Brian Aldiss will be named 1999 Grand Master at the Nebula Awards™ banquet to be held May 19-21, 2000 in New York City at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The highly-coveted Grand Master award represents the pinnacle of peer recognition in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. It is awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in science fiction or fantasy writing.

Since the publication of "Criminal Record" in Science Fantasy in 1954, Mr. Aldiss has written over forty novels and over 300 short stories. He has also written poetry and highly aclaimed critical works. A resident of the United Kingdom, Mr. Aldiss has won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, British Science Fiction Award, John W. Campbell Memorial Award and has three times been Guest of Honor or Toastmaster of the World Science Fiction Convention.

The Grand Master award will be presented to Mr. Aldiss at this year's Nebula Awards™ Ceremony. At the same ceremony, SFWA will present Nebula Awards for the best science fiction or fantasy novel, novella, novelette, screenplay and short story of the year; the winners are selected by vote of the active writer members of the organization.

SFWA is an organization of nearly 1400 science fiction and fantasy writers, editors, and allied professionals. Founded in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization's primary goals are to promote the interests of science fiction and fantasy writers and encourage public interest in the genres.

Previous Grand Masters include 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), and Hal Clement (1998).

Posted March 2, 2000