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Nebs auction donation
May. 9th, 2006 06:37 pmWhoohoo!
I've posted before about the Carl Brandon Society's Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship fund before, and I'll certainly write about it again. This scholarship will enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops (Clarion, Clarion West, or Clarion South, in Australia), where Octavia got her start. Sometimes, when I write about it, I'll be in an elegiac mood, mourning Octavia. Other times, I'll be cheerful, celebrating Octavia's memory. This is one of the cheerful times.
This past weekend was the SFWA Nebula Awards Weekend. At the business meeting, the assembled writers decided to make a one-time donation of SFWA's share of the weekend's auction proceeds to the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship fund. The fund will receive about $3000 because of that, which should put the total received well over $10,000, 10% of the $100,000 total we want to raise by February 2009. We only need one thousand of Octavia's readers to donate $100 each to get to the total.
Okay, here's the pitch: if you've been thinking of making a donation to the scholarship fund, go for it! Every dollar we raise now gets started earning income now and shortens our fundraising period. If you've already made a donation to the scholarship fund, thanks so much.
In either case, please consider making a separate donation to the Carl Brandon Society as well. The Carl Brandon Society, of which Octavia was a member, provides independent administration of the fund without benefiting from it directly. The scholarship has a separate bank account from the regular CBS accounts, as well as a separate post office box.
Before I got involved with the scholarship fund, I thought the Carl Brandon Society was an organization for and of writers and fans of color. That isn't exactly wrong, except that it's more inclusive than that. White folks can join, too. Its mission statement says, "The Carl Brandon Society is dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror. We aim 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."
Before Octavia died, the Carl Brandon Society had already launched an award named after her best-known novel, Kindred. The Kindred Award will be given out for the first time at Wiscon 30 to a work of speculative fiction in English dealing with issues of race and ethnicity; nominees may be of any racial or ethnic backgrounds. The Carl Brandon Parallax Award, also to be given at Wiscon 30, will be given to works of fiction created by a person of color. Each of these awards will include $1000 cash prize.
Most of my readers are members of Wiscon. You don't need to have me explain how much difference the Tiptree Award has made in the speculative fiction field since 1991. The Kindred and Parallax Awards have the potential to make just as significant a difference: to make visible the invisible. Help that potential become reality by joining the Carl Brandon Society.
I've posted before about the Carl Brandon Society's Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship fund before, and I'll certainly write about it again. This scholarship will enable writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops (Clarion, Clarion West, or Clarion South, in Australia), where Octavia got her start. Sometimes, when I write about it, I'll be in an elegiac mood, mourning Octavia. Other times, I'll be cheerful, celebrating Octavia's memory. This is one of the cheerful times.
This past weekend was the SFWA Nebula Awards Weekend. At the business meeting, the assembled writers decided to make a one-time donation of SFWA's share of the weekend's auction proceeds to the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship fund. The fund will receive about $3000 because of that, which should put the total received well over $10,000, 10% of the $100,000 total we want to raise by February 2009. We only need one thousand of Octavia's readers to donate $100 each to get to the total.
Okay, here's the pitch: if you've been thinking of making a donation to the scholarship fund, go for it! Every dollar we raise now gets started earning income now and shortens our fundraising period. If you've already made a donation to the scholarship fund, thanks so much.
In either case, please consider making a separate donation to the Carl Brandon Society as well. The Carl Brandon Society, of which Octavia was a member, provides independent administration of the fund without benefiting from it directly. The scholarship has a separate bank account from the regular CBS accounts, as well as a separate post office box.
Before I got involved with the scholarship fund, I thought the Carl Brandon Society was an organization for and of writers and fans of color. That isn't exactly wrong, except that it's more inclusive than that. White folks can join, too. Its mission statement says, "The Carl Brandon Society is dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror. We aim 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."
Before Octavia died, the Carl Brandon Society had already launched an award named after her best-known novel, Kindred. The Kindred Award will be given out for the first time at Wiscon 30 to a work of speculative fiction in English dealing with issues of race and ethnicity; nominees may be of any racial or ethnic backgrounds. The Carl Brandon Parallax Award, also to be given at Wiscon 30, will be given to works of fiction created by a person of color. Each of these awards will include $1000 cash prize.
Most of my readers are members of Wiscon. You don't need to have me explain how much difference the Tiptree Award has made in the speculative fiction field since 1991. The Kindred and Parallax Awards have the potential to make just as significant a difference: to make visible the invisible. Help that potential become reality by joining the Carl Brandon Society.
