Samuel R. Delany

One of science fiction's most influential authors and critics, Samuel R. Delany became famous as a youthful prodigy when he published his first novel, The Jewels of Aptor (1962), at the age of twenty.

In 1967, after several more celebrated novels, Delany helped ring in the “New Wave of Science Fiction” with short stories emphasizing cultural speculation, the soft sciences, and mythology. His short story Aye, and Gomorrah... (1967) won a Nebula award, and the novelette, Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones (1969) won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Among his works arethe best seller Dhalgren (1975) and the Nevèrÿon series (1979-1987), Delany increasingly returned to critical and academic writing. In 1985, he received the Pilgrim Award for excellence in science fiction criticism.