The grand prize winners of the 27th Annual Writers of the Future Award and the 22nd Illustrators of the Future Award were just recently announced in a ceremony at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. During the same ceremony, all the past year’s quarterly winners also received their trophies and cash prizes. The night’s keynote speaker was Dr. Pete Worden, Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, who spoke of the relationship between science fiction as the inspiration that leads to science fact.
The writer grand prize winner is Richard P.L. Johnson of Melbourne, Australia, who wrote “In Apprehension, How Like a God”. The illustrators grand prize winner is Irvin Rodriguez, of Bronx, New York.
The year’s quarterly winners were also recognized at the ceremony. Writing winners include:
Jeffrey Lyman, author of “The Unreachable Voices of Ghosts”
Patrick O’Sullivan, author of “Maddy Dune’s First and Only Spelling Bee”
Brennan Harvey, author of “The Truth, From a Lie of Convenience”
Ryan Harvey, author of “An Acolyte of Black Spires”
Van Aaron Hughes, author of “The Dualist”
Keffy R.M. Kehrli, author of “Bonehouse”
Patty Jansen, author of “This Peaceful State of War”
Geir Lanesskog, author of “Sailing the Sky Sea”
Ben Mann, author of “Unfamiliar Territory”
Adam Perin, author of “Medic!”
D.A. D’Amico, author of “Vector Victoria”
John Arkwright, author of “The Sundial”
Illustrator winners include:
Vivian Friedel
Scott Frederick Hargrave
Erik Jean Solem
Meghan Muriel
Dustin D. Panzino
Frederick Edwards
Joey Jordan
Nico Photos
Gregory J. Gunther
Fred Jordan
Ryan Downing
Prior to the awards ceremony, the winners were flown in from around the globe to attend a week-long workshop taught by contest judges. The quarterly writing contest series was established in 1983, for new authors, offering cash prizes of up to $5,000. Judges include: Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Eric Flint, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Yoji Kondo (aka Eric Kotani), Anne McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg, Dean Wesley Smith, K.D. Wentworth, Sean Williams, and Dave Wolverton. Hoffman, Smith, Wentworth, and Wolverton were contest winners before becoming judges. The quarterly illustrators contest was established in 1988. The judges of that contest include: Robert Castillo, Vincent Di Fate, Leo & Diane Dillon, Dave Dorman, Bob Eggleton, Laura Brodian Freas, Stephen Hickman, Ron & Val Lindahn, Stephan Martiniere, Judith Miller, Cliff Nielsen, Sergey Poyarkov, Shaun Tan, H.R. Van Dongen, and Stephen Youll.
The photo above of the winners and judges pictures:
(Bottom, left to right): Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dr. Yoji Kondo, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, K.D. Wentworth, Larry Niven, Laura Brodian Freas, Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Gregory Benford, Robert J. Sawyer, Eric Flint, Jerry Pournelle
(Middle row) Keffy R.M. Kehrli, Dustin Panzino, Vivian Friedel, Patty Jansen, Patrick O’Sullivan, R.P.L. Johnson, Geir Lanesskog, Tim Powers, Vincent DiFate, Joni Labaqui, Marcus Wuethrich, Dr. Pete Worden, Gunhild Jacobs, Cliff Nielsen, Val Lakey Lindahn, Ron Lindahn, Mike Resnick, Doug Beason, Dave Wolverton, Dave Dorman, Gregory J. Gunther, Stephen Hickman, Meghan Muriel, Joey Jordan
(Top row) Nico Photos, Robert Castillo, David D’Amico, Frederick Edward, Ryan Downing, Adam Perin, Fred Jordan, Erik Solem, Irvin Rodriguez, Ryan Harvey, Brennan Harvey, Jeff Lyman, Ben Mann, Van Aaron Hughes, Scott Frederick Hargrave, John Scott Arkwright
For more information, including entry information, see this page.