by Michael Armstrong Starting in 1965, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association trophies have evolved from the original Nebula Award of spheres and spiral galaxies encased in Lucite to newer awards such as the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award of a butterfly and compass. One award, the Infinity Award, honoring Grand Master-worthy writers who died […]

by Michael Capobianco Less than a year after SFWA founder and President Damon Knight created the Nebula Award, the first Nebula Awards Ceremonies were held on March 11, 1966. Why “Nebula?” The name was first introduced without explanation in the inaugural ballot mailed out to SFWA members. According to Robert Silverberg, SFWA’s second president, “Far […]

by Michael Capobianco I first encountered Jerry Pournelle in the early 80s on the pages of the computer professional magazine Byte, where he had a column called “Chaos Manor.” I had just purchased an expensive Texas Instruments 99/4 home computer and was writing some primitive game software for it with friends from college. Jerry’s column […]

by Monica Louzon Writers have a unique power: With our words, we transport our readers to new worlds. It doesn’t matter whether we write stories or poems, or whether we write long or short works—the end result remains the same. As we exercise that power throughout our lifetimes, we will generate countless documents and scraps […]

by Michael Capobianco Editor’s note: This piece is the second in a two-part overview of the first year of SFWA, curated by a member of the organization’s History Committee. Part 1 is available here. Damon Knight was now president of SFWA, Editor/Writer/Publisher of the Bulletin, and chair of a one-person Contracts Committee/Griefcom.  It was at […]

by Michael Capobianco Editor’s note: This piece is the first in a two-part overview of the first year of SFWA, curated by a member of the organization’s History Committee. Part 2 is available here. On January 15, 1965, Damon Knight, a well-known author, critic, and co-founder of the Milford Conference writer’s workshop, sent an announcement […]