The Tiptree Award was created in 1991 in memory of the science fiction author Alice B. Sheldon, who began her career using the male pseudonym James Tiptree, Jr. While Sheldon's work frequently addressed issues of gender, the masculine identity of the author was seldom questioned for the first ten years of her writing life. The 1977 revelation that James Tiptree was a woman stunned many male SF authors and helped break down stereotypes about 'women's' writing.
Past winners of the award (who receive $1000 and a chocolate typewriter!) include Gwyneth Jones for The White Queen, Maureen McHugh for China Mountain Zhang, Nicola Griffith for Ammonite, and in 1997, Mary Doria Russell for The Sparrow.
The depository donation now makes it possible for the MSU Libraries to main a complete set of the Tiptree award winners and short list titles in Special Collections, with duplicate copies available in the circulating collection. As of September 2003, more than 120 donated titles have been received.
A complete list of Tiptree short list and award winners is available in Special Collections and on MAGIC, the MSU Libraries' online computer system.
The Tiptree collection further strengthens the MSU Libraries' outstanding science fiction collection, located in the Special Collections Division. Already recognized as one of the twenty best in the nation, the collection includes more than 12,000 books and serials, and serves as a depository for both the Science Fiction Writers of America and the papers of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop, held annually at MSU.
Please click here to visit the James Tiptree, Jr. Awards website.
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Michigan State University Libraries
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