This weekend, May 21-25, we’re participating in the annual feminist sf convention WisCon. This year, the convention is online—you can attend panels in Zoom and chat with other attendees in Discord. It’s not too late to register! Membership prices are sliding scale, USD$0-$5-$25-$65.
Come join us—you’ll get the chance to enjoy fascinating panels, readings of new work, a curated fanvid show, and other sessions, many of which will include CART (real time captioning by a human).
Here are the program items that the Otherwise Award is involved in:
Panel: The Last Year in Gender-Exploring SpecFic
Saturday, May 23rd, 10:30 AM–11:45 AM CDT
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Members of the 2025 Otherwise jury and others familiar with the award will discuss the 2025 Otherwise Winner, Luminous by Silvia Park, as well as the Honor List titles and other works of gender-exploring speculative fiction from the last year. The panel will also discuss trends that they have seen in speculative fiction in in relation to the exploration and expansion of gender and how that exploration intersects, as it must, with other identity categories.
Mod: Sumana Harihareswara. Panelists: Cheryl S. Ntumy and Rebecca Fraimow
Otherwise Fundraising Auction
Saturday, May 23rd, 7:00 PM–8:00 PM CDT,
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The return of the Otherwise Auction! Sumana Harihareswara is your live auctioneer. Bid on a variety of material and immaterial items to support the Otherwise Award.
I’ll make nerdy jokes. You can come and have fun even if you don’t bid on anything.
If you place a winning bid, you can pay via PayPal, credit card, or Venmo.
Guest of Honor Speeches & Otherwise Presentation
Sunday, May 24th, 7:00 PM–9:00 PM CDT
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WisCon’s traditional Sunday night event. Speeches by the convention’s Guests of Honor, followed by presentation of the Otherwise Award (and a filk to celebrate it!) and a speech from the winner of this year’s Award.
Various people associated with the Otherwise Award are also reading, speaking on other panels, and more. Check out the full convention schedule!
For more info about this year’s convention, see their blog post How to WisCon.