Date:
8/14/2002
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Patrice Caldwell
PORTALES – Dr. Jack Williamson, science fiction author and Eastern New Mexico University emeritus professor of English, has a new Nebula in his galaxy. Williamson's "The Ultimate Earth," published in Analog Magazine, was selected as Best Novella for 2001 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Albuquerque writers Sage Walker and Walter Jon Williams recently drove to Portales to deliver the award, and their congratulations.
Williams attended the SFWA convention in Kansas City, Missouri, where the announcement was made, and volunteered to carry the prize back to New Mexico.
"Ultimate Earth" is part of Williamson's fifty-third novel, Terraforming Earth , published by Tor in 2001. In addition to the Nebula, "Ultimate Earth" also captured a Hugo (named after pioneering SF editor Hugo Gernsback) in 2001. Williamson learned earlier this summer that Terraforming Earth was also selected for the John W. Campbell Award for best science-fiction novel of 2001, an honor shared with Robert Charles Wilson's The Chronoliths.
Williamson, who teaches a class each spring, has recently published, "The Luck of the Legion" in the magazine Absolute Magnitude and continues writing cutting edge SF. ENMU's annual Williamson Lectureship, scheduled for March 6, 2003, will celebrate his 75 years of SF publication. That's probably worth a few more stars in his expanding galaxy.
Walter Jon Williams and Sage Walker drove from Albuquerque to Portales to deliver Jack Williamson's Nebula Award for his novella, "The Ultimate Earth." Williamson, 94, had not been able to attend the Nebula Award presentation ceremony in Kansas City last April. This is Williamson's first Nebula since receiving the second SFWA Grand Master Award in 1976. Williamson was quite pleased with the award and indicated his gratitude to his fellow authors. Williamson (in center of photo) also received a Hugo Award for this story, and recently received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel, Terraforming Earth. (photo by Rick Hauptmann)