2003 • Volume 19

After five years in Hollywood, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards moved to the famed Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, for their annual ceremonies. The event was held on Saturday, August 9, 2003, in the Rodeo Room.

The evening began with a breathtaking performance by Grammy Award-winning music legend Chick Corea, of an original composition created for the event. Actors Jason Lee and David Carradine were celebrity presenters.

Robert Silverberg, who had been a WotF judge from the very first year of the Contest, received the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts.

Snapshot from 2003

Year in the Contests

This year was rich in the length of its winning stories and in their variety of styles and themes. Something similar acted on the winning illustrators, as you have seen (or will see) in leafing through this volume, which is, as you surely know, volume nineteen in the series.

The judges in this year are amazingly prestigious and knowledgeable contributors to L. Ron Hubbard’s original (and still growing) vision. This has been true from the very beginning, though some names are, sadly, no longer with us and others, happily, have stepped forward to take their place.

We are pleased to welcome new judge Brian Herbert to our stellar panel of judges for the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. Brian Herbert is co-author of The Butlerian Jihad, a recent New York Times bestseller, and has co-authored three other Dune prequel novels with author and Writers of the Future Contest judge Kevin J. Anderson. Among Herbert’s own published works are the novels Sidney’s Comet; Sudanna, Sudanna; and The Race for God. He co-wrote Man of Two Worlds with his late father and former Writers of the Future Contest judge, Frank Herbert. His recent releases include his biography of Frank Herbert entitled Dreamer of Dune and Forgotten Heroes, about the US Merchant Marine.