By: Christy Oldham (@DGC)
THE 32ND ANNUAL L. RON HUBBARD ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FOR WRITERS & ILLUSTRATORS OF THE FUTURE CONTESTS FOR SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
April 10th, 2016,Wilshire Ebell Theatre- It was a great afternoon to time travel with a unique flying machine made by the Galactic Courier Service for guests and the members of the Star Wars Steampunk Universe in commemoration of The 32nd Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards for Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests in Science Fiction and Fantasy, at the legendary Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Presented by Author Services, Inc. and Galaxy Press, the Writers of the Future Award is the genre’s most prestigious award of its kind and has now become the largest and most distinguished vehicle for burgeoning creative talent in the world of contemporary fiction!
The Steampunk Formal event was attended by 13 members of Star Wars Steampunk Universe as well as celebrities like Catherine Bell, Jennifer Aspen, Jesse Kove, Jim Meskimen, Pepe Reyes, Irvin Rodriguez and The Winner Twins – Brianna and Brittany Winner. The exciting show was kicked off with an impressive Steampunk body percussion opening number and included appearances by EMCirque, a Cyr wheel performance, a dancer/dinosaur puppeteer performance and an aerialist performance-all on the legendary Ebell stage which has hosted extraordinary artists in the past such as Judy Garland and U2.
MATT DOVEY, a writer from Lincolnshire, UK and ADRIAN MASSARO, an illustrator from Neuquen, Argentina were announced as the Grand Prize Winners. Matt Dovey’s story, ‘Squalor and Sympathy’ was illustrated by artist Adrian Massaro. Dovey was presented with the Golden Pen Award and a $5,000 check by distinguished writers David Farland and Orson Scott Card. Adrian Massaro was presented with the Golden Brush Award and a $5,000 check by distinguished illustrator Sergey Poyarkov and the Awards Show Keynote Speaker, Kellie Gerardi.
“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” said Matt Dovey.
“This year’s packed awards show marks a historic moment in our contests 32-year history, in that it is the first time ever that the Grand Prize winning writer and Grand Prize winning illustrator won for both the story and illustration of the same story simultaneously” said Joni Labaqui, Director of Contests for Author Services, Inc.
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 renowned writers like Tim Powers, Sean Williams and Brandon Sanderson. Gunhild Jacobs, Executive Director for Fiction Affairs at Author Services, Inc., emceed the event. Kellie Gerardi, a Space Science Strategist and Media Specialist of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, served as the Keynote Speaker. Gerardi is one of 100 people globally currently being considered for space settlement to live on Mars.
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,Julie Frost of West Jordan, UT, Heather Fullerton (Pen Name: H.L. Fullerton) of Fishkill, NY, 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 and K.D. Julicher of Fernley, NV, who was selected as a Published Finalist for this year’s contest. 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 Herzegovina.
The Event attendees also include 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.
For more information please visit www.writersofthefuture.com and www.galaxypress.com.
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