Directory (1 to 43)

#1 (1974): Robert A. Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988)

#2 (1975): Jack Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006)

#3 (1976): Clifford D. Simak (August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988)

#4 (2015): L. Sprague de Camp (November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000)

#5 (1981): Fritz Leiber (December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992)

#6 (1984): Andre Norton (February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005)

#7 (1985): Arthur C. Clarke (December 16, 1917 – March 19, 2008)

#8 (1986): Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992)

#9 (1987): Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987)

#10 (1988): Ray Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012)

#11 (1990): Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993)

#12 (1992): Frederik Pohl (November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013)

#13 (1994): Damon Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002)

#14 (1995): A. E. van Vogt (April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000)

#15 (1996): Jack Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013)

#16 (1997): Poul Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001)

#17 (1998): Hal Clement (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003)

#18 (1999): Brian W. Aldiss (August 18, 1925 – August 19, 2017)

#19 (2000): Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009)

#20 (2002): Ursula K. Le Guin (October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018)

#21 (2003): Robert Silverberg (January 15, 1935 – Present)

#22 (2004): Anne McCaffrey (April 1, 1926 – November 21, 2011)

#23 (2005): Harlan Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018)

#24 (2006): James Gunn (July 12, 1923 – December 23, 2020)

#25 (2007): Michael Moorcock (December 18, 1939 – Present)

#26 (2008): Harry Harrison (March 12, 1925 – August 15, 2012)

#27 (2009): Joe Haldeman (June 9, 1943 – Present)

#28 (2011): Connie Willis (December 31, 1945 – Present)

#29 (2014): Gene Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019)

#30 (2013): Samuel R. Delany (April 1, 1942 – Present)

#31 (2014): Larry Niven (April 30, 1938 – Present)

#32 (2015): C. J. Cherryh (September 1, 1942 – Present)

#33 (2016): Jane Yolen (February 11, 1939 – June 11, 2026)

#34 (2017): Peter S. Beagle (April 20, 1939 – Present)

#35 (2018): William Gibson (March 17, 1948 – Present)

#36 (2019): Lois McMaster Bujold (November 2, 1949 – Present)

#37 (2020): Nalo Hopkinson (December 20, 1960 – Present)

#38 (2021): Mercedes Lackey (June 24, 1950 – Present)

#39 (2022): Robin McKinley (November 16, 1952 – Present)

#40 (2023): Susan Cooper (May 23, 1935 – Present)

#41 (2024): Nicola Griffith (September 30, 1960 – Present)

#42 (2025): N. K. Jemisin (September 19, 1972 – Present)

#43 (2026): Nancy Kress (January 20, 1948 – Present)

Damon Knight Memorial Grand Masters

Gene Wolfe

Conferred in 2014 as the 29th Grand Master (Award Ceremony in 2015)

Official Announcement

Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He also was a prolific short-story writer and novelist and won many science fiction and fantasy literary awards.

Wolfe is most famous for The Book of the New Sun (four volumes, 1980–83), the first part of his Solar Cycle. In 1998, Locus magazine ranked it third-best fantasy novel before 1990, based on a poll of subscribers that considered it and several other series as single entries.

Wolfe was highly regarded by critics and fellow writers, and considered by many to be one of the best living science fiction authors. Indeed, he has sometimes been called the best living American writer regardless of genre. Award-winning science fiction author Michael Swanwick has said: "Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning." Among others, writers Neil Gaiman and Patrick O'Leary have credited Wolfe for inspiration.

Wolfe won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1996, a judged award at the annual World Fantasy Convention. He was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named him its 29th SFWA Grand Master in December 2012; the annual Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award was presented to Wolfe during Nebula Awards® weekend, May 16–19, 2013.

Directory (1 to 43)

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