JAMES TIPTREE JR. MEMORIAL AWARD ANNOUNCED

Oakland, CA -- 15 April 2002: A gender-bending science fiction award supported by bake sales presents $1000 prize money to Hiromi Goto for her novel The Kappa Child.

The James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award will be presented at Readercon, which will be held July 12-14 in Burlington Massachusetts. The 2001 winner is Hiromi Goto for her novel, The Kappa Child (published by Red Deer Press). Hiromi Goto will receive $1000 in prize money and an original artwork created by Kandis Elliott.

The James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award was created in 1991 to honor Alice Sheldon, who wrote under the pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. By her chance choice of a masculine pen name, Sheldon helped break down the imaginary barrier between "women's writing" and "men's writing." Her insightful short stories were notable for their thoughtful examination of the roles of men and women in our society.

The Tiptree Award is presented annually to a short story or novel that explores and expands gender roles in science fiction and fantasy. The aim of the award organizers is not to look for work that falls into some narrow definition of political correctness, but rather to seek out work that is thought-provoking, imaginative, and perhaps even infuriating. The Tiptree Award is intended to reward those women and men who are bold enough to contemplate shifts and changes in gender roles, a fundamental aspect of any society.

The Kappa Child is a most delightful, joyfully original book. It's a multi-layered story of dysfunctional family life, unexpected pregnancy, true friendship, alien abduction, budding romance, and intimate encounters with mythical creatures. The prose glides from the narrator's real-time (shopping cart collections, cucumber binges, halting, if not downright painful, interactions with family and friends), to her childhood recollections (presented in hilarious, heartbreaking contrast to Little House on the Prairie), to her recent encounters with the Kappa, to brief meditations about water, birth, growth, identity. This novel tells a hopeful tale of healing through the mysterious agency of a mythical creature transplanted from its Japanese home to the prairies of Canada.

Each year, a panel of five judges selects the Tiptree Award winner. The 2001 judges were Joan Haran (chair), Ama Patterson, Peter Halasz, Kathleen Goonan , and Suzy McKee Charnas. In addition to selecting the winners, the judges have compiled a "short list" of books, which recognizes other works that the judges felt were worthy of attention. The 2001 short list is:

(You can receive an annotated copy of this list, and lists of books considered in previous years, by sending $3.00 to James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award Council, 2825 Union Street, Madison, WI 53705.) Since its inception, the Tiptree Award has been an award with an attitude. As a political statement, as a means of involving people at the grassroots level, as an excuse to eat cookies, and as an attempt to strike the proper ironic note, the award has been financed through bake sales held at science fiction conventions across the United States, as well as in England and Australia. Fundraising efforts have also included the sale of t-shirts created by science fiction collage artist and silk screener Freddie Baer and the publication of two cookbooks featuring recipes and anecdotes by science fiction writers and fans. The Bakery Men Don't See, a collection of recipes for baked goods, and Her Smoke Rose Up From Supper, a collection of main dish recipes, are both available from SF3, P.O. Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701-1624. The cookbooks are $10 each (plus $1 postage in North America; $3 postage outside North America).

Reading for the 2002 Tiptree Award has begun. The 2002 judges are Matt Austern (chair) , Farah Mendelsohn, Jae Leslie Adams, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and Molly Gloss. The judges welcome recommendations from the science fiction community. Please submit recommendations via the Tiptree Award Web site at http://www.tiptree.org.

For more information on the Tiptree Award or this press release, contact Pat Murphy, 173 Anderson St., San Francisco, CA 94107. (e-mail address: jaxxx@well.com)

--30--