamental of human desires--sex, love, and the need for acceptance--Tiptree Award-winning authors continually challenge and redefine social identities, simultaneously exploring and expanding gender. James Tiptree, Jr. was the pseudonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon, whose lasting contributions to the genre are honored every year with the award. This collection gathers short fiction and essays that were chosen by the Tiptree Award judges in 2004, as well as additional selections from previous years. Contributors include Raphael Carter, L. Timmel Duchamp, Carol Emshwiller, Eileen Gunn, Joe Haldeman, Nalo Hopkinson, Gwyneth Jones, Jaye Lawrence, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jonathan Lethem, Debbie Notkin, Julie Phillips, Johanna Sinsalo, and Leslie What.
“James Tiptree was the pseudonym of the late Alice Sheldon, who during a 20-year career of writing gender-bending SF concealed her true identity. The award bearing her name appropriately honors works of fiction that ‘explore and expand gender.’ Unlike other major SF awards conferred by fans and writers’ associations, the Tiptrees are bestowed by a small jury of peers, and the actual prize is something edible, ‘usually chocolate.’ The second annual collection of winners includes stories, novel excerpts, and essays as well as a sampler of Tiptree’s correspondence. The outstanding novel excerpt comes from Joe Haldeman’s Camouflage (2004), about an immortal, shape-shifting alien who alternates between male and female identities, human and animal. Other very noteworthy pieces include Ursula K. Le Guin’s examination of a family unit of two men and two women, and Gwyneth Jones’s essay on why sex and gender create so much confusion. An excellent volume of superior prose that is both intellectually and morally challenging.”
—Booklist
“...the contributions demonstrate a rare gift for interpreting an issue in new and surprising ways. Recommended for most libraries.”
—Library Journal
“Imagination blends with science and politics in the second collection offered by SF’s most daring award.”
—SF Site
“Always interesting, habitually provocative, and occasionally stunning....”
—Intergalactic Medicine Show
"Both dark and sparkling, topical and timeless, these stories wrap around us."
&mdashJewelle Gomez, author, >i>The Gilda Stories
