CSFFA Hall of Fame – Latest Inductees
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Board is proud to announce the 2024 CSFFA Hall of Fame inductees:
Chris A. Hadfield
Colonel Chris Hadfield is a renowned astronaut, business leader, and author. He commanded the International Space Station and directed companies, sharing his experiences on leadership and change management. He serves as a director and advisor to tech companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.
Hadfield’s distinguished career spans over three decades with the military, NASA, and the Canadian Space Agency, during which he flew three space missions, built two space stations, and performed two spacewalks. His contributions have earned him numerous awards including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the Order of Canada.
He is a best-selling author of five books and a global speaker, with his TED talk garnering over 20 million views. He co-hosts the BBC series “Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?” and National Geographic’s “One Strange Rock” documentary series. His album, “Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can,” was the first to be recorded in space.
[Nominated by Clint Budd & Clifford Samuels.]
Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson was born in Jamaica in 1960, then moved to Canada in 1977. In 1997 she received the Warner Aspect First Novel Award for Brown Girl in the Ring. She has published six novels, numerous short stories, and has written comics in DC’s “Sandman” universe.
She’s received the Astounding, Locus and World Fantasy Awards, Canada’s Aurora Award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Award. In 2020, Science Fiction Writers of America made her its 37th Damon Knight Memorial “Grand Master” in recognition of her writing, teaching, and mentorship.
She is currently a professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her latest novel, Blackheart Man, will be published by Simon & Schuster in August 2024, and her short story collection, “Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions,” will be published by Tachyon Publications in October 2024.
[Nominated by Clifford Samuels.]
Jo Walton
Jo Walton has published fifteen novels, most recently Or What You Will. She has also published three poetry collections, two essay collections and a short story collection. She won the (now named) Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2002, the World Fantasy Award for Tooth and Claw in 2004, the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Among Others in 2012, and in 2014 both the Tiptree Award for My Real Children and the Locus Non Fiction Award for What Makes This Book So Great.
She comes from Wales but since 2002 has lived in Montreal where the food and books are much better. She blogs on Reactor, and has a podcast with Ada Palmer called Ex Urbe Ad Astra. She tends to write books that are different from each other. She also reads a lot, enjoys travel, talking about books, and eating great food. She plans to live to be ninety-nine and write a book every year.
[Nominated by Kalin Stacey.]
We wish to thank the 2024 CSFFA Hall of Fame jury for their work:
Ryah Deines
For more than three decades, Ryah Deines has been actively involved in the organization of numerous conventions, such as Con-Version, Westercon 2005, World Fantasy 2008, and When Words Collide. She spent ten years with Tyche Books as the publisher’s assistant. This Aurora Award nominee (for her work in World Fantasy) enjoys gaming (both tabletop and PC), or sitting in a comfortable chair with her cat, while reading a good book.
Gordon Johansen
Gordon Johansen is the owner of The Sentry Box, Canada’s largest game store which also has a SF&F selection of about 7000 titles. He has been an avid reader of SF&F since grade six when he read his first real SF book, Mystery of Planet X by Lester del Ray. He has helped sponsor Calgary SF&F conventions since his first year of business in 1980.
Rebecca Lovatt
Rebecca Lovatt is the manager of Bakka Phoenix Books, Canada’s oldest science fiction and fantasy bookstore. She’s been a lover of spec-fic since an early age, with a life-long habit of staying up too late to read. She has at various times been a reviewer, publicist, part of convention committees, and now moonlights as a freelance copy editor, occasional animal wrangler, and as a chair for her overly fluffy cat.
Michelle Sagara
Michelle Sagara is an author, bookseller, and lover of literature based in Toronto. She writes fantasy novels as both Michelle Sagara and Michelle West (and Michelle Sagara West). She started writing in 1991 and has published over 30 novels. She was inducted into the CSFFA Hall of Fame in 2023.
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 co-poetry editor of Amazing Stories (with his sister, Carolyn). He’s also the chair of the CSFFA Hall of Fame, which recognizes Canadian science fiction and fantasy practitioners for their contributions over their entire career. David’s latest collection is: The Black Ship (Aeolus House, 2023).
We would like to take this moment to thank all of the nominees. Those who were not selected will remain nominees for future years.