Jane Yolen. Photo by Jason Stemple.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has named Jane Yolen 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. LeGuin, Isaac Asimov, and Joe Haldeman.
SFWA President Cat Rambo commented: “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.“
Yolen’s acknowledgement reads: “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.”
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 novel, 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 works 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 1986, her short story “Sister Emily’s Lightship” received a Nebula Award, as did her novelette “Lost Girls” in 1997. 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.
For more on Jane Yolen, please visit a very special SFWA Youtube curated playlist.
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Woo!
Nice!
Well deserved!
And of course, she’s well known as a past winner of the Skylark award.
I resisted the urge to make Bob Dylan a Grand Master.
@Cat Well, he does have an alternate history movie (MASKED AND ANONYMOUS) under his belt…
@Cat Rambo
Probably for the best, if Dylan doesn’t want a nice trip to Sweden he might not have turned up to Pittsburgh either!
Unexpected, yet perfect.
@princejvstin If and when I become drunk with power and go off the rails, it’ll be in a much bigger manner than that.
@Mark This should be a terrific Nebula conference and if Dylan is serious about his F&SF career, he’ll show up anyway. =)
Yay!
Wonderful — not just a master at writing, but a teacher and leader-by-example. (From her GoH remarks at Interaction: ~”Rule 1: butt in chair!” (i.e., sit down and write.))
I don’t know what the Rambo quote was where/when you copied it, but the SFWA online press release now says “350 books” rather than “300 hundred books” — 30,000 books would be a load for Lionel Fanthorpe, let alone from a quality writer.
We did fix the typo, although I offered to let Yolen engage in a blaze of writing to remedy things that way…but she declined.
Is that playlist useful? We’re putting together ones for all our Grandmasters, but I dunno how many people use them. I thought that one was really nicely put together. Would short plus extended versions of them be handier?
What a nice surprise.
I have many fond memories of reading Jane Yolen’s books to my daughter, in her early years. Her books allowed me to share my love of Fantasy with my child.
Congratulations Grand Master Jane
This makes me so very happy!
Great news!
Very nice.
@Cat: Is that playlist useful? I much prefer print interviews, or transcripts; I find them more convenient and less time-consuming, but people will tell you I’m an old grouch who just doesn’t get modern tech. (cf a recent Scroll item about the death of phone calls — and I’ve had to deal with a next-gen concom member who didn’t even do email….) IMO, \anything/ that showcases Grandmasters in a world being slowly covered in wordwooze is a Good Thing.
Thanks, Chip, that’s handy to know. One of the things I’ve been trying to do is test different channels for SFWA and figuring out what we want to stick with (or not). I think the Youtube Channel’s got some legs, if I can just find the right volunteer to coordinate it so I can hand it off.
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