Final Two Days of the Butler Scholarship Drawing

We’re down to the wire in our fundraiser for the Octavia E. Butler scholarship. You only have two days left to buy tickets and win an eReader and/or an autographed copy of the Dark Matter anthology. Why should you support the scholarship? Here are 5 reasons:

1. You can offer students the same opportunity Octavia Butler herself had:
As a young writer, Octavia’s writing instructor (Harlan Ellison) encouraged her to attend Clarion. However, the financial means came from a source much closer to home. Butler’s mother, who worked as a maid, lent her the tuition fee. I remember Octavia telling my Clarion West class that her mother used the money she’d been saving to fix her teeth. I can’t find a record of that on the web, but I did find an interview where she talks about her mother lending the money and that “It really got her back up when other family members criticized me for writing.”
“Neile called me up shortly after I filed my financial aid application and told me that… A person had paid my full tuition. Someone who wished to remain anonymous.
… When that anonymous person paid my tuition, I felt like she or he was saying to me: your voice matters. I believe that enough to give you thousands of dollars. Prove me right.
This is why, ever since its inception, I have been a supporter of the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship. Each year, this fund does for two students of color going to Clarion and Clarion West what that donor did for me, which is to say: your voice matters.”
3. from Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, 2009 Butler Scholar and Clarion West alum:
“I remember telling people about how receiving the Butler Scholarship made me feel like my dreams had been given wings. …[Without it], the chances of me attending Clarion West would have been close to zero.
To me, being given that scholarship was like receiving word that there were people who believed in me and in the stories that I had to tell. There were people who believed that what I had to say was something worth saying and something worth listening to. This knowledge inspires me even now that I am far away from all the beloved people who inspired me and who continue to inspire me. Each time I sit down to write, I think of the people who support the Butler scholarship and there aren’t enough words to say how thankful I am for you. You may not be aware of it, but in my darkest moments, the knowledge that you believed in me has kept me here.”
4. from Claire Light, Clarion West 2003 alum and Carl Brandon Society board member:
“Writers of color [are] disadvantaged on a regular basis, as a regular basis. This happens from inception (writers of color aren’t encouraged as much by teachers, don’t have as many role models who look like us and come from similar backgrounds, don’t have as many opportunities to take after school classes or go to camp, etc.) through education (writers of color aren’t as actively recruited by writing programs, are overlooked or subtly discouraged by teachers and administrators, are often more in need of scholarships and financial support and often have less access to such, etc.) to breaking into the literary world (writers of color aren’t as actively recruited by publishers and editors, may have less access to information about how to break into publishing, may write from a perspective that isn’t recognized or understood by editors, etc.) and then getting their published work recognized (writers of color are often ghettoized into publishing categories that aren’t recognized, writers of color are rarely reviewed at all, much less in the most read and respected publications, writers of color are rarely nominated for prestigious awards, works by writers of color are too rarely assigned in “general” literature classes — as opposed to “ethnic” literature classes, etc.)
… Without programs geared toward encouraging, training, and promoting writers of color, I for one would never have gotten to the point of entering grad school or going to Clarion West, much less completing work and getting it published.”
5. from Jeff Vandermeer, author and Clarion instructor:
“The Clarion workshop is important for reasons that go beyond the value of in-depth workshopping from six different experienced instructors and talks by other guests that provide talented beginners with the tools to improve their writing.
It is also important career-wise because many of the instructors can be of use in shortening the path to publication through sharing of contacts, resources, and leverage. Many instructors also aren’t just writers but editors, which is also of use. In addition, the connect to and comraderie with fellow students will, over time, mean more than being part of a community, since many Clarion students go on to have full-on writing careers.
Therefore, in short Clarion is partially about access, and lack of access for talented writers due to monetary concerns is something that diminishes the field and makes it even harder for talent to win out.”
Tickets are here. Want to skip that and donate directly? Send a check or money order made out to The Carl Brandon Society (with Butler Scholarship Donation in the note) to:
The Carl Brandon Society
P.O. Box 23336
Seattle, WA 98102

Butler Scholarship eReader Drawing – Complete List of Included Fiction, Poetry and Essays

It’s now been about a week since the Butler Memorial Scholarship fundraiser went into full swing and and so far the response has been awesome. We’ve also finally received all of the books, stories, essays and poems that will be included with every eReader.

Please join us in thanking these authors for donating these works to the drawing. Remember, each of the 5 eReaders available will come pre-loaded with all of the titles below. It’s a great way to start off your digital library.

Short Fiction

Judgment of Swords and Souls by Saladin Ahmed
Elan Vital by K. Tempest Bradford
The Executioner by Jenn Brissett
The Flinchfield Dance by Mary Burroughs (A Butler Scholar*)
The Abyss Gazes Also By Christopher Caldwell (A Butler Scholar*)
A – The Teachings by Chesya Burke
Chocolate Park by Chesya Burke
He Who Takes Away the Pain by Chesya Burke
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang – 2008 Hugo and Nebula award winner
Non-Zero Probabilities by N. K. Jemisin – 2010 Hugo and Nebula nominee
And Their Lips Rang with the Sun by Amal El-Mohtar
Emeritas by Caren Gussoff (A Butler Scholar*)

Message in a Bottle by Nalo Hopkinson
Lena’s Gift by Shweta Narayan (A Butler Scholar*)
Hi Bugan ya Hi Kinggawan by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz (A Butler Scholar*)
Teaching a Pink Elephant to Ski by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Sex Degrees of Separation by Terence Taylor

Non-Fiction

Beyond Duality by Moondancer Drake

Novels

King Maker: The Knights of Breton Court by Maurice Broaddus (Angry Robot)

Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Agate Bolden)
The Burning City by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Agate Bolden)
Redemption In Indigo by Karen Lord (Small Beer Press)

Anthologies and Collections

A Mosque Among the Stars, ed. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, Ahmed A. Khan (ZC Books)
Being Full of Light Insubstantial by Linda Addison – Winner of the 2007 Bram Stoker Award (Space and Time)
Tides From The New Worlds by Tobias S Buckell (Wyrm Publishing)
Slightly Behind and to the Left: Four Stories and Three Drabbles by Claire Light (Aqueduct Press)
The Honey Month by Amal El-Mohtar (Papaveria Press)
Paper Cities, An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, ed. Ekaterina Sedia – Winner of the 2009 World Fantasy Award (Senses Five Press)
Filter House by Nisi Shawl – Winner of the 2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award (Aqueduct Press)

Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft

Magazines

Apex Magazine November 2010 (Issue 18 – The Arab/Muslim Issue), ed. Catherynne M. Valente
Sybil’s Garage no. 7, ed. Matthew Kressel

If I left off any award nominations or wins for any of these works, please let me know!

Special thanks to the book publishers who donated longer works and converted them into the necessary formats for us.

I hope seeing this list of fiction has inspired you to go and buy a ticket for the chance to win one of the eReaders on offer. If you’ve already bought one, buy another, or three! Each ticket you buy increases your chances.

*These authors are workshop alumni who received financial assistance toward their Clarion or Clarion West tuition via the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship.

SF in SF fundraiser for the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship

Color Me SF: The Science Fiction Worlds of Octavia Butler and Carl Brandon

Fundraiser for the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship

Saturday is Litquake Day in San Francisco, and SF in SF has a very special event for you….

Special guest readers for the event will be Jewelle Gomez and Claire Light. There will also be a discussion on Butler and Brandon, with Q and A moderated by Terry Bisson. Books will be for sale courtesy of Borderlands Books; and there’s a special raffle at $1 a ticket!!! All proceeds to the scholarship!

SF in SF will be asking for $5 at the door, with all of the money going to the Octavia Butler Scholarship. Bar proceeds for the night will also go to the Scholarship. Tips, as usual, will go to Variety.

The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship enables writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops, where Octavia got her start. It helps to cement Octavia’s legacy by providing the same experience/opportunity that Octavia had to future generations of new writers of color.

Cash bar and doors open at 6:00 PM – first come, first seated. We will have the lounge area miked as well, so all who come are welcome to stay and listen.

Event begins at 7:00PM – podcasting by Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column & NPR

The Variety Preview Room Theatre

The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor – entrance is between Citibank and Quiznos

582 Market St. @ Montgomery & 2nd

Please contact Rina Weisman with any questions.

SF in SF – Science Fiction. San Francisco. A Perfect Fit

Tachyon Publications – “Saving the world, one good book at a time”

Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California