It was only after his appearance at the 24th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Cleveland in 1966, that Delany’s existence was recognized, which led to the quick consensus that he was a leading figure in the field. This idea was bolstered by Delany’s lack of any social connections to the world of science fiction fandom. His early novels came out in such quick succession that many in the science fiction community assumed “Samuel Delany” was a house brand used by his publisher, Ace Books, to cover a multitude of authors. It was followed at a clip of one or two books a year, resulting in eight more novels by 1968, culminating in the best book of his youth, Nova (1968). That year saw the release of Delany’s first published novel, The Jewels of Aptor, written when he was nineteen and released when he was twenty. The list of SF writers who were in print before they could vote is impressive.” “John Brunner’s first novel when he was seventeen Theodore Sturgeon’s first story when he was twenty. “Isaac Asimov’s first story appeared when he was eighteen,” Delany noted. Delany took an inventory of the youthful prodigies of the genre. In the summer of 1967, shortly after he had finished writing Nova, Samuel R. Like math, like music, like gymnastics, science fiction is an endeavor that attracts the energy of the young. In the following guest column, cultural critic and Nation national affairs correspondent Jeet Heer explores the context from which Nova emerged and suggests some of the reasons for its classic status more than fifty years later.īy Jeet Heer First edition of Samuel R. Delany’s 1968 novel Nova in the two-volume anthology American Science Fiction: Eight Classic Novels of the 1960s, edited by Gary K. Library of America has just republished Samuel R. Delany: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Super- Nova

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