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 Otherwise Award celebrates works of speculative fiction that imagine new futures by exploring and expanding our understanding of gender roles. Through the Fellowship program, the Otherwise Motherboard also encourages those who are striving to complete works, to imagine futures that might have been unimaginable when the Otherwise Award began. The Fellowship program seeks out new voices in the field, particularly from communities that have been historically underrepresented in science fiction and fantasy and by those who work in media other than traditional fiction.

Each Fellow will receive US$500. The work produced as a result of this support will be recognized and promoted by the Otherwise Award. Over time, the Fellowship program will create a network of Fellows who can build connections, provide mutual support, and find opportunities for collaboration.

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.

For more about the Fellowships and the work of past Fellows, visit the Otherwise Award website.

This email also serves as a press release announcing the 2025 Otherwise Fellowship recipients. For more information on the Otherwise Award or this press release, contact Jed Hartman, secretary of the Otherwise Award Motherboard, at info@otherwiseaward.org.

P.S. while we’re here, unrelated to the Fellowships: don’t forget to recommend works for the Award!