Samuel R. Delany was one of the leading lights of SF's New Wave in the 1960s. His path-breaking (and taboo-busting) novels and stories have won numerous awards, including four Nebulas, two Hugos, two Gaylactic Spectrum prizes, and the Eaton and Lambda Lifetime Achivement Awards. 

"When I went to my very first sf convention, which was Worldcon in 1966, I'd already published six or seven novels. A very young man came up to me and said, 'You wrote a book called Babel-17?' I said 'Yes, indeed I did.' He said, 'That stuff, where three people get together and they all do it at once . . . is that possible?' I said, 'Yes.' And he gave an immense sigh of relief and turned around and walked away. At which point I thought, 'I am doing something right.'"

– Samuel R. Delany