James Tiptree Jr. was the pseudonym of Alice B. Sheldon (1915-1987). She was a photo-intelligence officer in WWII as well as a CIA agent, which formed the bulk of her career before academia. This experience was influential on her stories, including her in-depth understanding of national and international responses to crises. After her career with the CIA, she achieved a doctorate at George Washington University in Experimental Psychology in 1967, and her doctoral dissertation was on the responses of animals to novel stimuli in differing environments. You can see this reflected in her work and in this story. It was at this time that she started writing science fiction stories under a pseudonym to protect her new academic career, and chose a male name to fit in better at the magazines. In addition to James Tiptree, she published under the pseudonym Raccoona Sheldon. Tiptree also won two more Nebulas, two Hugos, and a World Fantasy Award. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012. In 1991, the James Tiptree, Jr. Award was named in her honor, and recognizes speculative fiction that expands or explores our understanding of gender. This story was later collected in Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. If you only pick up one Tiptree collection, and you should, this is a great place to start.
The James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award is an award encouraging the exploration & expansion of gender.
Work on Escape Artists[]
Pseudopod
- PP400 The Screwfly Solution, read by a full cast: Matt Franklin, Tina Connolly, Anna Schwind, Mat Weller, Rish Outfield, Eric Luke, George Hrab, Jarus Durnett
- PP603 Beyond the Dead Reef, read by Amy H. Sturgis