Samuel R. Delany

(April 1, 1942 –)

Samuel Ray "Chip" Delany, Jr. is an American pro writer, critic, academic and editor.

His early work (he debuted with a novel when was 20) may be considerer a high-quality space opera, but even by the time of The Einstein Intersection (1967) and Nova (1968) he was moving towards the New Wave writing which was far more experimental and less popular. Dhalgren (1975), which sold a million copies, is an exception in the latter respect, but it is probably the book most likely to be cited by fans as important, but unreadable – for many years "How far did you manage to get into Dhalgren?" was a common fannish question.

Since the 1990s he has been primarily active as a critic, publishing little fiction, and non-genre at that, although his thick Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders (2012) is couched in alternate history.

Though openly gay, he was married to Marilyn Hacker in 1961–80. Their daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany, was born in 1974.

• Photo at Tricon, 1966
• Samuel R. Delany & Tom Purdom talk at Philcon in 2017
• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
• Facebook profile / blog where he posts various reminiscences and thoughts almost daily
• Racism and Science Fiction by Samuel R. Delany, NYRSF Issue 120, August 1998 – with memoirs of various encounters in the 1960s

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

• 1968 -- Balticon 2
• 1970 Best Short Story Hugo and Nebula Award for "Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"
• 1973 -- OMPAcon '73
• 1975 -- Philcon 1975
• 1976 -- Anonycon 2
• 1977 -- Mudcon 1
• 1978 -- Minicon 13
• 1979 -- Penulticon '79
• 1980 -- Michicon
• 1981 -- Norwescon IV
• 1982 -- Torque 3
• 1984 -- VCON 12, Contradiction 4
• 1985 -- Pilgrim Award
• 1986 -- Genericon II
• 1987 -- WisCon 11
• 1988 -- Readercon 2
• 1989 – Norcon 8, 1989 Best Non-Fiction Book Hugo for The Motion of Light in Water (a memoir)
• 1990 -- ConDiego, Fourth Street Fantasy Convention 1990
• 1991 -- Gaylaxicon 1991
• 1992 -- Lunacon 35
• 1995 -- Intersection
• 1999 -- 25th World Fantasy Convention
• 2002 -- Science Fiction Hall of Fame
• 2009 -- Eaton Award
• 8 other Hugo nominations (1967–2007)
• Four Nebula Awards (for works from 1966, 1967 twice, and 1968, incl. the above)

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Person

1942—

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