Samuel R. Delany

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-28

Samuel R. Delany was born April 1, 1942, in Harlem, New York City, into a prominent African American family: his grandfather Henry Beard Delany was the first Black Episcopal bishop, his aunts Sadie and Bessie Delany became noted civil rights pioneers, and his aunt Clarissa Scott Delany was a Harlem Renaissance poet. He attended the Dalton School and the Bronx High School of Science before briefly studying at the City College of New York, dropping out after one semester. Delany began publishing science fiction professionally at age twenty and became one of the genre's most intellectually influential writers, later holding professorships at SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Albany, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Temple University from 1975 to 2015. His acclaimed novels include Babel-17, The Einstein Intersection, Nova, Dhalgren, and Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, alongside significant nonfiction such as the memoir The Motion of Light in Water and the essay collection Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, which examine sexuality, urban space, and literary theory. He has won four Nebula Awards and two Hugo Awards, was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2002, named SFWA Grand Master in 2013, and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October 2025.

Universe(s)

Books

• Tales of Nevèrÿon (1979) · Return to Nevèrÿon Core Canon
• Neveryóna, or: The Tale of Signs and Cities (1983) · Return to Nevèrÿon Core Canon
• Flight from Nevèrÿon (1985) · Return to Nevèrÿon Core Canon
• Return to Nevèrÿon (1994) · Return to Nevèrÿon Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 4 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 0 (None recorded)

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