2023 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest Winners Named

Grand Prize winners David Henrickson and Dao Vi. Photo courtesy of Author Services Inc.

David Henrickson from Sterling, VA, was named the 2023 Grand Prize Writer Winner and Dao Vi from Sylmar, CA who was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was named the 2023 Illustrator Grand Prize Winner at the 39th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards Gala for Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests on April 28. The event was held at the Taglyan Cultural Complex in Hollywood, CA.
 
David Henrickson said: “I never imagined I would be here. I’ve loved Science Fiction all of my life.  When I was nine years old I was first inspired by the genre of science fiction after reading Andre Norton’s Star Guard.  When somebody asks what I do and who I am, I give them an easy answer, ‘I am an Application Architect,’ that’s what I do, but that’s not who I am.  Five years before I retired I started writing.  I told myself if I could write 100,000 lines of code, I can write a novel.  Hopefully one day we will all be able to pay this forward.  Thank you!”
  
Dao Vi said: “Wow!  I didn’t believe I was going to win.  I am humbled and honored to be surrounded by so many talented writers and illustrators.  It’s been a huge blessing.  I want to thank Samuel Parr for his wildly provocative story, ‘The Last History,’ which I illustrated.  This award is for you too.  Life is what happens when you are having fun.  I’m excited to see where this leads for all of us.  Thank you very much!”
 
During the course of the awards show a Time Capsule from 25 years ago in 1998, was opened by Writers of the Future Judges Kevin J. Anderson and Tim Powers which contained predictions on the Quality of Education in 25 years from famous Science Fiction writers.  As it turned out, one prediction from Tim Powers was quite accurate.  On October 2, 1998, Tim Powers wrote: “Voice recognition and transcription programs will have made literacy (all of spelling and most of grammar) obsolete; morality will be discarded as archaic.”
 
Winners from this year’s competitions hailed from all over the United States, as well as from Canada, China, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Romania, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Joni Labaqui, Director of the Contests for Author Services, Inc. who oversaw the presentations of the Grand Prize Awards, said, “This year the theme for our awards show will be Fantasy and Illusion with a motif including a fiery dragon, and Asian pagodas and temples.”
 
Emily Goodwin, Vice President of Public Affairs for Author Services, Inc., served as Event Producer and presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, who penned sff classics like The Terminal Experiment and Flashforward, who has also served as a Writers of the Future judge since 2005.
 
During his acceptance speech, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer said, “Thank you all so very much!  Although I entered this contest when I was starting out, I’ve only ever been on the stage here at the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future Gala as a presenter, never an award recipient. I am thrilled to have finally made it!  I thank John Goodwin, Emily Goodwin, Joni Labaqui, and everyone else at Author Services, Inc. from the bottom of my heart—which is beating awfully fast right now!”

Left to right: John Goodwin, Emily Goodwin, Lifetime Achievement Recipient Robert J. Sawyer, Gunhild Jacobs and Joni Labaqui. Photo courtesy of Author Services, Inc.

An In Memoriam Tribute part of the awards show honored the late multiple New York Times bestselling author, Eric Flint, a Writers of the Future Winner for Volume 9 in 1993, writer of over 40 novels, Founder and Editor of Jim Baen’s Universe, and contest judge.

John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press, unveiled Volume 39 of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, with cover artwork illustrated by Writers of the Future Illustrator Judge, Tom Wood, entitled, “Wyvern Crucible,” which was set to a cover story written by Writers of the Future Writer Judge, Kevin J. Anderson entitled, “Fire in the Hole.”  And simultaneously an audio book of Volume 39 of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, recorded by Jim, Tamra and Taylor Meskimen, was unveiled.

This year’s event, an Invitation Only function, was streamed live. Goodwin added: “According to United Public Radio Network, this year’s awards show was seen by 340,000 viewers on Roku and was heard by over 1.1 million listeners on the live broadcast.”

Keynote Speaker Dan Farr, Founder and CEO of the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, said:  “It is indeed my honor to be speaking to you tonight about something that is near and dear to me.  Pop culture and pop culture conventions.  The modern concept of a fan convention dates back to the late 1930s with various gatherings of a few dozen science fiction fans in Philadelphia and New York. Hardcore science fiction readers met at these underground affairs, mainly to discuss science fiction, which at that time consisted of pulps.
 
“In the 60s fans and culture started to explode, when mainstream TV series and movies such as Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Forbidden Planet, came onto the convention scene.  And with the film industry popularizing characters such as Batman, Spider Man, The X-Men, the Green Lantern, and about a dozen other superheroes, the convention landscape exploded by leaps and bounds through the 70s, 80s and 90s.  By the mid-2000s, upwards of 300,000 people would flock to what had truly turned into pop culture conventions that embrace far more than the original buying and selling of comics.
 
“Fashion, costumes, characters, dance, film, cyberculture, music, art, literature, television, and radio – none of it would exist without the writer or the artist creating that script, that picture, that song, that universe.  Writing and art has always been and will always be a healing influence.  As writers and artists, you carry a large responsibility for the future.  Because it is you who carry that powerful torch to unite, while others are trying to tear it down.  Do not ever give up on your dreams.  As L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the contests stated:  ‘The greatest joy there is in life, is creating.  Splurge on it!’  Writers and Illustrators, congratulations on your accomplishments and…keep creating!”
 
Writer’s Contest Coordinating Judge, Jodi Lynn Nye and Emmy Award-winning actress, Nancy Cartwright, announced writer David Henrickson as the 2023 the Golden Pen Award winner presenting him a trophy and check for $5,000, for his story, “White Elephant.”

Coordinating Illustrator Contest Judge Echo Chernik and Keynote Speaker Dan Farr announced illustrator Dao Vi as the 2023 Golden Brush Award winner presenting him a trophy and a check for $5,000.  Dao Vi illustrated writer Samuel Parr’s story, “The Last History.”

The 12 quarterly winners and one published finalist of the 2023 writer’s contests who were presented with trophies and cash prizes included:  Samuel Parr of Market Harborough, United Kingdom; Spencer Sekulin of Newmarket, Ontario, Canada; L.H. Davis of Malabar, FL; Devon Bohm of West Hartford, CT; Arthur H. Manners of Cambridge, England; David Hankins of Bettendork, IA; David Henrickson of Sterling, VA; J.R. Johnson of Ottawa, Canada; Elaine Midoch of Pembroke Pines, FL; Marianne Xenos of Amherst, MA; Jason Palmatier of State College, PA;  and T.J. Knight of Glen Spey, NY.  Britany Rainsdon of Blackford, IN a 2022 Quarterly Writer winner was also honored.
 
The 12 Quarterly Winners of the 2023 Illustrator’s Contests who were presented with trophies and cash prizes included:  Alexandra Albu (AKA Cyberaeon) of Iasi, Romania; Clarence Bateman of Bronx, NY; Dao Vi of Sylmar, CA, born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Sarah Morrison of Malden, MA; Ximing Luo of Ellicott City, MD born in Hangzhou, China; Alaya Knowlton of Sarasota, FL; Kristin Hadaway of Abington, MD; José Sánchez of San José, Costa Rica; Helen Yi of Sarasota, FL and Seoul, South Korea; Chris Binns of Hillsboro, OR;  April Solomon of Laguna Beach, CA and Chris Arias of Cartago, Costa Rica.
  
Contest Writer Judges in attendance included: Kevin J. Anderson, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Dr. Nnedi Okorafor, Timothy Thomas “Tim” Powers, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, Dean Wesley Smith and S.M. Stirling.

Other Distinguished Writer Judges who were not able to be in attendance include:  Dr. Doug Beason, Dr. Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Brian Herbert, Katherine Kurtz, Todd McCaffrey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Silverberg and Dr. Sean Williams.
 
Contest Illustrator Judges in attendance included: Echo Chernik, Lazarus Chernik, Larry Elmore, Dr. Laura Freas Beraha, Brian C. Hailes, Brittany “Bea” Jackson, Val Lakey Lindahn, Sergey Poyarkov, Rob Prior, Dan dos Santos and Tom Wood.
 
Other Distinguished Illustrator Judges who were not able to be in attendance include:  Vincent Di Fate, Diane Dillon, Stephan Martiniere, Mike Perkins, Irvin Rodriguez, Shaun Tan and Stephen Youll.

A photo gallery from the award ceremony is here: Writers & Illustrators of the Future Workshop Week 2023 – Day 7.

Author Services, Inc. and Galaxy Press Executives with 2023 Writer and Illustrator Winners and Judges. Photo courtesy of Author Services, Inc.

[Based on a press release.]
 

Golden Pen and Golden Brush Winners Announced at 38th Annual Writers & Illustrators of the Future Gala

The L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards Gala was held April 8 in the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood.

38TH GRAND PRIZE GOLDEN BRUSH AWARD

  • Zaine Lodhi of Sarasota, Florida, for his illustration of “Agatha’s Monster”

38TH GRAND PRIZE PEN AWARD

  • Desmond Astaire of Illinois for his story “Gallows”

The grand prize winners were presented with an additional $5,000.

Two previous winners who had been unable to attend the 2020 and 2021 ceremonies delivered their acceptance speeches at this event, the Volume 36 winner of the Golden Pen award C. Winspear of Blacktown, NSW, Australia, and the Volume 37 Golden Brush award winner Dan Watson of Earley, Berkshire, England.

A huge statue of the mammoth that strides across the cover of Volume 38 greeted winners and guests as they walked the red carpet at the Taglyan.

Anyaugo Okorafor-Mbachu (left) with her mother Nnedi Okorafor (right)

Jesse L. Stevenson opened the April 8 event with a powerful rendition of “Men of Reason,” a poem by L. Ron Hubbard, followed by a special memorial tribute to the late David Farland/Wolverton, the previous Writers Contest Coordinating Judge. Fellow judges and long-time friends shared anecdotes and fond memories of Dave’s passion for the craft and his impact on their lives and the industry.

Jody Lynn Nye was introduced as the new Writers Contest Coordinating Judge, and Dean Wesley Smith as the new anthology editor.

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38 was released by John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press. This is the final volume edited by David Farland. The cover art is by Bob Eggleton. In addition to stories from the 12 winners and one finalist, there are stories by L. Ron Hubbard, Frank Herbert, and David Farland. There are writing tips and advice for artists from Illustrators of the Future Coordinating Judge Echo Chernik, L. Ron Hubbard, Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Diane Dillon.

The article from Frank Herbert, “The Single Most Important Piece of Advice,” was the last article written by Frank for the Writers of the Future before he passed away. He was one of the early Contest judges.

Lieutenant General John F. Thompson of the Air Force and Space Force did the keynote speech. He spoke about the importance of science fiction to our future in space.

A visual presentation was shown of L. Ron Hubbard’s poem “Declaration of Peace.” It was written for the Battlefield Earth alum, and an appropriate message with the strife abroad.

Frank Frazetta, known as the “King of Illustration,” was judge for the illustrator contest since its beginning. A rare video was shown describing how he works and technique he used when painting “Man the Endangered” for Battlefield Earth, which was used for the cover the 21st Century Edition.

Celebrity presenters included Nancy Cartwright, Jade Pettyjohn, and Lee Purcell.

The gala was followed by a reception and large book signing of the newly released anthology for guests and attendees.

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38 releases in bookstores on June 28, 2022 and is available now on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

The Writers of the Future writing contest was initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 to provide “a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.”

See a photo gallery from the event here.

[Based on a press release.]

Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest 2020 and 2021 Winners

The Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contest combined the awards ceremony for their 36th and 37th competitions into one event held October 22 after a year’s postponement due to the pandemic.

36TH GRAND PRIZE GOLDEN BRUSH AWARD

  • Anh Le, illustrator of “Stolen Sky”

36TH GRAND PRIZE GOLDEN PEN AWARD

  • C. Winspear for his story “The Trade”

37TH GRAND PRIZE GOLDEN BRUSH AWARD

  • Dan Watson, illustrator of “How to Steal the Plot Armor”

37TH GRAND PRIZE PEN AWARD

  • Barbara Lund for her story “Sixers”

Each winner received a trophy and a $5,000 check.

C. Winspear
Dan Watson
Keynote speaker Toni Weisskopf

2019 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest Winners

The 2019 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest Award Event was held April 5 in Los Angeles.

2019 Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award was won by Andrew Dykstal for his story “Thanatos Drive.”

The Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award went to Aliya Chen for her illustration of Elise Stephens’ story “Untrained Luck.”

Each winner received a trophy and a $5,000 check.

Also, the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to artist Bob Eggleton.

2018 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest

The top awards in the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest were presented at a ceremony in Los Angeles in April 8 reports Locus Online.

2018 Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award

  • Darci Stone for her story “Mara’s Shadow”

2018 Illustrators of the Future Golden Brush Award

  • Kyna Tek for his illustration of Erin Cairns’s story “A Smokeless and Scorching Fire”

John Goodwin of Galaxy Press provided this list of Writers / Illustrators finalists.

Writers of the Future

Quarter 1

  • First: Jeremy TeGrotenhuise – “The Minarets of An-Zabat”
  • Second: Diana Hart – “Miss Smokey”
  • Third: Janey Bell – “The Face in the Box”

Quarter 2

  • First: Vida Cruz – “Odd and Ugly”
  • Second: Amy Gillett – “All Light and Darkness”
  • Third: Eneasz Brodski – “Flee My Pretty One”

Quarter 3

  • First: Darci Stone – “Mara’s Shadow”
  • Second: Erik Bundy – “Turnabout”
  • Third: Natalka Roshak – “A Bitter Thing”

Quarter 4

  • First: Erin Cairns – “A Smokeless and Scorching Fire”
  • Second: Timothy Hehr – “What Lies Beneath”
  • Third: Jonathan Ficke – “The Howler on the Sales Floor”

Illustrators of the Future

Quarter 1

  • First: Anthony Moravian – “Miss Smokey”
  • Second: Duncan Halleck – “All Light and Darkness”
  • Third: Bruce Brenneise – “The Face in the Box”

Quarter 2

  • First: Adar Darnov – “Turnabout”
  • Second: Reyna Rochin – “Odd and Ugly”
  • Third: Brenda Rodriguez — “The Minarets of An-Zabat”

Quarter 3

  • First: Alana Fletcher – “Flee My Pretty One”
  • Second: Maksym Polishchuk – “What Lies Beneath”
  • Third: Jazmin Richardson – “A Bitter Thing”

Quarter 4

  • First: Kyna Tek – “A Smokeless and Scorching Fire”
  • Second: Sidney Yarelis Lugo Cabrera – “The Howler on the Sales Floor”
  • Third: Quintin Dee Gleim – “Mara’s Shadow”

The quarterly winners received trophies, and the Golden Awards winners won $5,000.

Pixel Scroll 4/5/18 Scrollman Vs. Mr Mxyzpixeltk

(1) SOLO MENU. Bold NEW menu inspired by Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fat, salt, sugar, and Star Wars. What could be better?

(2) USAGE. How many Lego is two? Ann Leckie gives her answer. The thread starts here:

(3) GUGGENHEIM FELLOWS. The Guggenheim Fellows named for 2018 include fiction writer China Miéville, nonfiction writer Roxane Gay, and in Fine Arts, Elizabeth LaPensee, a writer, artist and game creator who earlier won a Tiptree Fellowship.

(4) WRITERS OF THE FUTURE. The 34th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards Gala for  the winners of the Writers and Illustrators of the Future will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 8. Celebrities attending include Nancy Cartwright, Marisol Nichols, Catherine Bell, Jade Pettyjohn, Stanley Clarke and Travis Oates.

(5) NESFA SHORT STORY CONTEST. The New England Science Fiction Association is running the fifth annual NESFA Short Story Contest. The deadline for submissions in July 31.

The purpose of this contest is to encourage amateur and semi-professional writers to reach the next level of proficiency.

Mike Sharrow, the 2018 contest administrator, sent this pitch —

Attention aspiring writers! Do you like to write science fiction or fantasy stories? Are you a new writer, but not sure if you’re ready for the big time? Then you’re just the kind of writer we’re looking for! The New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA for short) is running a writing contest. Prizes include free books, and a grand prize of a free membership to Boskone. More important though is that we offer free critiques of your work. Our goal is to help young & aspiring writers to improve their writing, so you can become our new favorite writer! Check out our website for details.

(6) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • April 5, 1940 One Million B.C. premiered

(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOYS

  • Born April 5, 1917 — Robert Bloch. Steve Vertlieb reminds everyone, “Bloch would have turned one hundred one (101) years of age today.  Wishing one of Horror fiction’s most legendary writers a joyous 101st Birthday in the Heavenly shower stall of The Bates Motel in Heaven.”
  • Born April 5, 1926 – Roger Corman

(8) COMIC SECTION.

  • Mike Kennedy says this Tom the Dancing Bug is either a loving tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey or scary as hell. Or maybe both.

(9) KGB READINGS. Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series hosts Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel present  Livia Llewellyn and  Jon Padgett on Wednesday, April 18, 7 p.m. at the KGB Bar in New York.

Livia Llewellyn

Livia Llewellyn is a writer of dark fantasy, horror, and erotica, whose short fiction has appeared in over forty anthologies and magazines and has been reprinted in multiple best-of anthologies and two Shirley Jackson Award-nominated collections, Engines of Desire and Furnace. You can find her online at liviallewellyn.com, and on Instagram and Twitter.

Jon Padgett

Jon Padgett is a professional ventriloquist. His first short story collection, The Secret of Ventriloquism, was named the Best Fiction Book of the Year by Rue Morgue Magazine. He has work out or forthcoming in Weird Fiction Review, PseudoPod, Lovecraft eZine, and in the the anthologies A Walk on the Weird SideWound of WoundsPhantasm/Chimera, and For Mortal Things Unsung. Padgett is also a professional voice-over artist with over forty years of theater and twenty-five years of audio narration experience. Cadabra Records will soon be releasing 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism, a story written and narrated by Padgett.

(10) AVOIDING UNPRODUCTIVE GENERALIZATIONS. Annalee Flower Horne suggests this is a subject where it helps to get more specific – jump on the thread here.

(11) GARDEN OF HOLES. Theory said there should be smaller holes around the monster Sgr A*; now there’s confirmation: “Dozen black holes found at galactic center”.

“The galactic centre is so far away from Earth that those bursts are only strong and bright enough to see about once every 100 to 1,000 years,” said Prof Hailey.

Instead, the Columbia University astrophysicist and his colleagues decided to look for the fainter but steadier X-rays emitted when these binaries are in an inactive state.

“Isolated, unmated black holes are just black – they don’t do anything,” said Prof Hailey.

“But when black holes mate with a low mass star, the marriage emits X-ray bursts that are weaker, but consistent and detectable.”

(12) EARWORMS FOR WHALES. Bowheads appear to have more-complex songs than the famous humpbacks: “The whales who love to sing in the dark”.

Over the course of three years, the whales of the Spitsbergen population produced 184 unique song types. The vocalisations were detected 24 hours a day throughout most of the winter each year.

“The alphabet for the bowhead has got thousands of letters as far as we can tell,” Prof Kate Stafford, lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, told BBC News.

“I really think of humpback whale songs as being like classical music. Very ordered. They might last 20 – 30 minutes. An individual [bowhead] song might only be 45 seconds to 2 minutes long, but they’ll repeat that song over and over again,” the University of Washington researcher added.

(13) GIVING MARS HIVES. NASA will throw a little cash at this idea: “NASA Wants To Send A Swarm Of Robot Bees To Mars”.

A Japanese-American team of engineers is working to send a swarm of bee-inspired drones to the Red Planet with new, exploratory funding from NASA. Yes, bees on Mars. The team calls the concept “Marsbees.”

NASA selected the idea as part of its “Innovative Advanced Concepts” program, which annually supports a handful of early concept ideas for space exploration. The team of researchers will explore the possibility of creating a swarm of bees that could explore the Martian surface autonomously, flying from a rover. The rover would act as centralized, mobile beehive, recharging the Marsbees with electricity, downloading all the information they capture, and relaying it to Earth’s tracking stations. They describe the Marsbees as “robotic flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings.” Those oversized wings, in relation to their bodies, compensate for the density of Mars’ atmosphere–which is much thinner than Earth’s.

(14) BLACK PANTHER OVERCOMES ANOTHER BARRIER. According to The Hollywood Reporter: “‘Black Panther’ to Break Saudi Arabia’s 35-Year Cinema Ban”.

Black Panther is set to make some more history.

Marvel’s record-breaking superhero blockbuster — which has already amassed north of $1.2 billion since launching in February — will herald Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited return to the cinema world, becoming the first film to screen to the public in a movie theater in the country since it lifted a 35-year cinema ban.

(15) INCREDIBLES 2. Bravo, Edna is a fresh pitch for Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2, which opens in theatres June 15.

Icon. Artist. Legend. Edna Mode is back, dahlings.

 

(16) ROWAN ATKINSON. Universal Pictures followed up yesterday’s teaser with a full-length Johnny English Strikes Back trailer.

[Thanks to JJ, Carl Slaughter, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, John King Tarpinian, Martin Morse Wooster, Chip Hitchcock, Steven J. Vertlieb, Matthew Kressel, Jeff Smith, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day jayn.]

2017 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards

Jake Marley, a writer from Garden Grove, CA and Michael Michera, an illustrator from Pabianice, Poland are the Grand Prize winners of the 33rd Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards for Writers and Illustrators of the Future. Each winner was presented with a $5,000 check during ceremonies in Los Angeles on April 2 reports Broadway World

The Quarterly Finalists of the Writers and Illustrators Contests also received cash prizes and trophies.

The 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Writing Contest included: Walter Dinjos of Anambra State, Nigeria (via video); Sean Hazlett of Pleasant Hill, CA; Ziporah Hildebrandt from Shutesbury, MA; Stephen Lawson of Louisville, KY; C.L. Kagmi of Ann Arbor, MI; Jake Marley of Garden Grove, CA; Ville Meriläinen of Joensuu, Finland; Andrew Peery of Durham, NC; Andrew L. Roberts of San Lorenzo, CA; Anton Rose of Durham, United Kingdom; Doug C. Souza of Modesto, CA and Dustin Steinacker of Orem, UT

This year’s 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Illustrating Contest were: Asher Ben Alpay of Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines (via video); Hanna Al-Shaer of Grand Rapids, MI; Yader Fonseca of Woodside, NY; David Furnal of Beaverton, OR; Christopher Kiklowicz of Lakewood, CA; Chan ha Kim or Los Angeles, CA; Aituar Manas of Kazakhstan, Almaty; Michael Michera of Pabianice, Poland; Anthony Moravian of Brooklyn, NY; Jason Park of Pasadena, CA; Rachel Quinlan of St. Clair Shores, MI and Ryan Richmond of Carmel, IN.

Also on hand were 21 contest judges, writers Kevin J. Anderson, Dr. Doug Beason, David Farland, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Todd McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Dr. Nnedi Okorafor, Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Mike Resnick and Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, and artists Echo Chernik, Lazarus Chernik, Circuelo Cabral, Dr. Laura Freas Beraha, Larry Elmore, Val Lakey Lindahn, Sergey Poyarkov and Rob Prior.

John Goodwin, President Galaxy Press, unveiled the 33rd Volume of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future featuring the work of the 24 award-winning new authors and illustrators and two published finalists from this year’s contests. Edited by David Farland, with cover artwork by Larry Elmore, the book also features stories written by Anne McCaffrey, Robert J. Sawyer, Larry Elmore, Todd McCaffrey and Bob Eggleton.

Dovey and Massaro Win 32nd Annual Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests

_PSA6803 (Mate Kiss)

L-R: Orson Scott Card, David Farland, writer winner Matt Dovey, illustrator winner Adrian Massaro, Kellie Gerardi, and Sergey Poyarkov.

Matt Dovey, a writer from Lincolnshire, UK and Adrian Massaro, an illustrator from Neuquen, Argentina are the Grand Prize Winners of the 32nd Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards for Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests.

This was the first time in contest history that the winning writer and illustrator won for their work on the same story, Matt Dovey’s “Squalor and Sympathy,” illustrated Adrian Massaro.

The awards ceremony was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 10, emceed by Gunhild Jacobs, Executive Director for Fiction Affairs at Author Services, Inc.

Dovey received the Golden Pen Award and a $5,000 check on stage from writers David Farland and Orson Scott Card. Adrian Massaro was presented with the Golden Brush Award and a $5,000 check by illustrator Sergey Poyarkov and the awards show keynote speaker, Kellie Gerardi. Gerardi is a Space Science Strategist and Media Specialist of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, one of 100 people globally currently being considered for space settlement to live on Mars.

Matt Dovey said, “Moments like this are unique and life defining.  Write without shame.  Do what you do with confidence.  Ours is the greatest genre, that of science fiction and fantasy.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Speculative fiction is what we tell our children.  If we are the writers of the future, it is up to us write the future.”

Adrian Massaro said, “I didn’t plan to win.  I was surrounded by equals in this contest.  All of the other stories that were so vivid; I never thought I would win. I tried to put the emotion into my illustration for ‘Squalor and Sympathy.’ I find it difficult to find words to express the profound feelings I am experiencing at the moment. It’s beyond words.”

The inaugural L. Ron Hubbard Silver Star Award was presented to illustrator Sergey Poyarkov by Joni Labaqui, Director of Contests for Author Services, Inc. The award was given for his excellence as a science fiction and fantasy illustrator for the last 25 years.

John Goodwin, President and Publisher of Galaxy Press, unveiled the 32nd Volume of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future featuring the work of 24 award-winning new authors and illustrators from this year’s contests. Edited by David Farland, with cover artwork by Sergey Poyarkov, the book also features stories written by Tim Powers, Sean Williams and Brandon Sanderson.

This year’s 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Writing Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies.  They included:  Stewart C Baker of Dallas, OR; Matt Dovey of Lincolnshire, UK; Julie Frost of West Jordan, UT; Robert Graves (Pen Name:  R.M. Graves) of London, England (who was unable to attend); Sylvia Anna Hivén of Lawrenceville, GA; Rachael K. Jones of Athens, GA; Ryan Row of Berkeley, CA; Jon Lasser of Seattle, WA; Stephen Merlino of Seattle, WA; Christoph Weber of Reno, NV and James Williams (Pen Name:  J.W. Alden) of Hypoluxo, FL.

In addition, a 13th writer, K.D. Julicher of Fernley, NV was selected as a Published Finalist for this year’s contest.  She was in attendance at the event.

This year’s 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Illustrating Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies.  They included:  Christina Alberici of Sewell, NJ; Camber Arnhart of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Brandon Knight of Shawbirch, Telford, UK; Talia Spencer of Los Angeles, CA; Adrian Massaro of Neuquen, Argentina; Killian McKeown of Phoenix, AZ; Vlada Monakhova of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Paul Otteni of Kirkland, WA; Jonas Spokas of Kaunas, Lithuania; Preston Stone of Loveland, CO; Maricela Ugarte Peña of Monterrey, Mexico and Dino Hadziavdic of Bosnia and Herzegouina.

Event attendees also included 24 world-renowned writer and illustrator contest judges specializing the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  The 16 Writer judges included:  Kevin J. Anderson, Dr. Doug Beason, Dr. Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, David Farland, Eric Flint, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Timothy Thomas “Tim” Powers, Mike Resnick, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer and Dr. Sean Williams.  The seven illustrator judges included:  Laura Freas Beraha, Echo Chernik, Larry Elmore, Ron Lindahn, Val Lakey Lindahn, Gary Meyer and Sergey Poyarkov.

Since inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have produced 31 anthology volumes and awarded a cumulative $930,000 in cash prizes and royalties.

[Based on the press release.]

Peggy Ranson (1948-2016)

Peggy Ranson. Photo by Vincent Mariano.

Peggy Ranson. Photo by Vincent Mariano.

Peggy Ranson, a very popular fanartist in the 1990s, passed away March 16 from cancer. The family’s obituary is here.

She grew up in Memphis, and attended Memphis State University. While living in New Orleans she worked as a commercial artist for D.H. Holmes and the Times Picayune.

Ranson was employed as an ad illustrator when she volunteered to help with the 1988 New Orleans Worldcon. Guy H. Lillian III remembers, “She co-edited the Nolacon II program book with me, did scads of inimitable and exquisite fan art, and graced every moment we spent with her.” Lillian writes that this piece was her first fan art.

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She was an L. Ron Hubbard Illustrator of the Future contest finalist in 1990, and attended the awards ceremonies (see photo).

Illustrator of the Future 1990. Peggy Ranson is fourth from right. (Kelly Freas is fourth from left.)

Illustrator of the Future 1990. Peggy Ranson is fourth from right. (Kelly Freas is fourth from left.)

Ranson was a Best Fan Artist Hugo nominee every year from 1991-1998, winning in 1993. Lillian liked to say she was only the second fan from Louisiana (adopted) to win a Hugo (the first was Camille Cazedessus, publisher of ERB-dom.)

Peggy Ranson with HugoShe did countless pieces of art for conventions, bids, and fanzines, and for charitable publications like the Charlie Card Fund’s 1991 Fantasy Art Calendar. Her work won Best in Show at the 1991 Worldcon art show (Chicon V).

There’s a small gallery of her black-and-white art at Fanac.org.

Ranson cover for Challenger

Ranson was a guest of honor at DeepSouthCon 34 in 1996, and Armadillocon 20 in 1998, and other small cons across the South.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 she fled to Memphis. Afterwards she wrote a long account of her escape and what it was like to return to the heavily damaged city in Challenger 23.

maureen_origAlthough she did some cover art for professional publications, she does not seem to have pursued that as a vocation, for many of her assignments were for books by writers or small press publisers she knew well. This includes her covers for The NESFA Index to Short Science Fiction for 1989 (1992), Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordperson: The Complete Stories (1993) a paperback of George Alec Effinger stories from Swan Press, Girls for the Slime God (1997) a collection of stories edited by Mike Resnick, and Birthright: The Book of Man (1997) by Mike Resnick. She also did interiors for magazines, including Algis Budrys’ Tomorrow Speculative Fiction.

Ranson is survived by a sister and two brothers (one of them her twin), and several nieces and nephews.