The Horror Writers Association has announced that Kenesha Williams has been picked to receive the 2018 Scholarship From Hell.

The scholarship provides a for travel, accommodation, and membership in HWA’s StokerCon™ — held this year in Providence, RI — where the winner participates in Horror University, a series of intensive writing workshops taught by top industry professionals.

Scholarship From Hell applicants submit a 250-word essay outlining their goals in attending the convention; the winner is chosen by the convention’s chairs.

Kenesha Williams

“We read dozens and dozens of excellent essays this year,” said HWA President Lisa Morton, “but Kenesha had exactly the right combination of dedication to the craft of writing and to the genre that we look for.”

Kenesha Williams is an independent author, speaker, and Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Black Girl Magic Literary Magazine. She took to heart the advice, “If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself,” and created a speculative fiction literary magazine featuring characters that were representative of the diversity of Black womanhood. She has happily parlayed her love for the weird and the macabre into Black Girl Magic Literary Magazine, finding the best in undiscovered talent in speculative fiction. She currently lives in the DC Metro Area with her husband and three little boys.