Carl Brandon Society
The Carl Brandon Society is an organization originating within the science fiction community. Their mission "is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction." Their vision is "a world in which speculative fiction, about complex and diverse cultures from writers of all backgrounds, is used to understand the present and model possible futures; and where people of color are full citizens in the community of imagination and progress."
The Society was founded in 1997 following discussions at the feminist science fiction convention WisCon 23 in Madison, Wisconsin. It was named after "Carl Brandon", a fictional black fan writer created in the mid-1950s by Terry Carr and Pete Graham. This also alludes to the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, named after the fictional male persona used by the writer long known as "James Tiptree, Jr.".
The Society maintains annuals lists of fantastical works published by writers of color.
in 2023 the society was award a Special Locus Award for "Developing Diversity In Genre Communities".
CBS Parallax and Kindred Awards
Source:Inaugurated in 2005, the Carl Brandon Parallax Award is a juried award given to works of speculative fiction created by a self-identified person of color. The 2005 Parallax, the first to be awarded, went to Walter Mosley for his young adult novel 47.
Inaugurated in 2005, the Carl Brandon Kindred Award is a juried award given to any work of speculative fiction dealing with issues of race and ethnicity; nominees may be of any racial or ethnic group. The 2005 Kindred Award went to Susan Vaught for her young adult novel, Stormwitch.
The awards were not given for years from 2012 to 2018, but resumed with awards for 2019.
Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2006
- Ashok Banker: "Prince of Ayodhya"
- Tobias S. Buckell: "Toy Planes"
- Octavia E. Butler: "Fledgling"
- Daliso Chaponda: "Trees of Bone"
- Marcia Douglas: "Marie-Ma"
- Hiromi Goto: "Nostalgia"
- N. K. Jemisin: "Cloud Dragon Skies"
- A. H. Jennings: "Owasa"
- Alaya Dawn Johnson: "Shard of Glass"
- Ahmed Khan: "The Meaning of Life and Other Clichés"
- Gail Nyoka: Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale
- Nnedi Okorafor: Zahrah the Windseeker
- Nisi Shawl: "Wallamelon"
- Vandana Singh: "The Tetrahedron"
- Tobias Buckell: "Toy Planes"
- Octavia E. Butler: Fledgling
- Daliso Chaponda: "Trees of Bone"
- Marg Gilks: "Before the Altar on The Feast of All Souls"
- Walter Mosley: 47
- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: Zahrah the Windseeker
- Liz Williams: "La Gran Muerte"
Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2007
- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "The Shadow Speaker"
- Minister Faust: "From the Notebooks of Doctor Brain"
- Vandana Singh: "Distances"
- Tananarive Due: "Ghost Summer"
- Hiromi Goto: "Half World"
- Justine Larbalestier: "Lair"
- Karen Lord: "Redemption in Indigo"
- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: "Who Fears Death"
- N. K. Jemisin: "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms"
- Anil Menon: "The Beast with Nine Billion Feet"
- Charles Yu: "Standard Loneliness Package"
- Tenea D. Johnson: "Smoketown"
- Andrea Hairston: "Redwood and Wildfire"
- Zen Cho: “The House of Aunts”
- Zen Cho: “Rising Lion – The Lion Bows”
- Minister Faust: "The Alchemists of Kush"
- Tenea D. Johnson: "Revolution"
- Yoon Ha Lee: “Ghostweight”
- An Owomoyela: “All That Touches the Air”
- Nisi Shawl: “Black Betty”
- JoSelle Vanderhooft: "Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories"
Through 2012–2018, the Carl Brandon Award ceremonies went on hiatus.
Carl Brandon Parallax Award Shortlist for 2019
- Akwaeke Emezi: "Pet"
- Michele Tracy Berger: "Doll Seed"
- Alex Jennings: “Mister Dog”
- Indrapramit Das: “Kali_Na”
- Jaymee Goh: “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea”
- Rebecca Roanhorse: “Harvest”
- Craig Laurence Gidney: "A Spectral Hue"
- Suyi Davies Okungabowa: "David Mogo: God Hunter"