WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS OF THE FUTURE WINNERS
HONORED AT HUBBARD ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2000
  In September 2000, winners of the internationally acclaimed Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests for new and inspiring writers and illustrators of speculative fiction were honored at the 16th annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement  Awards held at Author Services, Inc. (ASI) in Hollywood. As the literary agency representing the literary and theatrical works of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, ASI has served as administrators since he started the Writers of the Future Contest in 1983. The companion program for new illustrators was initiated in 1989.
  The rich tradition and history of the contests and the literary and artistic talent they have discovered and nurtured have earned them the praise of authors, artists, teachers, journalists, community leaders and countless new writers and illustrators. These contests have become the premiere international merit  competitions for creative and imaginative new talent from these traditionally complementing art forms. Entrants are drawn from all over the world, from all ages and all walks of life. Evidence of the unparalleled success of the programs is reflected in the large number of winners and entrants who have used the contests to launch their professional careers, including a number who have moved into the top rank of their profession. Writers of the Future winners have gone on to publish more than 250 novels, including many New York Times bestsellers, and over 2000 short stories.
Some of the best selling novels
that winners of the contest
have gone on to publish.
  One of the most important factors contributing to the success of both programs is the high caliber of the judges' panels. Since its beginning, the Writers of the Future contest has had top authors of speculative fiction select the best stories and most talented new writers. Past judges have included Frank Herbert, Theodore  Sturgeon, Roger Zelazny and C.L. Moore. Other notable authors who have contributed to the judging include: Marta Randall, John Varley and Gene Wolfe. The current panel, a number of whom have been members since the outset, comprise a virtual who's who of current speculative fiction.

Past Writers of the Future judge,
Roger Zelazny
  Correspondingly, the Illustrators of the Future judges represent the  foremost professional talent in their field. Past judges have included: Paul Lehr, Jack Kirby and Alex Schomburg. The current illustrator's panel as well, is made  up of some of the best artistic talent ever assembled. Given the sharp discernment and high standards of the judges and the anonymous basis of the voting procedure, every entrant exhibiting talent can be assured of an equal opportunity to win and see their story or illustration published in the annual anthology of winning stories illustrated by the winning illustrators.

Past Illustrators of the Future judge,
Jack Kirby
  The L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards ceremonies is the highlight of the Contest calendar year which, itself, consists of four quarterly contests each resulting in the selection by the judges of up to three winners who earn significant cash prizes. The Awards event brings together members of the two prestigious judges panels with the winners of the quarterly competitions. In past years, the annual awards event has been held at such locations as the World Trade Center, the National Archives of the United States, the United Nations, the Houston Space Center and the Kennedy Space Center. This year and for the previous three years, the event has been held in the
L. Ron Hubbard Gallery located at Author Services. 

  A major part of the week-long activity is taken up by the highly regarded  writers and illustrators workshops attended by the winners. The workshops are designed to assist the winners in understanding and acquiring the additional know-how needed to start and succeed as professionals. This year the workshops were led by Writers of the Future Coordinating Judge Algis Budrys and Judge Tim Powers and Illustrator  Judges Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey-Lindahn. Also addressing the workshops were judges Kevin Anderson, Eric Kotani and Frank Kelly-Freas, as well as author and close friend of the contests Rebecca Moesta. 

Algis Budrys and Tim powers lead the Writers of the Future Workshop

Tim Powers shares his hard earned knowledge and experience with winning writers
  As the workshops drew to a close, all attention shifted to the awards night. Following the traditional awards dinner for the judges, winners and their families, everyone made their way to the L. Ron Hubbard Gallery at Author Services.

Winners, judges and guests arriving at
Author Services Inc. in Hollywood
for the awards ceremonies.
  Master of Ceremonies, actor and comedian Jim Meskimen (Apollo 13, The Grinch), gave the assembled winners, judges and guests a warm welcome and then introduced ASI's Vice President for Public Affairs, Ms. Susie Watson-Taylor. As part of recounting the eminent history of the contests, she reminded the audience of Mr. Hubbard's original purpose in creating the Writers of the Future program when he wrote:

Master of Ceremonies Jim Meskimen welcomes the audience to the event

"Through his creative endeavors the writer works continually to give tomorrow new form. In these modern times, there are many communication lines for works of art. Because a few works of art can be shown so easily to so many, there may be fewer artists. The competition is very keen and even dagger sharp. It is with this in mind that I initiated a means for new budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged."

Author Services Inc. Vice President for Public Affairs Ms. Susie Watson Taylor
  The Master of Ceremonies then introduced all the judges for both contests. As one judge after another stood to loud ovations and took their bows, one could not help but be impressed that such an illustrious group of authors and writers was gathered together to encourage and honor a new generation of writing and artistic talent. On hand were authors and judges Algis Budrys, Frederick Pohl, Tim Powers, Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Kevin Anderson, Gregory Benford, Doug Beason and Eric Kotani. Two new writer judges were also introduced, K. D. Wentworth and Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Illustrator judges introduced were Frank Kelly Freas, Laura Brodian Kelly-Freas, Vincent Di Fate, Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey-Lindahn along with the new judge Judith Holman.

Writers of the Future Judge Eric Kotani
and his wife Ursula.

 

Illustrators of the Future
Coordinating Judge Ron Lindhan
  Also, among the special guests attending were Director Roger Christian (Battlefield Earth, Nostrodamus and second unit director for Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace,) Producer John Ketcham (The Hurricane), wildlife artist Bev Doolittle and Locus magazine editor, Charlie Brown.

"Battlefield Earth" film director
Roger Christian
  The illustrator judges were then called on stage to present the awards to the quarterly contest co-winners. Unlike the writers contest which awards a first, second and third place each quarter--with the first place winners competing for the grand prize--the illustrators contest takes a different tack to better approximate how professional illustrators work.

James T. Johnson receives his
Illustrators of the Future award
  The quarterly illustrators contest requires entrants to submit three examples of their work to the judges. Once selected as a quarterly co-winner, an illustrator winner competes for the grand prize against all the other quarterly co-winners by illustrating one of the winning stories from the writers contest. This joining of the literary and illustration arts carries on a long and honored tradition in the history of speculative fiction magazine and book publishing. In fact, Edd Cartier, an Illustrators of the Future judge, illustrated many of L. Ron Hubbard's novels and stories for Astounding Science Fiction and Unknown magazines in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jayson Doolittle receives his  award
from judge Vincent Di Fate.
  The next part of the ceremonies honored the winners of the 1999 Writers of the Future quarterly contests. For many of the new writers, it was a dream come true to receive their awards from authors whose books had inspired them to write speculative fiction. For the four first place winners, however, it was also one more notch in the growing suspense leading up to the announcement of the grand prize winner. It had come down to Gary Murphy of Houston, Texas; Paul Martens of Rensselaear, New York; Dan Barlow of Durham, North Carolina; or Toby Buckle of Bluffton, Ohio.

Judges Lary Niven and Jerry Pournelle present Paul E. Martens with his award

Judges Tim Powers and Gregory Benford present Leslie Claire Walker with her award
  Prior to the announcement of the Gold Award winners, the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Arts was presented to a long time Writers of the Future judge, Frederik Pohl. His long and illustrious career as an author, editor, anthologist, literary agent and critic, has earned him the respect and admiration of both the professionals and fans of speculative fiction. 

Frederick Pohl receives his L. Ron Hubbard
Lifetime Achievement Award
From the first year, he brought to the Contest, the contestants and the winners, the remarkable sum of his wide knowledge and diverse abilities, his unfailing enthusiasm and his spirited dedication to the discovery and encouragement of the best new writers of science fiction and fantasy. Past winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award have included Edd Cartier, Frank Frazetta, Frank Kelly-Freas and Jack Williamson.
  In addition to the release of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 16 containing all the winning stories illustrated by the winners of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, the event was further highlighted by the release of  L. Ron Hubbard Presents The Best of Writers of the Future, a hallmark collection of the winning stories from past winners for the first 8 years of the contest. 

  Many of these authors were on hand at the event to validate and encourage the new winners. Since becoming winners in the Contest each of them has gone on to enjoy significant professional success. They include; Jo Beverly, Leonard Carpenter, Nancy Farmer, Karen Joy Fowler, James Alan Gardner, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Astrid Julian, Michael Payne, Dean Wesley Smith and K.D. Wentworth, Dave Wolverton, Robert Reed, M. Shayne Bell, J. R. Dunn and Bruce Holland Rogers.

Unveiling of "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. XVI"

Coordinating judge, Mr. Algis Budrys announces the release of the Best of the Writers of the Future, Volume 1  

L. Ron Hubbard Presents the Best of the Writers of the Future and L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. XVI
  The stage was now set for the announcement of the L. Ron Hubbard Gold Award winners. First, Illustrator of the Future Coordinating Judge Ron Lindahn came to the stage to announce the winner. Then, with the calling of his name, Frank Wu leaped from his seat and hastened to the stage to collect his Gold Award and $4,000 grand prize. Frank not only draws but writes fiction and humor as well. He has a PhD in bacteriology and has worked in patent law having to do with biotech. It was his third attempt to win the contests since he started drawing seriously in 1997.

  In keeping with the spirit of the contests conceived by L. Ron Hubbard, a special exception was made to the tradition that grand prize winners have to attend the annual ceremonies to receive their awards. This year, 19 year old Yana Yavdoshchook of Lugansk in the Ukraine, selected by the judges as an overall grand prize co-winner of the illustrators contest, was unable to appear at the event (due to immigration complications) to claim her share of the prize. As she had made every effort to attend, Yana was also honored with an L. Ron Hubbard Gold Award and a matching $4,000 grand prize. 

Frank Wu receiving his L. Ron Hubbard Gold Award as one of the co-winners of the Illustrators of the Future Contest

 

Frank Wu with fellow winners and Illustrators of the Future Contest judges
  To conclude the ceremonies, Algis Budrys and Tim Powers came to the stage to make the presentation of the Gold Award to the winner of the Writers of the Future Contest. Sensing the tense expectation of the contestants and the audience, Algis and Tim wasted no time in opening the envelope and announcing that Gary Murphy was the writer's contest sixteenth and newest grand prize winner. His story "Pulling Up Roots" was his first submission to the Contest.

   With the award, the $4,000 grand prize, and a new book released containing his winning story, Gary--a software engineer for a major oil field services company--now has a big jump on a second career as a writer.

Gary Murphy of Houston, Texas is awarded the Writers of the Future Gold Award

Gary Murphy--Gold Award Winner--with the Writers of the Future Contest judges
  Following the event, judges and guests joined the winners at a party in their honor in the L. Ron Hubbard Library also located at Author Services. For all the winning writers and illustrators, it was a magical evening.

 In addition to being honored by the leading professionals in the field of speculative fiction and illustration, they saw the release of one of their stories or illustrations in a best selling anthology which they hope marks the start of their professional career--as it has for so many others.

 Executive Director of Author Services
Barbara Ruiz with Illustrator winner Frank Wu
 with Illustrator judges Ron Lindahn,
Val Lakey-Lindahn, and Vincent DiFate

The Executive Director of
Author Services, Barbara Ruiz, with
Writer and Illustrator Contest winners.
 

 

 

  Altogether, the Contests give out $28,000 in prizes. The $4,000 grand prize is the largest for any short story or illustration competition in the field of speculative fiction.

  There are no entry fees. The quarterly contests are open to those who have not published more than three short stories or more than one novelette in any medium, or more than three story illustrations, or one color piece in a nationally distributed medium.

  For more information or a copy of the rules see other sections of this site or write L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest, P.O. Box 1630, Los Angeles, CA or L. Ron Hubbard's Illustrators of the Future Contest, P.O. Box 1630, Los Angeles, CA or purchase a copy of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Vol. XVI.