Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Posts Tagged ‘Joe Haldeman’

Joe Haldeman named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Joe Haldeman will be honored as the next Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The Grand Master represents SFWA’s highest accolade and recognizes excellence for a lifetime of contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy.

SFWA President Russell Davis announced the decision after consulting with the Board of Directors and participating past presidents. The presentation of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award will take place at the SFWA Nebula Awards® Weekend in May. The Nebula Awards weekend is available to the general public with advance registration.

“Giving the Grand Master is one of the true pleasures of serving as the President of SFWA,” said SFWA President Russell Davis. “Being able to give it to Joe Haldeman–a past SFWA president, an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend–is not just a pleasure, but a genuine honor. I can think of no one more deserving that I’d be more pleased to recognize.”

The author of 20 novels and five collections, Haldeman remains one of the most popular science fiction writers working today. His landmark novel, The Forever War, won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975, and spawned two follow-up novels, Forever Peace and Forever Free. In total, his writings have garnered him five Nebulas, five Hugos and a host of other awards as well as numerous nominations. Other notable works include the novels Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works “Graves,” “Tricentennial” and “The Hemingway Hoax.” His latest book, Starbound, is scheduled for a January release.

Haldeman is the 27th writer recognized by SFWA as a Grand Master. He joins 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), James Gunn (2007), Michael Moorcock (2008) and Harry Harrison (2009). Until 2002 the title was simply “Grand Master.” In 2002 it was renamed in honor of SFWA’s founder, Damon Knight, who died that year.

Tags: grand master, Joe Haldeman, nebula award weekend
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2009 ENDEAVOUR AWARD FINALISTS

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Portland – Three novels and two collections of short stories written by Pacific Northwest writers are finalists for the 11th Endeavour Award and the $1,000.00 honorarium that accompanies it. The winner will be announced November 27 at OryCon, Oregon’s annual science fiction convention.

The finalists for 2009 are: “Anathem” by Seattle, WA, writer Neal Stephenson; “Ill Met in the Arena” by Dave Duncan, who lives in Victoria, BC; “Long Walks, Last Flights and Other Stories” by Ranier, OR, SFWA Member Ken Scholes, “Space Magic” by SFWA Member David Levine of Portland, OR; and “A World Too Near” by SFWA Member Kay Kenyon, of Wenatchee, WA.

The annual Endeavour Award honors a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book, either a novel or a single-author collection of stories, created by a writer living in the Pacific Northwest. Entries are read by seven readers randomly selected from a panel of local fans and readers. The five highest scoring books then go to three judges, who are all professional writers or editors. Books entered for the 2009 Award were published during 2008.

The judges for the 2008 Award are Joe Haldeman, John Helfers, and Sarah Zettel.

Joe Haldeman divides his time between Florida and Massachusetts, where he teaches writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has published nearly 30 novels or collections of his stories and poetry. Haldeman’s work has won the top awards in Science Fiction repeatedly — winning the Hugo Award five times and the Nebula Award four times. His best-known novels are likely “The Forever War” and “The Forever Peace.” He is a lifetime member of SFWA and former president.

John Helfers is a full-time writer and editor of both fiction and non-fiction, working with Martin H. Greenberg of Tekno Books. He has worked on anthology and novel projects with many best selling authors. Helfers lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is a lifetime member of SFWA.

Sarah Zettel is the author of 14 science fiction and fantasy novels, including “Reclamation,” which won the Locus Magazine Best First Novel award, “Fool’s War,” a New York Times notable book, and “Playing God,” which was included on the New York Librarians list of best books for teens. She is also project manager for the online fiction website Book View Cafe.

Award Eligibility for 2010 To be eligible for 2010 Endeavour Award, a book — either a novel or a single-author collection — must have been published for the first time in English during 2009.

Deadline to enter books published during 2009 is February 15, 2010. Full information on entering the Award is available on the Endeavour Web site: www.osfci.org/endeavour.

The Endeavour Award is sponsored by Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Tags: Awards, David Levine, Endeavor Award, Joe Haldeman, John Helfers, Kay Kenyon, Ken Scholes
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