The Otherwise Motherboard is delighted to announce the selection of two new Otherwise Fellows: illustrator and animator Aude Abou Nasr and author Ayida Shonibar.
Aude Abou Nasr is a French-Lebanese illustrator, animator, and visual artist based in Beirut. She was selected for the beautiful illustrations she is contributing to Le Chat de Sara, a children’s book written by Loé Petit that uses magic to explore intersex embodiment and bodily autonomy. Sara’s titular cat witnesses her loss of magic as she undergoes forced medical intervention. Unable to help Sara alone, the cat organizes with other animals who have accompanied their children into the Dream World, safe from the harms of the Real World. Collectively, they empower Sara to resist the imposed medical violence. In the process, readers, alongside Sara, learn that there are many ways to embody who you are, and see, alongside the cat, the magic and beauty that is intersex life.
The committee was moved by Abou Nasr’s bridging of her artistic talents (that purple cat is beyond gorgeous, as is Sara!) and her activist work as a member of Collectif Intersexe Activiste. We love that this is an intersex-led project that champions agency for intersex children. The importance of children’s agency is often overlooked, especially when their bodies are medicalized. It’s wonderful to see a project for children that addresses this difficult experience with both honesty and joyfulness. Now more than ever, we need stories that show intersex kids and their families that advocating for their bodies is not only possible, but empowering.
Ayida Shonibar is an Indian-Bengali immigrant whose short fiction, essays, and poetry tell stories, horrific and powerful, about the ties that bind communities. Shonibar was selected for their horror novel in development with grounded speculative science elements inspired by her experiences as a marginalised researcher.
The committee was inspired by Shonibar’s skill and care when weaving together the stories of so many, including the experiences of immigrants, the neurodiverse, and the queer. In a time when immigrants are facing immense hostility, especially in the US, it feels especially important to create space for speculative fiction from immigrant voices. This fellowship will offer Shonibar the chance to work on a longer piece, and we are very excited to see how that develops.
The members of the 2025 selection committee for the Otherwise Fellowships were former Otherwise fellow Mars Lauderbaugh and Otherwise Motherboard members Julia Rios and Jed Samer.