Damon Knight was born in Baker City, Oregon. He graduated from the WPA Art Center in Salem, Oregon, then moved to New York City. His first story, "Resilience", was published in 1941. In 1943 he went into publishing, first with Popular Publications, then editing Beyond in 1950-51 and If in 1959-60. He became a science fiction critic in 1945, but gave that up in 1954. In 1956 he co-founded the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference. Also in 1956, he received the Hugo Award for science fiction criticism. In 1965, he founded and became the first president of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He published his last book, Will the Real Hieronymus Bosch Please Stand Up? on the internet in 2000. He lived in Eugene, Oregon, United States, with his wife Kate Wilhelm, also a science fiction writer.