Tag: Butler Scholarship

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Superb Owls by Laurie T. Edison

The silver owl pendant originally designed for Octavia Butler by Laurie T. Edison

When I made the owl for her, I had no idea I was making the Octavia Butler commemorative pendant. It was at Baycon in the late 80’s, and she told me that the owl was her totem – could I make one for her. I told her I would be delighted to make it for her, and that if I could also keep the design it would be much, much less costly. She was happy to have me keep the design and since I’d been wanting to make an owl for a while, I was equally delighted. (I was an early admirer of her work )

She wanted an iconic owl rather than a particular species. The Butler Owl design was influenced by the great horned owl, but it isn’t meant to be a particular species. The out-stretched wings as it lands on the branch were my concept of her owl. I carved the original in wax before casting in into silver, thinking about Octavia and what she wanted from it. I was very happy with the final design and she was extremely pleased.

Octavia died much too young in 2006. Kate Schaefer asked me to make the first pendant that was given by the Carl Brandon Society in 2007 and I’ve been making them ever since.

“The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship enables writers of color to attend one of the Clarion writing workshops, where Octavia got her start. It furthers Octavia’s legacy by providing the same experience/opportunity that Octavia had to future generations of new writers of color. In addition to her stint as a student at the original Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in 1970, Octavia taught several times for Clarion West in Seattle, Washington, and Clarion in East Lansing, Michigan, giving generously of her time to a cause she believed in.” (Carl Brandon Society web site)

The Butler Owl is a commemorative pendant for the scholarship recipients.

2009 Butler Scholar Rochita Loenen-Ruiz receives her owl with joy and aplomb

“The first Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarships were awarded in the summer of 2007, and they have been awarded annually each subsequent year at the conclusion of the Clarion and Clarion West Workshops. As of the summer of 2018, 21 Butler Scholarships have been awarded.”  (Carl Brandon Society web site)

2014 Clarion Butler Scholar Amin Chehelnabi

I was invited to participate in an award ceremony at a San Diego Clarion and it was very moving and special.


It turns out that the owl has a profound meaning for those who receive it. They have told me that receiving Octavia’s totem feels like there is a way that they are in touch with her. And that it is extremely meaningful. I am very grateful that I am able to do this for them.

2022 Clarion Butler Scholar Shingai Kagunda

When Nisi Shawl called me up and asked me to do the cover for their anthology Bloodchildren, I was astonished. Not because they asked me, but because I knew I was going to say yes. I’ve never done a cover and my photography is normally unsuited for an SF anthology. But two days before they called, I had for the first time a clear sense of a new direction for my photography, and this request fit the areas I was thinking about. It was very intense time consuming work, and a joy to do.

Cover of the limited edition fundraiser anthology Bloodchildren



I can thank the Carl Brandon Society for the fact that I have made 21 Butler owls and I’ll continue to make the Butler Owls for as long as possible.

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Octavia Butler Scholarship Presentations: Owls Abound

Behold Naomi Day, recipient of the Octavia Butler Scholarship for Clarion West’s 2020/2021 class, clad in glory, and a celebratory silver owl pendant and holding the mic for Erik Owomoyela, recipient of the Octavia Butler Scholarship for Clarion West’s 2010 class.  And why is Naomi holding the mic for Erik?  Because he’s about to present an owl pendant to the Octavia Butler Scholarship recipient for Clarion West’s 2022 class, the formidable Wen-Yi Lee.  Don’t believe us?  We have proof:

Meanwhile, back east in San Diego, Clarion 2022 Butler Scholarship winner Shingai Kagunda is also very, very happy to receive her silver owl pendant and shows it off against a matching sky-and-sea background.

This is the 15th year that Laurie T. Edison has created beautiful reproductions of the owl pendant she designed for Octavia Butler, then donated them as presentations for winners of the Octavia Butler Scholarships.  In the photograph below you can see some of the stunning detail of her work.

 

Here are moments from just  a few of the joyous presentation ceremonies–and their aftermaths–made possible over the years by  your donations and Laurie’s artistry:

2007 Clarion Butler Scholar Shweta Narayan ponders a life of subversion.
2007 Clarion West Butler Scholar Christopher Caldwell waits with enormous patience for Nisi Shawl to fumble open the clasp of his owl pendant.
To applause from instructor Eileen Gunn, 2009 Butler Scholar Rochita Loenen-Ruiz receives her owl with joy–
–followed by aplomb.
Smiling 2011 Clarion Butler Scholar Dennis Ginoza poses for us with presenting instructor Kij Johnson.
Clarion West’s 2010 Butler Scholar expertly bestows an owl pendant on CW’s 2011 Butler Scholar, Jeremy Sim.
Wiser by nearly a decade, Clarion Butler Scholar Amin Chehelnabi still displays his owl pendant in proud and radiant glory in 2022.
Clarion West’s 2014 Butler Scholar Chinelo Onwualu basks in the post-owl presentation glow with classmate Michael Matheson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clarion West’s 2015 and 2013 Butler Scholars, Mimi Mondal and Geetanjali Vandemark, stand side by side.
CW’s 2015 Butler Scholar Mimi Mondal proudly flashes her owl pendant in the shadow of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle.
Pemi Aguda, Clarion’s 2019 Butler Scholar, enjoys the rapt attention of classmates, staff, and instructor Ann VanderMeer as she receives her owl pendant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clarion West’s 2019 Butler Scholar Nelly Garcia-Rosas is struck with awe by the beauty of her owl pendant.
In the lingering happiness following her owl pendant’s presentation, Butler Scholar Nelly Garcia-Rosas is enveloped in a warm group hug by fellow 2019 CW graduates.
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What we’ve been getting up to

We just filed our annual tax return with the IRS, which meant that we reviewed what we’ve done recently. We want our supporters to know at least as much about that as the IRS does, so here goes.

2020 was a pivot year for most people and organizations, as we all struggled to deal with the sudden changes required by the pandemic and by the public response to the killing of George Floyd. Our response to the pandemic was to switch from in-person events to online events. The Carl Brandon Society presented five programs online during 2020. Our world became bigger, not smaller, even as we all stayed inside. Average attendance at these online panels was 45, with 88 attendees at the most popular. The panels continue to be available on YouTube.

The response to the killing of George Floyd included an outpouring of donations to organizations that grapple with issues of race. Since the Carl Brandon Society’s mission is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction, we were among the organizations that received much larger donations than usual, which has positioned us to be able to serve our community in more ways. We are currently working on how best to use these resources, both short-term and long-term.

2021 was a growing year, building on 2020’s success. We presented two online panels similar to those held in 2020. In addition, we held two online town halls to gather ideas from our community about what we should do next, attended by writers and editors of color from countries worldwide to give us direction about what resources of those that we can provide are most needed now. In 2022, we will begin holding workshops by and for writers and editors of color developed in response to the 2021 town halls.

In July, 2021, we sponsored a party/gathering space for BIPoC at CONvergence, an annual convention for fans of science fiction and fantasy in Minneapolis. It was our only in-person event during the pandemic so far.

In 2020, Akwaeke Emezi received the 2019 Parallax Award for a work of speculative fiction created by a self-identified person of color for their novel Pet. Michele Tracy Berger received the 2019 Kindred Award for a work of speculative fiction dealing with issues of race and ethnicity for her story “Doll Seed.” Going forward, we have expanded our Kindred and Parallax awards to include separate awards for short fiction and novels, with a $1000 honorarium for each of the four awards. As with other organizations, the pandemic has interfered with some of our normal operations. We expect to name recipients of these awards for works published in 2020 and 2021 by year-end 2022.

In 2020 and 2021, because of the pandemic, neither Clarion in San Diego nor Clarion West in Seattle held an in-person workshop. In 2021, Clarion West held their six-week summer workshop online rather than in person, while Clarion in San Diego deferred for another year. We granted two Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarships to students participating in the online Clarion West workshop — double the number we’re committed to granting annually. For 2022, both workshops are back to in-person attendance, with Clarion West having a mix of students originally admitted in 2020 and those admitted this year, and Clarion in San Diego having only those students admitted in 2020. We have granted a total of three Butler scholarships for these 2022 in-person six-week summer workshops.

We’re serving as the fiscal sponsor for Hydra House’s Ex Marginalia project, a book of essays about writing by authors who will not and cannot remain in the margins. Scheduled for publication in Fall/Winter 2022, the nonfiction collection is edited by multiple award-nominated author, editor, and 2014 Octavia E. Butler scholar Chinelo Onwualu.

We’re excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past few years, and we look forward to doing more. We especially look forward to being able to get together again in person, while keeping on with the remote events that allow for more access to more members of our community.

K. Tempest Bradford, Maurice Broaddus, Candra K. Gill, Jaymee Goh, Kate Schaefer, Nisi Shawl, and Yang-Yang Wang
The Carl Brandon Society Steering Committee

PS: Thanks again for all you’ve done to make this possible! Please consider continuing to support our work by making a tax-deductible donation at carlbrandon.org/donate/.