Winners Announced: 1st Quarter Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests Year 40

The L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests are pleased to announce the first quarter winners for its 40th year.

For the Writers of the Future Contest, the winners for the quarter ending December 31, 2022, are:

• First Place — Stephannie Tallent from California
• Second Place — Galen Westlake from Canada
• Third Place — John Schleicher from Montana

And for the Illustrators of the Future Contest, the winners are:

• Arthur Haywood from Pennsylvania
• Selena Meraki from the Netherlands
• Carina Zhang from Rhode Island

Congratulations to them all! They will be published in 2024 in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40.

You can find the complete list of Finalists, Semi-Finalists, and Honorable Mentions at:

Writers of the Future 1st Quarter Winners Announced for Volume 40

Illustrators of the Future 1st Quarter Winners Announced for Volume 40

In 1985, with the release of the first volume of the series, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “I initiated a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.” The Contest Director, Joni Labaqui, stated, “Mr. Hubbard’s vision is realized every quarter when I announce the winners.”

The award-winning writers and illustrators will be flown out to Hollywood for a week-long workshop with Contest judges, some of the field’s biggest names. Plus, a lavish awards ceremony.

Writer judges are Kevin J. Anderson, Dr. Doug Beason, Dr. Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Kress, Katherine Kurtz, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Dr. Nnedi Okorafor, Tim Powers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brandon Sanderson, Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg, Dean Wesley Smith, and Dr. Sean Williams.

Illustrator judges are Echo Chernik, Lazarus Chernik, Ciruelo, Vincent Di Fate, Diane Dillon, Bob Eggleton, Craig Elliott, Larry Elmore, Laura Freas Beraha, Brian C. Hailes, Brittany Jackson, Val Lakey Lindahn, Stephan Martiniere, Mike Perkins, Sergey Poyarkov, Rob Prior, Irvin Rodriguez, Dan dos Santos, Shaun Tan, Tom Wood, and Stephen Youll.

The Contests are both free to enter and are found at www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/.

L. Ron Hubbard initiated the Writers of the Future Writing Contest in 1983 to provide “a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.” Based on its success, its sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, was created five years later to provide that same opportunity for aspiring artists.

The intensive mentoring process has proven very successful. The 547 winners and published finalists of the Writing Contest have published over 2,000 novels and nearly 6,300 short stories. In addition, they have produced 36 New York Times bestsellers, and their works have sold over 60 million copies.

The 394 past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 700 book and magazine covers, over 6,800 illustrations, 390 comic books, and 1.4 million art prints in circulation.

For more information on the writing contest and illustration contest and to see the annual awards gala, go to www.writersofthefuture.com/the-awards-event.