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 imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

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 d ...

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 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 expre ...

WisCon WisCon or Wiscon, a Wisconsin science fiction convention, is the oldest, and often called the world's leading, feminist science fiction convention and conference. It was first held in Madison, Wisconsin in February 1977, after a group of fans at ...

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 Terry Gene Carr (February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor. Background and discovery of fandom Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San ...

and Pete Graham. This also alludes to the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, 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 theatr ...

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 ...

". 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 inv ...

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 Ashok Kumar Banker (born 7 February 1964 in Mumbai, India) is an author and screenwriter. His writing spans crime thrillers, essays, literary criticism, fiction and mythological retellings. The author of several well-received novels including ...

: "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 Fellowship ...

: "Fledgling" (Seven Stories Press) *

Daliso Chaponda Daliso Chaponda (born 29 November 1979) is a Zambian-born Malawian stand-up comedian living in England. In 2017, he became a finalist in the variety show ''Britain's Got Talent'', finishing third overall. In 2018 he launched a BBC Radio 4 series ' ...

: "Trees of Bone" (''Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest'', #3) *

Marcia Douglas Marcia Douglas is a novelist, poet, and performer. Life and education Douglas was born in the United Kingdom to Jamaican parents. Her family returned to Jamaica when Douglas was six, and she grew up in Kingston. Douglas received an MFA in cre ...

: "Marie-Ma" (''Femspec'', Vol. 6, #1) *

Hiromi Goto Hiromi Goto (born December 31, 1966 Chiba-ken, Japan) is a Japanese-Canadian writer, editor, and instructor of creative writing. Life Goto was born in Chiba'ken, Japan in 1966 and immigrated to Canada with her family in 1969. They lived on the ...

: "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 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, a ...

: "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 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 of ...

: "Wallamelon" (''Aeon Magazine'', #3) *

Vandana Singh Vandana Singh is an Indian science fiction writer and physicist. She is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Earth Science at Framingham State University in Massachusetts. Singh also serves on the Advisory Council o ...

: "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 Liz Williams (born 1965) is a British science fiction writer, historian and occultist. ''The Ghost Sister,'' her first novel, was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, ''Empire of Bones'' (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick ...

: "La Gran Muerte" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', April 2005) The 2006 Carl Brandon Society Awards were presented during a ceremony at

30. Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2007 *Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "The Shadow Speaker" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2007 *

Minister Faust Malcolm Azania (born 1969), is a Kenyan-Canadian novelist, teacher, writer, and journalist. He is primarily known by his pen name, Minister Faust. In addition to writing science fiction, he is a playwright, journalist, teacher, and poet. He has also ...

: "From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2008 *

: "Distances" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2008 *

Tananarive Due Tananarive Priscilla Due ( ) (born January 5, 1966) is an American author and educator. Due won the American Book Award for her novel '' The Living Blood''. She is also known as a film historian with expertise in Black horror. Due teaches a cours ...

: "Ghost Summer" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2009 *

: "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 people, 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 B ...

: "Redemption in Indigo" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2010 *Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "Who Fears Death" Honor Shortlist for 2010 *

N.K. Jemisin NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys (Euronext ticker code NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm, Sweden *Northrup-King Seed Company *Spirit Airlines (IATA code NK) *NK.pl, a Polish school-based social networking service Places ...

: "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 mathematic ...

: "The Beast with Nine Billion Feet" *

Charles Yu Charles Chowkai Yu (born January 3, 1976) is an American writer. He is the author of the novels ''How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe'' and '' Interior Chinatown'', as well as the short-story collections ''Third Class Superhero'' ...

: "Standard Loneliness Package" Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2011 * Tenea D. Johnson: "Smoketown" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2011 *

Andrea Hairston Andrea Hairston (born 1952) is an African-American science fiction and fantasy playwright and novelist. Her novel '' Redwood and Wildfire'' won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for 2011. ''Mindscape'', Hairston's first novel, won the Carl Brandon P ...

: "Redwood and Wildfire" Honor Shortlist for 2011 *

Zen Cho Zen Cho is a Malaysian fantasy author based in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She is known for her ''Sorcerer to the Crown'' series. She was the joint winner of the Crawford Award in 2015 for her short story collection ''Spirits Abroad''. Biograph ...

: “The House of Aunts” *

: “Rising Lion – The Lion Bows” *Minister Faust: "The Alchemists of Kush" *Tenea D. Johnson: "Revolution" *

Yoon Ha Lee Yoon Ha Lee (born January 26, 1979 in Houston, Texas) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his '' Machineries of Empire'' space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, '' Ninefox Gambit'', received the 2017&n ...

: “Ghostweight” * An Owomoyela: “All That Touches the Air” *

: “Black Betty” * JoSelle Vanderhooft: "Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories" The 2011 Carl Brandon Awards were presented at

Arisia Arisia is a Boston-area, volunteer-run science fiction convention, named for a planet in the Lensman novels by E. E. "Doc" Smith. The name was chosen in response to an older Boston-area con, Boskone, which took the typical ending for a conve ...

, 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: "Pet" Carl Brandon Kindred Award Shortlist for 2019 * Michele Tracy Berger: "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 for ...

: “Mister Dog” * Indrapramit Das: “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 Ro ...

: “Harvest” * Craig Laurence Gidney: "A Spectral Hue" * Suyi Davies Okungabowa: "David Mogo: God Hunter"

Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship

The

Octavia E. 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 Fellowshi ...

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