The Carl Brandon Society is a group originating within the science fiction community "dedicated to addressing the representation of

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

in the fantastical genres such as

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

... 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 Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...

WisCon 23 in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It was named after "Carl Brandon", a fictional black fan writer created in the mid-1950s by Terry Carr and Pete Graham. This also alludes to the

James Tiptree, Jr. Award The Otherwise Award, formerly 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 f ...

, named after the fictional male

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatri ...

used by the writer long known as "

James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known un ...

". The Society maintains annuals lists of fantastical works published by writers of color.

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 published that year, either short story or novel, written by an author who identifies as a person of color. The 2006 Parallax, the first to be awarded, went to

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private i ...

for his

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novel ''47''. Inaugurated in 2005, the Carl Brandon Kindred Award is a juried award given annually to a work of speculative fiction in English published that year, short story or novel, that deals with issues of race and ethnicity. Authors may be of any racial or ethnic group. The 2006 Kindred Award went to Susan Vaught for her young adult novel, ''Stormwitch''. The awards were not given for years from 2012-2018, but resumed with awards for 2019. Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2006 * Ashok Banker: "Prince of Ayodhya" (Penguin India) *

Tobias Buckell Tobias S. Buckell (born 1979) is a New York Times Bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work. His novels an ...

: "Toy Planes" (''Nature'', Oct. 13, 2005) *

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowsh ...

: "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 A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

: "Owasa" (''Farthing'', July, 2005) *

Alaya Dawn Johnson Alaya Dawn Johnson (born 1982) () is an American writer of speculative fiction. Career Apart from short fiction, Johnson has published two urban fantasy novels about "vampire suffragette" Zephyr Hollis set in an alternate 1920s New York City, an ...

: "Shard of Glass" (''Strange Horizons'', Feb. 14, 2005) *Ahmed Khan: "The Meaning of Life and Other Clichés" (''Another Realm'', March, 2005) *

Gail Nyoka Gail may refer to: People *Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name Surname * Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar * Max Gail (born 1943), American actor * Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...

: ''Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale'' (Sumach Press) *

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels '' Who Fears ...

: ''Zahrah the Windseeker'' (Houghton Mifflin) *

Nisi Shawl Nisi Shawl (born 1955) is an African-American writer, editor, and journalist. They are best known as an author of science fiction and fantasy short stories who writes and teaches about how fantastic fiction might reflect real-world diversity ...

: "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'') *

: ''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. Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2007 *Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "The Shadow Speaker" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2007 * Minister Faust: "From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2008 * Vandana Singh: "Distances" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2008 * Tananarive Due: "Ghost Summer" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2009 * Hiromi Goto: "Half World" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2009 *

Justine Larbalestier Justine Larbalestier ( )' (born 23 September 1967) is an Australian writer of young adult fiction best known for her 2009 novel, ''Liar''. Personal life Larbalestier was born and raised in Sydney. She now alternates residence between Sydney ...

: "Lair" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2010 *

Karen Lord Karen Lord (born 22 May 1968) is a Barbadian writer of speculative fiction. Her first novel, ''Redemption in Indigo'' (2010), retells the story "Ansige Karamba the Glutton" from Senegalese folklore and her second novel, ''The Best of All Possi ...

: "Redemption in Indigo" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2010 *Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "Who Fears Death" Honor Shortlist for 2010 * N.K. Jemisin: "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" *

Anil Menon Anil Menon is an Indian writer of speculative fiction, as well as a computer scientist with a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, who has authored research papers and edited books on Evolutionary Algorithms. His research addressed the mathematical ...

: "The Beast with Nine Billion Feet" * Charles Yu: "Standard Loneliness Package" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2011 *

Tenea D. Johnson Tenea ( el, Τενέα) is a municipal unit within the municipality of Corinth, Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. The municipal unit has an area of . Until 2011, it was a municipality whose seat was in Chiliomodi. The modern city is named af ...

: "Smoketown" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2011 * Andrea Hairston: "Redwood and Wildfire" Honor Shortlist for 2011 * Zen Cho: “The House of Aunts” * Zen Cho: “Rising Lion – The Lion Bows” *Minister Faust: "The Alchemists of Kush" *Tenea D. Johnson: "Revolution" * Yoon Ha Lee: “Ghostweight” *

An Owomoyela An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian a ...

: “All That Touches the Air” *

: “Black Betty” * JoSelle Vanderhooft: "Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories" The 2011 Carl Brandon Awards were presented at Arisia, January 17-20, in Boston MA, USA. Through 2012-2018, the Carl Brandon Award ceremonies went on hiatus. Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2019 *

Akwaeke Emezi Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and video artist, best known for their novels ''Freshwater'', '' Pet,'' and their ''New York Times'' bestselling novel '' The Death of Vivek Oji''. Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative fiction ...

: "Pet" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2019 *

Michele Tracy Berger Michele (), is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and identically ...

: "Doll Seed" Parallax Honor Shortlist for 2019 *

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning fo ...

: “Mister Dog” *

Indrapramit Das Indrapramit Das (also known as Indra Das) is an Indian science fiction, fantasy and cross-genre writer, critic and editor from Kolkata. His fiction has appeared in several publications including ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', '' Asimov’s Science Fic ...

: “Kali_Na” * Jaymee Goh: “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea” *

Rebecca Roanhorse Rebecca Roanhorse (born March 14, 1971) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer from New Mexico. She has written short stories and science fiction novels featuring Navajo characters.Kerry Lengel"Navajo legends come to life in Rebecca Roa ...

: “Harvest” *

Craig Laurence Gidney __NOTOC__ Craig may refer to: Geology * Craig (landform), a rocky hill or mountain often having large casims or sharp intentations. People (and fictional characters) *Craig (surname) *Craig (given name) Places Scotland * Craig, Angus, aka Barony ...

: "A Spectral Hue" *

Suyi Davies Okungabowa Suyi ( fa, سوي, also Romanized as Sūyī) is a village in Zalaqi-ye Gharbi Rural District, Besharat District, Aligudarz County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, i ...

: "David Mogo: God Hunter"

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.

References

{{reflist

External links

Carl Brandon Society official site
Science fiction organizations Science fiction awards