International Writers of the Future 36 Anniversary Set for Live Worldwide Broadcast

The L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards ceremony, celebrating its 36^th anniversary of the internationally-acclaimed Writers of the Future Contest and its companion Illustrators of the Future Contest, will be broadcast on Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m. (Pacific), to a worldwide audience via Internet, it was announced today. Streaming will be live from www.writersofthefuture.com  where a countdown to the event can currently be seen.

Themed around the book cover art entitled “The Uncertain Egg” painted by award-winning artist Echo Chernik, the evening will open with a performance by the award-winning singer-songwriter from Dominica, Michele Henderson.

“Our annual gala ceremony for new writers and illustrators of science fiction and fantasy is such a moving experience that we want all speculative fiction fans everywhere and the friends and families of this year’s winners to witness it,” said Joni Labaqui, the Contests’ director.

The evening ceremony will be held before a packed hall of invited guests, celebrities, and many of speculative fiction’s most popular writers and illustrators at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood.

As the top names in the science fiction and fantasy world, Contest judges will be on hand to present the annual awards to this year’s writer and illustrator winners as well as the grand prize winner for each contest. Writer judges who will be attending include Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason, Gregory Benford, David Farland, Eric Flint, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Katherine Kurtz, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Nnedi Okorafor, Tim Powers, Robert J. Sawyer, and Dean Wesley Smith. Illustrator judges include Echo and Lazarus Chernik, Ciruelo, Craig Elliott, Val Lakey Lindahn, Mike Perkins, Sergey Poyarkov, Rob Prior, and Dan dos Santos.

Every quarter, three writers and three illustrators are selected by a panel of leading authors and artists of science fiction and fantasy. With no entry fee and judging done on an anonymous basis, the criterion is strictly merit. Beside first time publication, benefits include over $30,000 in cash prizes and royalties, a week-long workshop with top professionals of the genre as well as book signings, radio, and TV interviews organized by the Contest administrators to assist the winners in launching their careers.

For more information on the writing contest and illustration contest, go to www.writersofthefuture.com  where you can also see last year’s awards ceremony.

Please note, this is a live broadcast, so check your time zone for when it will show in your location.