Archive for the ‘Service to SFWA Award Recipient’ Category

2025 Service to SFWA Award Announcement: C.J. Lavigne

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is pleased to announce that the 2025 Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award will be presented to C.J. Lavigne at the 60th Annual SFWA Nebula Awards® for her outstanding work on behalf of the organization.

C.J. Lavigne is a Canadian SFF writer who first volunteered as a member of the SFWA flight crew (tech support team) at the 2020 Nebulas, when the conference had suddenly gone online for the first time and everyone was still figuring out how to push the videoconferencing buttons. A month later, she offered to help run the weekly writing dates, where she has remained as part of the tech team for the last five years. In 2022, she became co-captain of the flight crew, in which capacity she has helped to run numerous online panels and parties, schedule committee meetups, organize volunteers, answer tech support queries, and maintain the events website. She has worked hard to ensure the Nebula Conference maintains a vibrant, accessible virtual and hybrid presence for any member who can’t attend “in person.”

SFWA President Kate Ristau says, “C.J. confidently and swiftly helped us navigate our transition to online in 2020, and she has continued to lead us forward in virtual spaces, using best practices, and a heck of a lot of kindness. She is focused, supportive, and very knowledgeable. We are lucky to get to work with her.”

SFWA is excited to honor C.J. this year at our conference in Kansas City, and we hope you’ll join in honoring her service to the organization either in person or online during the event.

Photo Credit: Berni Scott

Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award To Be Presented to Lee Martindale

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA, Inc.) is pleased to announce that the Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service Award will be presented to Lee Martindale during the SFWA Nebula Conference awards ceremony on May 18th, 2019.

Lee Martindale has been a member of SFWA since 1999 and served on the Election Committee for three years and chaired the Bylaws committee for six years.  Beginning in 2005, she served as the Mediation Specialist on the Grievance Committee and in 2008 she took on the position of SFWA Ombudsman.  Martindale was elected as the South-Central director in 2010 and served in that position until 2015, when the regional directorships were redesigned to reflect the organization’s change to a 501c3 public charity.  She continued to serve as one of the directors-at-large until 2016.

SFWA President Cat Rambo has reflected on her time working with Martindale, “Lee’s service to SFWA includes driving the creation of SFWA’s accessibility guidelines, which have been used by dozens of events outside SFWA’s own, serving for years on the SFWA board and representing it there and at events with a consistent, fair, and business-minded presence, and her current role as part of SFWA’s Grievance Committee. She was a leader in diversity issues such as accessibility and the size rights movement, publishing a book of essays, Prejudice by the Pound, in 2008. It’s a pleasure to recognize her sharp-witted and devoted service to SFWA with the Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award.”

The Kevin O’Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA Award recognizes a member of SFWA who best exemplifies the ideal of service to his or her fellow members.  O’Donnell won the Service Award in 2005.

The Nebula Awards® will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 16th – 19th 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 18th, a mass autograph session will take place at Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills and is open to the public.

The Nebula Awards®, presented annually, recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States as selected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, membership in which is open to all professional science fiction and fantasy authors. The first Nebula Awards® were presented in 1966.

The Nebula Awards® include four fiction awards, a game writing award, the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, the Solstice Award, the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

http://nebulas.sfwa.org/nebula-conference/

Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award To Be Presented to Bud Sparhawk

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) is pleased to announce that the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award will be presented to John C. “Bud” Sparhawk in Pittsburgh at the Marriott City Center.

Bud Sparhawk served as the Eastern Regional Director from 2007 until 2011, when he was elected SFWA Treasurer. 

When SFWA reincorporated in 2013, he became SFWA’s first Chief Financial Officer and helped see the organization through a time of transition. In his role as CFO, Sparhawk has formalized many aspects of SFWA’s financial landscape, including hiring a bookkeeper and comptroller, and consolidating a once fragmented system into an organized and tidy infrastructure. In addition to his duties as an officer of the organization, he has advised the Emergency Medical Fund and the Grants Committee and established SFWA’s Financial Advisory Committee.

SFWA President Cat Rambo has reflected on her time working with Sparhawk, and has this to say:

“It’s been a privilege to work with Bud throughout my time on the SFWA board. He has been instrumental in leading the organization into new financial stability and transparency as well as implementing the new Givers Fund Grant program.”

A prolific writer, Sparhawk has been a three-time Nebula Award finalist, published two novels, and has sold over a hundred shorter works to magazines such asJim Baen’s Universe, Abyss & Apex, Daily Science Fiction, Asimov’sandAnalog. He is also a member of SIGMA, which is a group comprised of SF writers who offer futurism consulting to the government and other NGOs. A U.S. Air Force Veteran, Sparhawk has established a long record of exemplary service both within the SFF community and beyond. 

The Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award recognizes a member of SFWA who best exemplifies the ideal of service to his or her fellow members. O’Donnell won the Service Award in 2005.

The Nebula Awards® will be presented during the annual SFWA Nebula Conference, which will run from May 17th-20th and feature seminars, panel discussions on the craft and business of writing, SFWA’s annual business meeting, and receptions. On May 20th, a mass autograph session will take place at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center and is open to the public. For more details on the event, please visit nebulas.sfwa.org.

The Nebula Awards® recognize the best works of science fiction and fantasy published in the United States as selected by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, membership in which is open to professional science fiction and fantasy authors and professionals. The first Nebula Awards® were presented in 1966.

In addition to the Nebula Awards®, SFWA will present the Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, the Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book, the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, and the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.