James Gunn to be Honored as Science Fiction Grand Master
November 23rd, 2006 by Alan Chudnow
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced yesterday that James Gunn will be honored as the next Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master. Gunn, who started writing science fiction in 1948, was a full-time freelance writer for four years and has had nearly 100 stories published in magazines and books.
Gunn was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America for 1971-72, president of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82 and has been guest of honor at many regional SF conventions. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short science fiction of the year.
The title "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master" is bestowed upon a living author for a lifetime’s achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy. While it is not a Nebula Award, the Grand Master honor is conferred as part of the Nebula Awards Banquet. This year’s ceremony will take place on May 11-13, 2007, in New York City. Gunn is the twenty fourth writer recognized by SFWA as a Grand Master.
Previous SFWA Grand Masters
- Robert A. Heinlein (1974)
- Jack Williamson (1975)
- Clifford D. Simak (1976)
- L. Sprague de Camp (1978)
- Fritz Leiber (1981)
- Andre Norton (1983),
- Arthur C. Clarke (1985)
- Isaac Asimov (1986)
- Alfred Bester (1987)
- Ray Bradbury (1988)
- Lester del Rey (1990)
- Frederik Pohl (1992)
- Damon Knight (1994)
- A. E. van Vogt (1995)
- Jack Vance (1996)
- Poul Anderson (1997)
- Hal Clement (1998)
- Brian Aldiss (1999)
- Philip Jose Farmer (2000)
- Ursula K. Le Guin (2003)
- Robert Silverberg (2004)
- Anne McCaffrey (2005)
- Harlan Ellison (2006)
