Great news! Welcome the Otherwise Award, successor to Tiptree

[jesse_the_k]

From Tiptree to Otherwise

We’ve spent the last month deep in discussion about the name of this award. We’ve listened to your feedback, reflected on our own assumptions and commitments, and we have decided that it’s time for the name to change.

The Tiptree Award is becoming the Otherwise Award.

The long post is excellent: reaching out to those who sought change, debunking conspiracy theories, demonstrating that the organization has listened and is moving forward.

In The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin writes: “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”

This is love that we’re working with here. We love our award and the community that has grown from it.

And we love our supporters, and you love the Award too. And we want to reciprocate the hospitality you have shown us. Which involves not just logistical work, (figuratively) unlocking doors and setting up chairs and getting out food everyone can eat, but also the work of gesture, to emotionally convey “you are welcome here.”

We have a tradition we are stewarding. A tradition is a mystical thing, a reverberating ritual carrying meaning that grows through repetition. We respect that a ritual – especially one whose meaning is partly a delicate multilayered joke – loses some power when changed, like a transferred plant cutting. It takes years to grow roots again.

We have a history that is important — it serves as the foundation on which we build. We are aware that the work of writers who are not part of the dominant culture is all too often erased and suppressed. Through the Award, we support the past works that serve as our foundation — and the new voices that point the way to the future.

We care so much about the continued presence of an award celebrating genre work that expands and explores gender. And we care about that award valuing – in its name, in its processes, in what work it celebrates – playfulness, flexibility, adaptability, the brashness of anyone who creates art and the humility of anyone open to reading challenging art, and affection. We can retain the spirit of the Award, preserve its playful incisiveness, through a name change.

We are optimistic about new jokes. And we are optimistic about bridging the traditions we’re keeping (tiara, auction, jury, Honor List, free and open nominations, WisCon, a speech and a choral filk, bakesale, original art, Fellowships to encourage and recognize emerging creators) with broader hospitality and welcome – salt and new bread – for a constituency we cherish.

Comments

[em_h]

That's a good name.

[jesse_the_k]

Indeed.

It's a delight to see an org embrace criticism and change.

[delight]

I'm on steroids so I'm extra emotional, but that post made me cry and I'm so happy that 44 will be my first WisCon as an adult.

[cynthia1960]

Yay

[jesse_the_k]

Glad to offer a drop of glee!

[gloss]

Oh, wow, I've just started reading the post and it's already *so good*!

But the responses to our post made us realize that this was in fact a conversation about whose lives and voices we value. And that’s a matter about which there should be no ambiguity.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[jesse_the_k]

It's so refreshing to see an org truly listen. I know that change can be slower than many want, yet this essay makes me believe that this is a thorough, considered change. That kind of mind shift lasts longer and spreads ideas.

[mdlbear]

That's a wonderful post, and a great new name. Thanks!

[jesse_the_k]

<3