Canadian cultural significance
Robert J. Sawyer attended Willowdale Middle School.
Sawyer has long been an advocate of Canadian science fiction. He lobbied hard for the creation of the Canadian Region of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The Canadian Region was established in 1992, and Sawyer served for three years on SFWA's Board of Directors as the first Canadian Regional Director (1992—1995). He also edited the newsletter of the Canadian Region, called
Alouette in honor of Canada's first satellite; the newsletter was nominated for an Aurora Award for best fanzine.
International reception
In addition to his popularity at home, Sawyer's work is well received internationally. All of his novels have been issued by New York publishing houses and translated editions have appeared in Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, and Spanish. Sawyer has won major international awards for his writing including the Hugo Award (selected by attending and supporting members of Worldcon), the Nebula Award (selected by members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and the jury-selected John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Professional associations
In 1998, Sawyer was elected president of SFWA on a platform that promised a referendum on various contentious issues, including periodic membership requalification and the creation of a Nebula Award for best script; he won, defeating the next-closest candidate, past-SFWA-president Norman Spinrad, by a 3:2 margin. However, Sawyer's actual time in office was marked by considerable opposition to membership requalification and negative reaction to his dismissing, with the majority support of the Board of Directors, one paid SFWA worker and one volunteer. He resigned after completing half of his one-year term, and was automatically succeeded by then-incumbent vice-president Paul Levinson. Prior to resigning, Sawyer's promised referendum was held, resulting in significant changes to SFWA's bylaws and procedures, most notably allowing appropriate non-North American sales to count as membership credentials, allowing appropriate electronic sales to count as membership credentials, and creating a Nebula Award for best script.
Sawyer has been active in other writers' organizations, including the Crime Writers of Canada, the Horror Writers Association, and the Writers' Union of Canada (for which he has served on the membership committee), and he is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada, which represents Canadian scriptwriters.
Major awards
- 1991 Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for Golden Fleece
- 1992 Homer Award for Best Novel, for Far-Seer
- 1993 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story, for "Just Like Old Times"
- 1993 Homer Award for Best Novel, for Fossil Hunter
- 1995 Le Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Short Story, "You See But You Do Not Observe"
- 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel, for The Terminal Experiment
- 1995 Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for The Terminal Experiment
- 1996 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel, for End of an Era
- 1996 Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for Starplex
- 1997 Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award for Best Short Story, for "The Hand You're Dealt"
- 1999 Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for Flashforward
- 2000 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel, for Frameshift
- 2002 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel, for Illegal Alien
- 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novel, for Hominids
- 2005 Analog Analytical Laboratory Award for Best Short Story, for "Shed Skin"
- 2005 Aurora Award for Best Work in English (Other) for Relativity
- 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, for Mindscan
- 2007 Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award
- 2007 Galaxy Award (China) for "Most Popular Foreign Author"
- 2007 Aurora Award for Best Short Work in English, for "Biding Time"
- 2010 Aurora Award for Best Long Form in English, for Wake
- 2010 Hugo Award nominee in the Best Novel category for Wake