Wave Staff Report
HOLLYWOOD — The 38th annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards Gala celebrating the winners of the writers and illustrators contests will be held April 8 at the Taglyan Complex on Vine Street.
Author Services and Galaxy Press will honor 13 writers and 12 illustrators from around the world for their excellence in the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
The black-tie, invitation-only event begins with red carpet arrivals at 3:30 p.m., followed by a banquet at 5 p.m., the awards show from 7-9:30 p.m. and a book signing and reception from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.
The awards show will be streamed live at http://www.writersofthefuture.com.
John Goodwin, president of Galaxy Press, said, “one grand prize writer winner and one grand prize illustrator winner will be selected.”
The grand prize winners will be selected from a field of 12 quarterly writer winners and 12 quarterly illustrator winners, in addition to one finalist writer.
The 12 writers competing for the writing grand prize are Mike Stoumbos of Seattle, Brittany Rainsdon of Blackford, Indiana; J.A. Becker of Sydney, Australia; M. Elizabeth Ticknor of Monroe, Michigan; John Coming of Columbus, Ohio; Azure Arthur of Dallas; Lazarus Black of Bellingham, Washington; Em Dupre of Naples, Florida; NV Haskell of Florence, Kentucky; Desmond Astaire of Marquette Heights, Illinois; Z.T. Bright of North Salt Lake, Utah; and Michael Panter of Stockholm, Sweden.
Finalist Rebecca E. Treasure of San Antonio, Texas, also will be honored.
The 12 illustrators competing for the grand prize include Majid Saberinejad of Marburg, Germany; Natalia Salvador Cabrerizo of Granada, Spain; Jerome Tieh of Baltimore; Arthur Doweyko of Vero Beach, Florida; Zaine Lodhi of Lakewood Ranch, Florida; Xiaomeng Zhang of San Francisco; Nick Jizba of Omaha; Annalee Wu of Stevenson, Maryland; Ari Zaritsky of Buffalo Grove, Illinois; James Zaccaria of Woburn, Massachusetts; and Tenzin Rangdol of Silver Spring, Maryland.
The show will open with a performance by singer-songwriter Jesse L. Stevenson, followed by a tribute to David Farland, a longtime contest judge and book editor who died earlier this year. Keynote speaker will be J.T. Thompson, recently retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and former commander of the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.
Gunhild Jacobs, executive director for Author Services, will serve as master of ceremonies.
