Most of the books and stories that Otherwise Award jurors read to pick a winner are nominated by authors and readers. We need your suggestions. If you’ve read a work of science fiction or fantasy that explores or expands our notions of gender, please tell us about it by filling out the recommendation form below. If you have more than one, just fill out the form again with a new recommendation and repeat the process until you’ve told us about them all.
Recommendations close December, 2023. Because recommendations are accepted from everyone, and haven’t been reviewed by the jury, we request that nominated creators not publicize their appearance on this list: if you win, or your work shows up on an honor list or long list, please publicize to your heart’s content!
The 2023 Otherwise Award will be given in 2024, location to be determined.
To let us know something related to recommendations that doesn’t fit in the form, please email recommendations@otherwiseaward.org.
Anything that you enter in the Author, Title, Publisher, Link, and Additional Comments fields will be publicly visible. If you want to add non-public comments about the work that you’re recommending, email recommendations@otherwiseaward.org.
The 2023 Otherwise Award Recommendations
| Author | Title | Publisher | Comments | Sub Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wole Talabi | Saturday’s Song | Lightspeed Magazine | A story in which the days of the week are personified as god-like beings whose domain is stories. Saturday leads her siblings to tell the story of a queer woman living in urban Nigeria whose lover dies mysteriously. As the days of the week tell this story, it becomes more than a story, it becomes a song about family, love, acceptance and forgiveness. lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/saturdays… | 2023-09-09 02:30:35 | |
| Redfern Jon Barrett | Proud Pink Sky | Amble Press | In this stunning work of speculative urban fiction, Redfern Jon Barrett breaks down the binary between utopia and dystopia—presenting an ambitopian vision of the world’s first gay state. “To enter the pages of Proud Pink Sky is to be engulfed by a tidal power of masterful storytelling, morphing histories, and utopian imaginings. Boundaries of families and colonies, maps and guidebooks, words and sounds, dissolve into delicious, heady outcomes in this vital inhabitation of queer homelands.” —Gayathri Prabhu, author of If I Had to Tell It Againamazon.com/proud-pink-sky-redfern-barret… | 2023-08-31 05:59:47 | |
| Leisl Kaberry | Shadows of Darkness | Self | [The person who recommended this book provided no comments or description, only a one-paragraph quotation from the book that didn’t seem to mention gender and that repeatedly used a term that’s sometimes used as an ethnic slur. We’ve therefore removed the quotation.] | 2023-08-29 11:14:24 | |
| Alison Levy | Magic By Any Other Name | SparkPress | Award winning author explores abuse and found family in a tender YA fantasy. In 'Magic By Any Other Name,' a young witch leaves her toxic family, adopts a new identity, and flees across the country. Helped by the magical creatures she meets along the way, she confronts her past trauma and the realities her privileged family separated her from. Perfect for fans of 'The Society of Irregular Witches.'goodreads.com/book/show/123767153-magic-… | 2023-08-29 06:47:04 | |
| Geoffreyjen Edwards | Plenum: The First Book of Deo | Untimely Books | What happens when a la-gendered novice in the Kinship of the Suffering God encounters a young findiv while away from hir home environment? In this genderqueer story, a love affair goes awry as Vanu Francoeur struggles to overcome bullying both by individuals and her society. She’s helped by an intelligent octupus or oggie and a jonah, a beast descended from the whales of old Earth but adapted to function in interstellar space. Vanu struggles to understand hir gender, hir sexuality, hir spirituality and hir family relationships in a world with seven genders (named as a musical scale) and radical body-based technologies that redefine what it is to be human, in a far future story which threads its way across a star formation nebula and reaches its final confrontation in a lyrical encounter in the heart of a sun.untimelybooks.com/book/plenum-the-first-… | 2023-08-26 04:26:58 | |
| Theodora Ward | Want Itself is a Treasure in Heaven | Uncanny Magazine | According to Nic Anstett, "Theodora Ward’s 'Want Itself is a Treasure in Heaven' is only weeks old and it has already become one of my favorite works of trans sci-fi. Its central conceit involves a neurological link that allows two users to enter one another’s minds and bodies as a passive observer. Our trans woman narrator quickly becomes fixated on linking with her cis woman partner and in turn develops an addiction to the disassociating drug used to acclimate someone post-link. Ward’s narrator goes through a spiraling rabbit hole of dysphoria, obsession, and grief that is all too familiar to the experiences of myself and many other trans women. Like so much of the best science fiction, Ward uses her premise to touch on an underdiscussed human truth but also, thankfully, offers a lifeline out of despair." https://www.tor.com/2023/06/21/ten-essential-short-stories-by-trans-authors/uncannymagazine.com/article/want-itself-… | 2023-08-17 17:12:17 | |
| Jarret Keene | Hammer of the Dogs: A Novel | University of Nevada Press | A postapocalyptic adventure in Las Vegas for readers of all ages. Set in the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Las Vegas, Hammer of the Dogs is a literary dystopian adventure filled with high-octane fun starring twenty-one-year-old Lash. With her high-tech skill set and warrior mentality, Lash is a master of her own fate as she helps to shield the Las Vegas valley’s survivors and protect her younger classmates at a paramilitary school holed up in Luxor on the Las Vegas Strip. After graduation, she’ll be alone in fending off the deadly intentions and desires of the school’s most powerful opponents. unpress.nevada.edu/9781647791278/ | 2023-08-07 11:27:12 | |
| Chloe Spencer | Monstersona | Tiny Ghost Press | Monstersona is a YA sci-fi horror novel which centers on two teenage girls who must embark on a cross-country road trip after a freak explosion destroys their hometown. The story explores themes pertaining to female rage, bodily autonomy, queerness, and neurodivergency/disability, and how these things intersect. tinyghostpress.com/monstersona | 2023-07-22 14:05:59 | |
| Niall Spain | The Princess Network | Zombies Need Brains LLC | Explores the typical trope of a princess kidnapped by a dragon but with a twist... | 2023-07-19 11:06:51 | |
| Avi Burton | The Body Fate | Fantasy Magazine | An amazing exploration of role, identity, and expectation in just 3,300 words! | 2023-07-09 09:33:49 | |
| Maxwell I. Gold | anOther Mythology | Interstellar Flight Press | From Thanatos to Hades, Maxwell Gold's book of horror prose poetry reimagines myths from a queer perspective. Gold's poetry merges camp sensibility and cosmic horror in poems that are beautiful, bloody, and barbed. A poetic soap opera of gods and monsters. amazon.com/another-mythology-maxwell-i-g… | 2023-07-06 13:48:31 | |
| Ennis Rook Bashe | Beautiful Malady | Interstellar Flight Press | A siren song of queerness, disability, and myth, these poems reinvent love, life, and death. BEAUTIFUL MALADY is an exploration of pain, weaving speculative poems about fairy tales, folklore, fantasy, and the supernatural with the reality of chronic illness and disability. Ennis Rook Bashe deftly creates a world where the broken body is beautiful. amazon.com/beautiful-malady-ennis-rook-b… | 2023-07-06 13:47:02 | |
| Chloe Clark | Patterns of Orbit | Baobab Press | 2023-06-30 09:41:12 | ||
| Aven Shore-Kind | The Truthseer And The Goose | Indepentent | The Truthseer and the Goose dares to conjure a pastoral fantasy where magic's wellspring is an open heart, and where patient observance of the rhythm of nature reveals what is honest and enduring. It is beautiful, and warm, and sometimes sad - and always fearlessly true. This is a patient story that cares about genuine growth, honest labor done well, and more than anything else, generous acceptance of the humanity at the center of each of us. But it is also a book of surprise, as it unfolds and shows you more and more of itself in the telling. In the end, it is so much more than you think it will be, and the realization is lovely. I love this book very much.amazon.com/truthseer-goose-aven-shore-ki… | 2023-06-27 19:28:45 | |
| E.D.E. Bell | Inkbloom | Atthis Arts | This novel features a neurodivergent and bisexual main character in a world inclusive of gender diversity and polyamory. Xelle is marked as dragonfriend. Arriving at To’Ever under a veil of unease and an uncertain future, she must redefine herself. Again. Inkbloom continues the story of Night Ivy, a wandering bard’s tale of magic and friendship amidst the spires and shadows of the seven towers of Alyssia. “Like the first breeze of spring after a long winter, E.D.E. Bell warms hearts and plants seeds of hope with her words. Do yourself a favour and read this book.” – Marie Bilodeau, bestselling author of Heirs of a Broken Landatthisarts.com/product/inkbloom/ | 2023-05-23 08:25:26 | |
| Deena Mohamed | Shubeik Lubeik | Pantheon | 2023-05-18 10:00:05 | ||
| Anna-Marie McLemore | Lakelore | Feiwel and Friends | 2023-05-17 10:41:45 | ||
| TA GAYLORD | The Blackstone Twins Face Off vs. Destiny | TA Gaylord | This story is a captivating adventure of twins, sister and brother, Zoe and Zachary, in a post-apocalyptic world who go on a quest in search of a cure for the NIGHT MADNESS, the affliction that every non-mother is forced to face every sunset. Rumors of a cure in the mountains lead the twins and their small group across California to the Sierra Nevada’s, overcoming perils on the way. The characters are so realistic and endearing that I got totally caught up in the story and couldn’t put the book down. I loved the attention to details, especially Caroline’s facts. I would highly recommend this book to all readers, young and less young, who enjoy well written quest adventures in a dystopian, matriarchal world. Zach and Zoe are great characters. I love this book and can't wait for the next adventure! https://tagaylordauthor.com/home | 2023-05-16 09:43:14 | |
| Kristina KellyJonathan Fuller | Trials of the Innermost | Hansen House | In Trials of the Innermost, six of the realms' best and brightest work together to accomplish tasks to preserve a fragile peace between previously warring realms. Idrilia-despite her realm treating genders equally, they still hold fast to old edicts that state one of their goals as a society is to "preserve numbers" - everyone must pair up male+female to reproduce. Idrilia rejects this. Through the story she struggles with her duty to her realm and her identity - she's bi and damn the rules. The realm of Komor devalues women, but the gay character Zinvar is working to change that. Realm Heathstrom affirms women can use magic but ace character Vayriel challenges that magic is for all. Male Kilahym could be described as effeminate but no character bats an eye. The 6 encounter pansexual and non-binary characters also.ethereacycle.com | 2023-05-10 07:40:01 | |
| B. PigeonFell A. Marsh | Hierarchy of the Unseen | EHLS | Hierarchy of the Unseen is a queer speculative fiction novel following a shiftless demon and a devout demon hunter who must join forces to disrupt the dangerous plans set by those in power. The novel depicts queer, trans characters who are denied a voice and the autonomy to decide their own futures within a set of coercive social structures. Its themes of gender, assimilation, and self-actualization are sure to resonate with LGBTQ+ readers.amazon.com/dp/b0c3z6x4hn | 2023-05-04 15:01:32 | |
| Kelly Robson | High Times in the Low Parliament | Tor.com | The hints we receive about how we ended up in a fairy-enforced world order without men are dark, and limited. Like many books premised without men, it fails to deal with trans or non-binary characters from what I could tell. The protagonist was grating at first as a shallow flirt, but worked for me BECAUSE there was no male gender interference. Whether the Parliament was meant as a metaphor for the European Union, or their desperate votes to avoid a flood meant to draw our eyes to our ongoing climate crisis, is debatable. Everyone convinced themselves that they have no real power - which means, of course, that we all have it..goodreads.com/book/show/58724605-high-ti… | 2023-05-02 08:23:24 | |
| Rae Mariz | The Field Guide for Next Time | khōréō magazine | khoreomag.com/fiction/the-field-guide-fo… | 2023-04-25 08:32:48 | |
| Hal Schrieve | Vivian's Ghost | Self-Published | "Trans man Collin is haunted by the ghost of his suicidal friend. An anti-trans journalist is about to be too." Vivian's Ghost is a longform comic. It's messy, raw, and pulls no punches, but still centers humor, community, and growth. The comic was posted page-by-page on the author's Instagram, is available in four digital volumes, and was self-published as a collected print edition in early 2023.halschrieve.itch.io/ | 2023-04-19 10:55:46 | |
| Alyce Elmore | Pray To the Dead | Xlibris | If all adult men died and boys only lived to be twenty, would her story become the new history? It's not your typical 'men die and women create a better world' story.amazon.com.au/pray-dead-angels-tread-tri… | 2023-04-09 19:53:25 | |
| Lianyu Tan | The Wicked and the Willing | Shattered Scepter Press | This historical gothic horror vampire novel explores gender and colonialism via a destitute Chinese maidservant caught in a love triangle between her white English vampiric mistress and her fellow servant, Po Lam. Po Lam is a butch Chinese woman who serves as the vampire’s faithful servant but is struggling with a life of bondage and murder. Her journey towards absolution offers commentary on the complexities of labor exploitation and colonialism. Tan’s writing is vivid and immersive, bringing the reader into the world of colonial 1920s Singapore. The book contains two mutually exclusive endings, but both endings provide a thought-provoking meditation on power, desire, and sacrifice. Jurors are welcome to request review copies from the author. Content warnings: https://lianyutan.com/content-warnings/#wicked https://lianyutan.com/book/the-wicked-and-the-willing/lianyutan.com/book/the-wicked-and-the-wi… | 2023-04-01 00:27:40 | |
| N. D. Jones | Bearly Gold: A Goldilocks and the Three Bears Reimagining | Kuumba Publishing | amazon.com/bearly-gold-goldilocks-reimag… | 2023-03-17 15:12:18 | |
| Chana Porter | The Thick and the Lean | Saga Press | In Lambda Award finalist Chana Porter’s highly anticipated new novel, an aspiring chef, a cyberthief, and a kitchen maid each break free of a society that wants to constrain them. A startling fable of the entwined perils of capitalism, body politics, and the stigmas women face for appetites of every kind, Chana Porter’s profound new novel explores the reclamation of pleasure as a revolutionary act.simonandschuster.com/books/the-thick-and… | 2023-03-08 12:52:12 | |
| Dale Griffin | The Last Lion of Karkov | Books Fluent | 2023-03-03 16:36:23 | ||
| Nick Walker | "Ruiz and the Echo Hotel" | Argawarga Press, an imprint of Autonomous Press | The final novelette in the anthology Weird Luck Tales 8: https://autonomous-press.myshopify.com/products/weird-luck-tales-no-8 | 2023-02-12 20:46:44 | |
| Mame Bougouma DieneWoppa Diallo | A Soul of Small Places | Tordotcom - Africa Risen anthology | Published November 15 2022 | 2023-02-04 05:04:47 | |
| Leilani Taneus-Miller | Brown Girl | Austin Macauley | Touching account of a young teen damaged by racism. Set in 1980’s. Guaranteed to stir up conversations on race, gender and mental health.goodreads.com/book/show/68001101-brown-g… | 2023-01-19 11:39:50 | |
| D. A Mucci | Ignatius and the Battle at Dinas Affaraon | St. Barts Publishing | Iggy forges a sword from a meteorite–but will it be the weapon to save them? As the obsessive Emperor Mallak plans to kill Iggy for his crystal amulet, Iggy remains entirely focused on becoming a master smith. Well, almost entirely–he is distracted by his crush, Raraesa, and can’t help but hope that she notices his newfound fighting skills (and fighting physique). There’s just one problem: a dark wizard, a Death Knight, and five thousand soldiers have been tasked with hunting him down. Where will he hide? The mysteries of the Nostaw Warrior still haunt Iggy. There must be a repiceason he was given the sword, and he prays it will help him return to his place and time in Pennsylvania–but right now, home seems farther away than ever. Will he find the answers he’s seeking on the Island of Cambria?amazon.com/gp/product/b0bcdhqddl/ | 2023-01-11 16:16:56 | |
| Rem Wigmore | Wolfpack | Queen of Swords Press | Queen of Swords Press is happy to make the book available for the jury.queenofswordspress.com/product/wolfpack/ | 2023-01-08 05:30:00 | |
| Eugen Bacon | Broken Paradise | Luna Press Publishing | A dark fantasy of gods, magic and family—what happens when they break. After falling out with her brothers, Samaki the goddess of water flees to Earth where she must mask her trace by splitting into a quadruplet of magi. A quadruplet is perfect, but all things are never equal. Dissonance arises when the magus Umozi breaks the quadruplet. Only the newness of a child magus can restore balance and save a broken paradise—with the help of a goddess mother.lunapresspublishing.com/product-page/bro… | 2023-01-06 21:47:07 | |
| Joseph A. Schiller | Upon the Arrival of Dawn | Joseph A. Schiller | A darkness grows, threatening the delicate fabric of the Universe. An ominous cloud spreads, bringing an increasing imbalance across the Cosmos. Essences bent on wickedness and ultimate destruction are violently stripping the Energy of Life from innocent terrestrial creatures, bringing Existence to the very brink of collapse. Only one Celestial essence boldly accepts the calling to seek out the source of the encroaching evil and restore Harmony once again to Existence. Azrael, humble servant of Eternity, offspring of Existence, will stop at nothing to protect the Universe, mortal and immortal alike.amazon.com/upon-arrival-dawn-joseph-schi… | 2023-01-01 20:20:16 | |
| Sarah Soh | Juniper Mae: Knight of Tykotech City | Nobrow US Inc./Flying Eye Books | FOR READERS OF THE BROWNSTONE SERIES & HILDA: readers who enjoy middle grade series with an animated feel will cozy up to Juniper Mae EXCITING DEBUT CREATOR: Sarah Soh is a debut creator with a knack for animation-forward illustrations THE FIRST IN AN EPIC THREE BOOK SERIES: a sci-fi series that will keep readers hooked FUN ADVENTURE GRAPHIC NOVEL WITH STRONG FEMALE ENERGETIC PROTAGONIST: Young kids will gravitate toward her liveliness FOR YOUNG SCI-FI FANS LIKE AMULET AND ZITA: STEM lovers will enjoy Juniper Mae, a smart young engineer heroine penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653265/juni… | 2022-12-09 11:49:39 | |
| Al Hess | World Running Down | Angry Robot | ARC available from Al on request Odyssey x Blade Runner, but all the queer joy. Delicious prose, gritty, engaging post-apocalyptic world, and characters you’ll fall for. Hard. Al Hess is a masterful writer. It’s clear from the very beginning that he has the heart of a poet and the imagination of a storyteller. His comfort with structure has him providing us a story with the perfect flow of tension and hope to keep us in our feels as we breathlessly turn each page. He has unique and important things to say about living in a body that doesn’t match who you are, and Valentine’s journey as a trans man is refracted elegantly in Osric’s own fraught relationship with his corporeality. a.co/d/ccxqq4r | 2022-11-29 19:15:17 |