The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce that Jane Yolen has been named the 33rd Damon Knight Grand Master for her contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.

The award is given by SFWA for “lifetime achievement in science fiction and/or fantasy.” Jane Yolen joins the Grand Master ranks alongside such legends as Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, and Joe Haldeman.

The award will be presented at the 52nd Annual Nebula Conference and Awards Ceremony in Pittsburgh, PA, May 18-21, 2017.

Jane Yolen published her first book, Pirates in Petticoats, on her 22nd birthday. Since then, Yolen has published novels for juvenile, young adult and adult readers, as well as short fiction, picture books, and poetry. In addition to being a prolific author, Yolen has edited several anthologies. Many of Yolen’s work fall into the fairy tale category and Newsweek has dubbed her, “America’s Hans Christian Andersen.”

Yolen is perhaps best known for her young adult and juvenile books, including the popular “How do Dinosaurs” series. Her short fiction has been collected in more than a dozen collections. She edited three volumes of the Xanadu anthology series, collections of modern folk tales, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens.

In 1998, her short story “Sister Emily’s Lightship” received a Nebula Award, as did her novelette “Lost Girls” in 1999. Yolen has also won three Mythopoeic Awards for Cards of Grief, Briar Rose, and The Young Merlin Trilogy. She has won the World Fantasy Award for editing Favorite Folktales from Around the World and later received a Lifetime Achievement Award from that same body.

Jane Yolen

“To know I am now on the same list as Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, and Ursula Le Guin is the kind of shock to the system that makes me want to write better each day. Revise, revision, and reinvent.”

SFWA President, Cat Rambo

“Jane Yolen, who has written fantasy and science fiction for ages up and down the range of possibilities, epitomizes what a Grand Master should be. Her 350 books, multiple awards, and overall high standard of prose and storytelling make her one of the treasures of fantasy and science fiction.“

For more on Jane Yolen, please visit a very special SFWA Youtube curated playlist.
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The Nebula Awards® will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 18-21 and feature a series of seminars and panel discussions on the craft and business of writing, SFWA’s annual business meeting, and receptions. On May 19, a mass autographing session will take place at the Marriott Pittsburgh City Center and is open to the public.

For more information on how to attend, register, or become an event sponsor, please visit: http://nebulas.sfwa.org.

A work may be nominated by an Active, Lifetime Active, Associate or Lifetime Associate member (with no fiduciary interest–which means, not the writer, not the editor, the agent, publicist,) during the nomination period, which runs November 15 of the eligibility year through February 15 of the following year. An author doesn’t have to be a member of SFWA in order for her work to be considered. The six works in each category with the greatest number of nominations become the finalists for the Nebula Awards® for that year.

The best way to have a work considered is to make sure that it is available to be read by SFWA members; SFWA members can put a link to an electronic version of a work in the Fiction area on the SFWA forum. Non-members can ask a member or the Nebula Awards® Commissioner to post a link or document to the Forum. After that, the work and its writer are in the hands of the Fates

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s 51^st Annual Nebula Conference will be held in Pittsburgh, PA in 2017!

When: Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 1:00 PM – Sunday, May 21, 2017 at 4:00 PM (EDT)

Where: Pittsburgh Marriott City Center – 112 Washington Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

 More Information Can Be Found Here

Tickets

Attendee Rate: $180.00 (+$9.99 fee)

This special rate will be available starting March 1, 2017.