Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award

The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is a lifetime honor presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to a living writer of fantasy or science fiction. It was first awarded in 1975, to Robert Heinlein. In 2002, it was renamed after Damon Knight, the founder of SFWA, who had died that year.<ref name=":0" />

The presentation is made at the annual SFWA Nebula Awards banquet, commonly during May, but it is not one of the Nebulas, which recognize the preceding calendar year's works and are selected by vote of all Association members. SFWA officers and past presidents alone submit Grand Master nominations and the final selection must be approved by a majority of that group.<ref name=SFWA/> The recipient is announced in advance, commonly during the preceding calendar year.

From 1995 to 2010, SFWA also gave some writers the title of Author Emeritus. In 2023, SFWA announced the creation of the Infinity Award, which posthumously honors creators who died before they could be considered for the Grand Master Award. The first recipient of the Infinity Award was Octavia E. Butler.<ref name="InfinityAward">"The Inaugural Infinity Award Honoree: Octavia E. Butler," Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), April 27, 2023.</ref>

History

The first Grand Master, Robert Heinlein, was named in 1975. The Grand Master Award was originally limited to six recipients per decade;<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Cbignore</ref> six were presented in the ten years to 1984 and twelve in the twenty years to 1994. From 1995, the award has been conferred annually, with the exception of 2002 and 2011.<ref name="SFWA" /> Andre Norton was the first woman to receive the award, in 1984. As of 2025, N.K. Jemisin is the youngest person to have received the award; she was aged 53.

From 1995 to 2010, SFWA also awarded the title of Author Emeritus "as a way to recognize and appreciate senior writers in the genres of science fiction and fantasy who have made significant contributions to our field but who are no longer active or whose excellent work may no longer be as widely known as it once was." Recipients were invited to speak at the annual Nebula Awards banquet.<ref name="SFWA-emeritus"/> Fourteen honorees were named in the sixteen years the award was given.<ref name="SFWA-emeritus"/> As of 2024, there has been no overlap between Grand Masters and Authors Emeritus. The award's status as a consolation prize was a matter of controversy.<ref name="SFAwards-emeritus"/>

Grand Masters

As of 2025, 42 Grand Masters have been created. The list below shows the year of the award ceremonies for each respective recipient. Awards are announced in advance of the ceremony, sometimes in the preceding year.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	Recipient	Ref.
1975	Template:Sortname (1907–1988)
1976	Template:Sortname (1908–2006)
1977	Template:Sortname (1904–1988)
1978	—
1979	Template:Sortname (1907–2000)
1980	—
1981	Template:Sortname (1910–1992)
1982	—
1983	—
1984	Template:Sortname (1912–2005)
1985	—
1986	Template:Sortname (1917–2008)
1987	Template:Sortname (1920–1992)
1988	Template:Sortname (1913–1987)
1989	Template:Sortname (1920–2012)
1990	—
1991	Template:Sortname (1915–1993)
1992	—
1993	Template:Sortname (1919–2013)
1994	—
1995	Template:Sortname (1922–2002)
1996	Template:Sortname (1912–2000)
1997	Template:Sortname (1916–2013)
1998	Template:Sortname (1926–2001)
1999	Template:Sortname (1922–2003)
2000	Template:Sortname (1925–2017)
2001	Template:Sortname (1918–2009)
2002	—
2003	Template:Sortname (1929–2018)
2004	Template:Sortname (1935–)
2005	Template:Sortname (1926–2011)
2006	Template:Sortname (1934–2018)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2007	Template:Sortname (1923–2020)
2008	Template:Sortname (1939–)	<ref name="dmn1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2009	Template:Sortname (1925–2012)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2010	Template:Sortname (1943–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":17">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref>
2011	—
2012	Template:Sortname (1945–)	<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":19">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	Template:Sortname (1931–2019)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":9">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":20">Template:Cite web</ref>
2014	Template:Sortname (1942–)	<ref name=":10">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":27">Template:Cite web</ref>
2015	Template:Sortname (1938–)	<ref name=":11">Template:Cite web</ref>
2016	Template:Sortname (1942–)	<ref name="sfwa2016">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":28">Template:Cite web</ref>
2017	Template:Sortname (1939–)	<ref name="sfwa2017">Template:Cite web</ref>
2018	Template:Sortname (1939–)	<ref name=":14">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":23">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="sfwa2018">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="locus2018">Template:Cite web</ref>
2019	Template:Sortname (1948–)	<ref name="locus2019">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":15">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":29">Template:Cite web</ref>
2020	Template:Sortname (1949–)	<ref name="locus2020">Template:Cite web</ref>
2021	Template:Sortname (1960–)	<ref name="Tor">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":30">Template:Cite web</ref>
2022	Template:Sortname (1950–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2023	Template:Sortname (1952–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2024	Susan Cooper (1935–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2025	Nicola Griffith (1960–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2026	N.K. Jemisin (1972–)	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Infinity Award

In 2023, SFWA announced the creation of the Infinity Award, which posthumously honors creators who died before they could be considered for the Grand Master Award. SFWA President Jeffe Kennedy said, "Over the years, so many creators have been passed over for the Grand Master nod, for one reason or another. Some died tragically early. Others were not recognized for their work during their lifetimes because of cultural prejudices and blind spots."<ref name="InfinityAward"/>

Year	Recipient	Ref.
2023	Template:Sortname (1947–2006)	<ref name="InfinityAward"/>
2024	Template:Sortname (1947–2015)	<ref name="InfinityAward24"/>

Anthologies

In 1989, the anthology Grand Masters' Choice was published, edited by Andre Norton and Ingrid Zierhut. Three more anthologies honoring recipients of the Grand Master Award and collecting some of their short works have been published: The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 1 (1999), The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 2 (2000), and The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 3 (2001), all edited by Frederik Pohl. Collectively, they honor the first fifteen recipients of the award.

See also

• The Gandalf Grand Master Award for life achievement in fantasy writing, awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society (1974 to 1981)
• World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement

Further reading

• "Joe Haldeman named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master" Template:Webarchive. SFWA. December 15, 2009. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
• "SFWA names Connie Willis recipient of the 2011 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award" Template:Webarchive. SFWA. January 16, 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
• 2012 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master awarded to Gene Wolfe" Template:Webarchive. SFWA. December 13, 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
• "2013 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award: Samuel R. Delany" Template:Webarchive. SFWA. December 4, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
• "2015 Larry Niven Named SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master" Template:Webarchive. SFWA. March 2, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-16.

External links

• "SFWA Grand Master Award" in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• Michael Moorcock at 2008 Nebula Award Ceremony (flickr)
• Harry Harrison and Robert Silverberg at 2009 Nebula award ceremony (twitpic)