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

Nicola Griffith

Conferred in 2024 as the 41st Grand Master (Award Ceremony in 2025)

Official Announcement

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is proud to announce that Nicola Griffith (born 30 September 1960) has been named the 41st Damon Knight Grand Master for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.

Nicola Griffith, PhD, is a dual UK/US citizen and the author of nine novels, including Hild, Spear, and Ammonite. In addition to her fiction and nonfiction (New York Times, Guardian, Nature) she is known for her data-driven 2015 work on bias in the literary ecosystem; as founder and co-host, with Alice Wong, of #CripLit; and for her work on queering the Early Medieval. Awards include The Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Society of Authors ADCI Literary Prize, two Washington State Book Awards, the Premio Italia, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Tiptree (Otherwise) awards, the Outstanding Mid-Career Authors Prize, and six Lambda Literary Awards. In 2024 she was inducted into the Museum of Popular Culture’s Science Fiction + Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Griffith lives with her wife, writer Kelley Eskridge, in Seattle, where she takes enormous delight in everything. This latest title, SFWA’s 41st Grand Master, is no exception:

“I am thunderstruck,” said Griffith, after receiving the news. “Amazed and moved and brimming with joy. I might never stop smiling.”

Widely acclaimed and bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler has known for years how much of a gift Griffith is to the literary community: “Ever since I first read Ammonite–back in 1993 when the world was young–I’ve made it my business to follow Griffith wherever she goes. And I have loved every place she’s taken me. She’s a writer who stuns. Incisive yet lyrical, pragmatic yet sexy, generous yet scary, always brilliant and, best of all, never ever boring. Every book she writes is one more bit of luck for us readers.”

SFWA President Kate Ristau resoundingly agrees:

“It is SFWA’s honor to recognize and celebrate Nicola’s past achievements, while looking forward to her future triumphs. Her work continues to inspire and challenge me, and when asked to pick a Grand Master to lead us into our Diamond Year, I looked to Nicola for her stunning fiction, as well as her leadership and advocacy. She challenges us to reconsider the past and imagine a better, more inclusive future. She is the perfect Grand Master for our present moment, demonstrating through her life and work how to find one’s self, one’s purpose, and one’s community in complicated times, and to embrace those things joyfully and fully. 50 years after SFWA named its first Grand Master, we are thrilled to shine the spotlight on Nicola Griffith as our 41st.”

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