Presented at Warwick Hotel, New York, New York on April 21, 1979

About three hundred people, including many publishing professionals who had left the genre, attended the 1979 event in New York. Because SFWA had announced the winners in advance to the press, there was little suspense on the evening of the banquet.  The Business Meeting focused on organizational issues and the board announced that they were beginning the process for incorporation.  Following the business meeting were panels on foreign rights, grievances, and editors. Norman Spinrad served as emcee and the keynote speech was given by Omni publisher Bob Guccione. Service Awards went to Jerry Pournelle, andrew j. offutt, and Tom Monteleone with a Special Award presented to Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel for the creation of Superman.