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

William Gibson

Conferred in 2018 as the 35th Grand Master (Award Ceremony in 2019)

Official Announcement

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce that William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) has been named the 35th Damon Knight Grand Master for his contributions to the literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award recognizes “lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.” Gibson joins the Grand Master ranks alongside such legends as C. J. Cherryh, Peter S. Beagle, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Joe Haldeman. The award will be presented at the 54th Annual Nebula Conference and Awards Ceremony in Woodland Hills, CA, May 16th-19th, 2019.

Gibson is known for his cyberpunk novels Neuromancer, Virtual Light, and Mona Lisa Overdrive,and co-wrote the steampunk novel The Difference Enginewith Bruce Sterling. Gibson’s writing, through novels such as Pattern Recognition and The Peripheral, continues to break new ground and stimulate conversation about the cyberworld. The influence of Gibson’s writing has not only been felt within the science fiction community, but has expanded to other forms of art, as seen in the music of Billy Idol and Warren Zevon and the Matrix films, as well as throughout computer culture.

SFWA PRESIDENT, CAT RAMBO

William Gibson coined the word cyberspace in his story "Burning Chrome," expanding on that concept two years later in the novel Neuromancer. He forged a body of work that has played a major part in the coalescing of the cyberpunk movement, influencing dozens of writers of cinema, fiction, and games, among other creatives. Not content to be one of the definitive writers in only one subgenre, he then went on to help engender steampunk with Bruce Sterling in their collaborative work,The Difference Engine. Gibson continues to produce taut, evocative works that reflect the despair and hope of the 21st century. To be a SFWA Grand Master is to be a speculative fiction writer that has shaped the genre and made it what it is today. Gibson fills that role abundantly.

Directory (1 to 43)

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