win big!

Here’s the press release from the Carl Brandon Society regarding their exciting and original fundraising project:

The Carl Brandon Society, an organization dedicated to racial and
ethnic diversity in speculative fiction, will hold a prize drawing of
five eReaders to benefit the Butler Scholarship, a fund that sends two
emerging writers of color to the Clarion writers workshops annually.

In keeping with the Society’s support of literature from and about
people of color, the prizes include five eReaders: two Barnes & Noble
Nooks, two Kobo Readers, and one Alex eReader from Spring Design. Each
eReader will come pre-loaded with books, short stories and essays by
writers of color from the speculative fiction field. Writers include:
N. K. Jemisin, Nisi Shawl, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Terence Taylor, Ted
Chiang, Shweta Narayan, Chesya Burke, Moondancer Drake, Saladin Ahmed,
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz and more.

“Octavia wanted everyone to enjoy the powerful stories writers of
color can produce when we write speculative fiction, so this drawing
would have made her very happy. It’s a wonderful win-win-win event,
raising money for a scholarship that helps writers of color while
sharing their creations with the world,” said Carl Brandon Society
co-founder Nisi Shawl, winner of the 2008 James Tiptree, Jr. Award.

“It’s so appropriate that booksellers are supporting the development
of the next generation of writers, with the next generation of reading
devices. This fundraiser will help ensure that great and
thought-provoking literature will be coming out of our community for a
long time,” added Claire Light, CBS Vice President.

“We’re thankful for the generosity shown by Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and
Spring Design in donating the devices for this drawing,” said K.
Tempest Bradford, Special Events volunteer. “Thanks to them we can
offer some of the best eReading devices available.”

The drawing’s tickets will cost one dollar US ($1) and can be
purchased at http://carlbrandon.org/drawing.html. Entrants may
purchase an unlimited number of tickets, which will be available from
November 1st 5th, 2010 through November 22nd, 2010. Sales will close at
11:59PM EDT on November 22nd. Winners will be drawn randomly from a
digital “hat” and announced online.

To purchase tickets, read details about the eReaders, or to learn more
about the Carl Brandon Society, please visit carlbrandon.org.

About the Carl Brandon Society

Carl Brandon Society’s mission is to increase racial and ethnic
diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction.
We envision 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.

About the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship

Established in 2006 after the author’s passing, the Octavia E. Butler
Memorial Scholarship provides funds to writers of color accepted to
the Clarion and Clarion West writers workshops. The scholarship has
been awarded every year since 2007 to a total of seven students. The
fund allows the Carl Brandon Society to further the author’s legacy by
providing the same experience/opportunity that Octavia had to future
generations of new writers of color. In addition to her stint as a
student at the original Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in
1970, Octavia taught several times for Clarion West in Seattle,
Washington, and Clarion in East Lansing, Michigan (now located in San
Diego, California), giving generously of her time to a cause she
believed in.

Carl Brandon Society Website: http://carlbrandon.org

Drawing website: http://carlbrandon.org/drawing.html

Barnes & Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp

Kobo Reader: http://koboereader.com

Spring Design’s Alex: http://www.springdesign.com

Contacts
Special Events: Jenn Brissett and K. Tempest Bradford – drawing@carlbrandon.org