Press Releases

"SFWA To Give Bradbury Award to Babylon 5's J. Michael Straczynski" 12/04/99

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America President Paul Levinson announced today that the authors' organization would be awarding the Ray Bradbury Award for Dramatic Screenwriting to J. Michael Straczynski for his work on Babylon 5.

The award -- given at the SFWA President's discretion -- was last presented in 1992 by then SFWA President Ben Bova to James Cameron, for his writing of Terminator 2. Bova was the originator of the award, and Cameron was its sole recipient until now.

"Science fiction has been leaping from the page to the screen for the better part of this century," Levinson observed. "It's fitting that we give the Bradbury Award to Joe Straczynski, whose extraordinary work on Babylon 5 revolutionized science fiction on television in the 1990s, much as Star Trek did in the 1960s."

Widely acknowledged as one of the most imaginative and influential science fiction television shows in years, Babylon 5 concluded its five-year first run in 1998. Straczynski conceived the series, and wrote 91 of its 110 episodes -- a tour de force in television writing. The entire series can now be seen again on the TNT Cable Channel.

"The membership of SFWA voted overwhelmingly this past Fall to reinstate the Dramatic Nebula Award," Levinson noted. "But eligibility for this award, chosen by the membership, begins with work made available to the public on January 1, 1999. I thought it especially appropriate, in these circumstances, to give the Bradbury Award one more time. It signals to the world SFWA's deep interest in dramatic media."

Straczynski will be coming to Pittsburgh on May 1 to receive the Bradbury Award at the SFWA Annual Nebula Banquet. Hal Clement will receive SFWA's Grand Master Award, William Tenn (Phil Klass) will receive SFWA's Author Emeritus Award, and winners will be announced at the same Nebula Awards banquet for best short story, novelette, novella, and novel. Tor editor David Hartwell will be guest speaker, and Analog editor Stanley Schmidt will be toastmaster at the ceremony.

Ray Bradbury, who gave his name to this award in 1992, is himself a SFWA Grand Master, and no stranger to the screen, small and large. Movies have been made of his "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Illustrated Man," and his "Martian Chronicles" was a TV mini-series on NBC in 1979. The story in that classic science fiction narrative took place in 1999...

For more information, contact:
Dr. Paul Levinson
President, SFWA
phone: 914-428-8766
e-mail: President@sfwa.org

and I will include them on the next update.

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