CSFFA Hall of Fame – Latest Inductees
July 1, 2025 – The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Board is proud to announce the 2025 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees:
Clint Budd
Clint has been involved in fandom for over 30 years. He was heavily involved with the Vancouver convention scene working on numerous VCONs and other fannish actives.
In the mid-2000’s Clint felt that the Aurora Awards were not getting the attention they deserved and with a group of like-minded friends from across Canada he created the awards society we have today. Clint arranged to have the society registered as a non-profit with the federal government as well as having a formal set of by-laws created.
Clint has been on the board of directors in a number of roles since the mid-2000’s. He inspired the CSFFA board to create the Hall of Fame award, incorporating the lifetime award winners. Clint managed the Hall of Fame jury for its first nine years and arranged to have a special trophy created to display all of the inductees.
[Nominated by Clifford Samuels]
Charles R. Saunders
Charles Robert Saunders (1946 – 2020) was a Black author and journalist and the founder of the “sword and soul” literary genre with his Imaro novels. During his long career, he wrote novels, non-fiction, screenplays, and radio plays.
Born in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, US, in 1946, he earned a psychology degree from Lincoln University. In 1969, when the US draft summoned him to fight in Vietnam, he instead moved to Ontario, Canada. The experience of exile led him to create Imaro, his hero of an alternative Africa called Nyumbani.
In 1985, Hal-Con invited Charles as a starring writer in their sci-fi and fantasy convention in Halifax. Charles quickly felt at home with the African Nova Scotian community and relocated to Halifax that same year.
His impact as a writer continues to grow after his death, as new generations discovers his work and find it to be life-changing.
[Nominated by Clifford Samuels]
Diane L. Walton
Diane L. Walton is one of the founding members of On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic. Since its beginnings in 1989 she’s been a driving force for the magazine. She has consistently adhered to the mandate that discovers and showcases quality works by predominantly Canadian writers and artists. She has been a mentor to the editors, helping them work together to foster the growth of emerging writers in speculative fiction by offering support and direction through constructive criticism, education, mentoring, and manuscript development.
Barb Galler-Smith (The Druids Saga, with Josh Langston) says: “She wrangles us all: editors, slush readers, copyeditors, artists, authors, subscriptions, layout artist, and distribution. She is so humble about the brilliant work she has been doing for many years. I believe she represents all the things good about Canadian science fiction.”
[Nominated by Barb Galler-Smith]
We wish to thank the 2025 CSFFA Hall of Fame jury for their work:
Rebecca Diem
Rebecca Diem writes hopeful speculative fiction and poetry. Her work can be found on Reactor and Write Magazine, and she is the author of the steampunk novella series Tales of the Captain Duke. She is currently working on a poetry collection inspired by beach walks with a sleeping baby. With favourite writing spots on three continents, Rebecca now calls Grey-Bruce home with her Australian composer husband and ocean-eyed daughter. She is the Owen Sound Poet Laureate for 2024-2025.
Candas Jane Dorsey (HOF 2018)
Internationally-known writer, editor, former publisher, & community-builder living in Edmonton, Alberta, Candas Jane Dorsey is the award-winning author of speculative novels Black Wine, A Paradigm of Earth, & upcoming Freak Show; short story collections Machine Sex; Vanilla; Ice & Dark Earth Dreams; mysteries The Adventures of Isabel, What’s the Matter with Mary Jane? & He Wasn’t There Again Today; & YA novel The Story of My Life, Ongoing, by CS Cobb. She was inducted into the CSFFA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Stephen Kotowych
Stephen Kotowych is a World Fantasy Award finalist and winner of Canada’s Aurora Award, Spain’s Premi Ictineu, and the Writers of the Future Grand Prize. His stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies in Canada, the UK, and the US and have been translated into a dozen languages. He is the series editor of Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction and the Nebula Awards Showcase.
kotowych.com
Randy McCharles
Randy McCharles is a full-time author of speculative and crime fiction.
He is the recipient of several Aurora Awards and in 2013 his short story Ghost-B-Gone Incorporated won the House of Anansi 7-day Ghost Story Contest.
His publications include the Connecticut Gumshoe trilogy, Much Ado about Macbeth, Capone’s Chicago (a multi-dimensional alternate history romp), and the YA space opera The Day of the Demon.
David Clink, Chair
David Clink is an Aurora Award winning poet. He has two podcasts, Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi (with Troy Harkin); and Wizards & Spaceships (with Rachel A. Rosen). He is the poetry editor of Amazing Stories (along with his sister, Carolyn, and Herb Kauderer). He’s also the chair of the CSFFA Hall of Fame, which recognizes Canadian SFFH practitioners for their contributions over their entire career. David’s latest collection: The Black Ship (Aeolus House, 2023).
DavidLivingstoneClink.com
We would like to take this moment to thank all of the nominees. Those who were not selected will remain nominees for future years.