01 Feb 2021

Samuel R. Delaney

Black Authors post, Day 1.

Black Authors post, Day 1.

Today’s author is literary and sci-fi/fantasy author Samuel R. Delany.

Delaney was born in 1942, in Harlem. His mother was a clerk in the NYPL The New York Public Library and his father was the director of a funeral home. He was the nephew of Sadie and Bessie Delaney, who were Civil Rights pioneers.

Delaney dropped out of The City College of New York after one year. At the age of 18. he married in 1961 to his high school sweetheart, author and poet Marilyn Hacker. They traveled from New York to Michigan to be married, because of anti-miscegenation laws. They had one daughter born in 1974. After being separated for many years, Delaney and Hacker were divorced in 1980, but remain friends. Delany has identified as gay man since his adolescence.

In 1962, at the age of 19, Delaney wrote his first novel, The Jewels of Aptor. With the help of his wife, who was working as an assistant editor at Ace Books, he was able to publish his novel.

Delaney continued to write and publish novels, short stories, collections of critical essays, and directed a short film called The Orchid. He taught at several schools, including Wesleyan University, University of Buffalo, University of Massachusetts, and Temple University. Delaney retired from teaching in 2015.

Delaney has won several awards, including The Nebula Award, the Stonewall Award, HUGO Awards and the Lambda Prize.

He currently lives in Philadelphia with his partner.

Links to some of my favorite books by Samuel Delaney:

A note: These Amazon links point to Amazon Smile, Amazon’s affiliate charity program. If you have not set up Amazon Smile, I encourage you to point it to an organization like People Incorporated, a non profit dedicated to integrated behavioral and mental health services in Minnesota.

Some links: