2019 Horror Writers Association Scholarships

The Horror Writers Association has named its 2019 scholarship winners.

The scholarship, open to all horror writers (HWA membership is not required), is worth $2500, which may be spent on approved writing education over the two years following the granting of the scholarship.

The 2019 winner is:

Sar Adams

Sara Adams was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been writing horror since the fourth grade, when she was given an assignment to finish a story about black cats and took it just a little too far. She grew up with a deep love of the genre, writing stories about everything from fluid minds to what lives in the shadows. Sara lives in Haverhill with her two roommates, crafting new nightmares every day. Her work has appeared in the anthology In Delirium Bloom.

This scholarship, worth $2,500, is open to female horror writers. It may be spent on approved writing education over the two years following the granting of the scholarship.

The 2019 winner is:

Theresa Derwin

HWA member Theresa Derwin writes Dark Urban Fantasy & Horror and has over forty-five anthology acceptances, one of which is her story “Trapped” in Below the Stairs with Clive Barker. She’s had three collections published: Monsters Anonymous, Season’s Creepings and Wolf at The Door.  She has edited nine anthologies, including Dark Voices: a Women in Horror and Dark Fiction Book, with proceeds to Breast Cancer charities, published by Lycan Valley Publications. She is currently working on a novella, God’s Vengeance, from Crystal Lake Publishing, and her witchcraft and demonic horror Mercy, which she will complete as part of her MA Creative Writing at BCU this September, to be studied part time due to her disabilities. She blogs at www.theresaderwin.co.uk

Twitter @BarbarellaFem

The Dark Poetry Scholarship, first awarded in 2015, is designed to assist in the professional development of Horror and/or Dark Fantasy Poets. It is worth $1,250, which may be spent on approved writing education over the two years following the granting of the scholarship.

The 2019 winner is:

Alexander P. Garza

Alexander P. Garza is a writer, actor, and educator from Houston, TX. His work can be seen in Veil: Journal of Darker Musings, Thirteen Myna Birds, Black Poppy Review, Ekphrastic Review, and others. He has worked on and offstage at The Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, Main Street Theater, and Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company. Visit him on Instagram/Twitter, @alexanderpgarza, and on his website http://www.alexanderpgarza.com.

The Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship Fund for Non-fiction Writing provides grants for research and writing nonfiction relating to horror and dark fantasy literature. The amount is flexible. Membership in HWA is not a requirement.

The judges chose to not award the fund for 2019.

[Via Locus Online.]

2013 TAFF Voting

John Coxon released the 2013 Trans Atlantic Fan Fund voting statistics in Taffline #6 [PDF file].   

Voting

N. Am.

Europe

 

Total

Theresa Derwin

5

11

 

16

Jim Mowatt

47

44

 

91

Hold Over Funds

1

0

 

1

No Preference

8

5

 

13

Totals

61

60

 

121

Jim Mowatt won with a first-round majority. He also passed TAFF’s “20% rule” which, explains John Coxon, “meant that each candidate needed to get 10 votes in North America and 11 votes in Europe (‘no preference’ was not included when calculating these numbers).”

Coxon says 58 votes were cast in North America and 60 votes in Europe, and 3 more from the rest of the world — the latter reported in the North America column so it would not become too easy to deduce who they voted for. All voters’ names are listed in Taffline #6. Voter donations totaled $533.23 in North America and £349.68 in Europe.

Mowatt Wins TAFF

Jim Mowatt will be the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund delegate to LoneStarCon 3.

Here is TAFF co-administrator John Coxon’s press release —

It is the pleasure of the TAFF administrators to announce the end of voting in the westbound TAFF race for 2013. Theresa Derwin and Jim Mowatt have both been excellent candidates who have kept TAFFing through some tough patches, but unfortunately there can be only one delegate.

Jim Mowatt is the winner of this year’s Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund and will represent European fandom in a trip that takes him throughout North America. He will be appearing at LoneStarCon 3, in San Antonio, Texas, USA, amongst other fannish destinations yet to be confirmed.

The administrators would like to thank both candidates for their patience and good humour throughout the voting period. We wish Jim a fantastic trip to San Antonio and other amazing locales!

TAFF is the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund and has been sending sf fans across the Atlantic Ocean since 1952 or 1955, depending on who you ask. The official unofficial TAFF website is at taff.org.uk and we can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/TAFFnews or on Twitter as @TAFFnews.

For the full race results, keep an eye on taff.org.uk or efanzines.com for the next edition of the TAFF newsletter, which will contain information on the EightSquaredCon fan fund auction as well as the full voter breakdown for this race.

Don’t look for the voting totals in the official announcement. You won’t find them. Even though they must have been calculated to decide the winner. After weeks of reminders to VOTE FOR TAFF VOTE FOR TAFF VOTE FOR TAFF it’s a bit anticlimactic not to know how close the race was or how many fans participated.

TAFF Is On!

The TAFF administrators have officially announced the candidates for the 2013 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund, Theresa Derwin and Jim Mowatt. Each has sworn a mighty oath (well, confirmed a willingness) to attend LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio if he or she wins, and posted a £15 bond.

The ballot is available here [RTF format]. Votes and donations may also be submitted via PayPal – see the ballot for details.

Voting ends Friday, April 19 at 23:59 British Summer Time aka UTC+1.

Theresa Derwin was nominated by Anders Bellis, Steve Green and John Meaney (from Europe), as well as Christopher J. Garcia and Yvonne Penney (from North America). Here is Derwin’s campaign platform, from the ballot:

Derwin: The Natural Selection. Theresa Derwin is standing for TAFF! A regular convention attendee and panel moderator/member, Theresa has been active in fandom since her teen years. She produces fanzine Andromeda’s Offspring, which promotes the genre work of female authors. She has also previously written for Critical Wave and writes book reviews on her blog www.terror-tree.co.uk whilst writing lots of fiction in a variety of anthologies and in her first book Monsters Anonymous. Theresa wants to attend LoneStarCon3 as a positive ambassador for European/British fandom and female fans and writers in particular. She brings enthusiasm, knowledge and humour to the race!

Jim Mowatt was nominated by Fran Dowd, Rob Hansen and Mark Plummer (in Europe), as well as Randy Byers and Curt Phillips (in North America). Jim’s platform reads:

Jim Mowatt came of age in the fiery fannishness of Leeds and burst upon the scene as Jim Trash at the Sou’wester Eastercon in 1994. Few noticed. He retreated into the shadows like a bewildered ninja. Since then he has made a number of friends, produced fanzines (e.g. Pips and Beam) and decided that fandom is a wonderful place to be(eblebear). He has produced a prodigious number of podcasts, and has a great face for radio. Jim followed a woman to Cambridge in 2002. She didn’t call the police so he moved in. San Antonio needs to know why.

The winner will have approximately four months to arrange his or her TAFF trip, which customarily includes meeting various groups of fans around the country in addition to attending the anchor convention. Recent visits to North America by TAFF delegates have included trips to Las Vegas, Toronto, New York City, Seattle, the Bay Area and Reno. The trip often lasts up to a month, and sometimes longer.

The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund has been facilitating the exchange of fans between Europe and North American since the 1950s. More information about TAFF can be found at the official unofficial website: www.taff.org.uk. TAFF also has presences on LiveJournal (taffnews.livejournal.com), Facebook (facebook.com/TAFFnews) and Twitter (@TAFFnews).

Theresa Derwin Enters TAFF Race

Also running for TAFF is Theresa Derwin, whose website identifies her as an author of urban fantasy, sf and horror.

I took one last look at Facebook after posting about Mowatt and discovered a link to the other candidate.

Derwin says her candidacy is already the subject of controversy, as she has received an e-mail declaring it out of bounds (“you’re a professional, and TAFF is for fans”), and a query from someone else revealing it is under discussion in an unnamed fannish listserv.

Far be it from me to deprive our usual experts of the pleasure of smacking around holders of these parochial views but sure, TAFF has never been won by a pro except in the years when it was won by Ken Bulmer, Terry Carr, Eddie Jones, Patrick & Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Dave Langford, and heaven knows how many more, depending on how “pro” you need your pro to be.