The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) named N.K. Jemisin the latest recipient of its Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, founded in 1965, is a non-profit organization that supports writers through advocacy, promotion, and resources, and hosts the annual Nebula Awards.
The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is a lifetime honour presented annually to a living writer of fantasy or science fiction. Established in 1975, it was renamed in 2002 for SFWA founder Damon Knight. Previous recipients include Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Nalo Hopkinson.
The 2025 winner was announced during a keynote presentation at SFWA’s first Quasar conference, a fall online Nebula event. Jemisin, who was introduced by fellow Grand Masters Lois McMaster Bujold and Nicola Griffit,h is the second woman African American to receive the honour.
Jemisin, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow, is the author of the acclaimed Broken Earth trilogy and other works. Her fiction has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards, and her novels have collectively sold over two million copies. Much of her work has been optioned for television or film.
SFWA President Kate Ristau said, “It is my joy and honour to celebrate NK Jemisin as our newest SFWA Grand Master. I cannot imagine a better Grand Master to solidify our next 60 years at SFWA. At panels and conventions, craft talks and workshops, NK’s name already stands beside masters of fantasy like Tolkien and Le Guin. Her skill in world-building shifted the way many of us view setting. She truly brings her worlds to life. In Jemisin’s work, setting is a construct and a character that creates tension, influences character, and compels the plots forward. To put it simply, she is a master of the craft.”
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