Writers and Illustrators of the Future

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Writers of the Future (WOTF) is a competition founded in 1983 by Scientology cult founder L. Ron Hubbard , to which writers of the science fiction and fantasy genre (SFF) can submit their works. The competition is specifically aimed at amateur and new authors. The best stories selected by a commission are published annually in book form. The prizes are linked to cash prizes that are attractive to novice authors. A workshop for new authors has been held since 1986 . At the same time, the Illustrators of the Future competition , which is aimed at illustrators of the SFF genre , has existed since 1988 . The competition is particularly well known in the US SFF scene. The award ceremony takes place as part of elaborate gala events. The competition is organized by Author Services Inc. , and the Writers of the Future and Illustrators of the Future brands are owned by the Church of Spiritual Technology , an organization of Scientology. The proximity of the competition to Scientology led to criticism.

regulate

Conditions of participation

Authors can submit their own works in English, up to 17,000 words long. Works that can be assigned to the genres of science fiction, fantasy or dark fantasy are desirable, but not poems and children's stories. The submitted works must not have been published commercially. The authors do not have to assign any rights. Each participant may only send in one work per quarter. The jury can exclude works that contain inappropriate depictions of violence or sexual acts. There is no participation fee. Each quarter, beginning on October 1, the jury will select three quarterly award winners who will receive prizes of US $ 1,000, US $ 750 and US $ 500, respectively . Once a year, which ends on September 30th, a main prize winner is determined in the categories "Author" and "Illustrator", who is awarded the "L. Ron Hubbard Gold Award ” . Objections to the decisions of the jury are excluded.

Selection committee

According to WOTF, the selection committee is made up of professional and established authors of the genre. The first coordinator of the jury was Algis Budrys , who introduced other well-known authors as jurors. He was followed by KD Wentworth . Other jurors included Theodore Sturgeon , CL Moore , Anne McCaffrey , Frederik Pohl and Robert Silverberg .

Publications

An anthology of the stories selected by the jury is published annually under the title L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of Future . Volume 32 was published by Galaxy Press Inc. in 2016.

Award winners

Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award For Outstanding Contributions To The Arts

From 1997 to 2007, the Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award was given to well-known science fiction writers for life's work. Prize winners were:

Golden Pen Award

The winners of the Writers of the Future Contest were:

Golden Brush Award

The winners of the Illustrators of the Future Contests were:

  • 2018 Kyna Tek
  • 2017 Michael Michera
  • 2016 Adrian Massaro
  • 2015 Michelle Lockamy
  • 2014 Trevor Smith
  • 2013 Aldo Katayanagi
  • 2012 Hunter Bonyun
  • 2011 Irvin Rodriguez
  • 2010 Seth J. Rowanwood
  • 2009 Oleksandra Barysheva
  • 2008 Brittany J. Jackson
  • 2007 Lorraine Schleter
  • 2006 Eldar Zakirov
  • 2005 Erik Valdez y Alanis
  • 2004 Laura Diehl
  • 2003 Mike Lawrence
  • 2002 Irena Yankova Dimitrova
  • 2001 Andy B. Clarkson
  • 2000 Frank Wu & Yana Yavdoshchook
  • 1999 Yuri Chari
  • 1998 Paul Marquis
  • 1997 Eric Lee Williams
  • 1996 Richard Moore
  • 1995 Dale Ziemianski
  • 1994 Jana Komarek
  • 1993 Denis Martynec
  • 1992 Evan T. Thomas
  • 1991 Sergey V. Poyarkov
  • 1990 Derek J. Hegsted

criticism

Organizational links with Scientology

The proximity of the competition to Scientology and its numerous sub-organizations led to criticism. The initiator of the competition was Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who had worked as a science fiction writer in his early years. The competition was originally organized by Bridge Publications , which published and distributed Hubbard's own works, including the Scientology central work Dianetics . After Hubbard's death in 1986, the brands "Writers of the Future" and "Illustrators of the Future" were transferred to the Scientology organization Church of Spiritual Technology. Currently (2017) the publisher Author Services Inc. (ASI) is specified as the organizer of the competition. Responsible person is Joni Labaqui. The annual edited volumes of the award-winning stories are published by Galaxy Press Inc., also a member of the Church of Spiritual Technology.

Those involved in the competition consistently emphasized that the competition was completely independent of Scientology. Connections between the jurors and Scientology are not recognizable and with regard to the reputation of the jurors also improbable. However, due to the close and in some cases hardly transparent interconnections between the people and organizations involved, this was doubted. The organizing company ASI acts as a publishing house which, according to its own account, publishes the "literary, dramatic and musical works" of L. Ron Hubbard. According to Billing / Sauer, the company belonging to the Church of Spiritual Technology holds the rights to all of Hubbard's works, including those on which Scientology and its organizations are based. ASI is theoretically able to withdraw Scientology or individual organizations the right to use Hubbard's works.

The weekly newspaper The Village Voice had in 2012 indicated that a separation between the competition and Scientology is hard to imagine, since Author Services Inc. under the direct supervision of David Miscavige stand and he had from his apartment direct access to the offices of the company.

The author Jim C. Hines , one of the award winners, took a critical look at the award in 2012. He is no longer sure that the competition and Scientology can be separated from each other. Another winner, the author and physicist Carl Frederick, distanced himself from the competition.

Scientology Penal Institution Relationship

It has repeatedly been reported that Scientology has been operating on the so-called " Scientology Int. " Near Los Angeles since the early 2000s . Base "a detention center maintains that under the name of" The Hole " (The hole) has been known. In these, officials who had fallen out of favor were admitted, subjected to inhuman treatment according to individual statements and pressured to file confessions or denunciations. Barbara Ruiz, then executive director of Author Services Inc., helped Miscavige run the facility in 2004. You have this so-called "confessions" the results (confessionals) relayed housed there functionaries to Miscavige. In the same year she took part in the award gala with Miscavige. Barbara Ruiz has since disappeared and can no longer be found.

Implementation of the events

Contestants confirmed that Scientology as an organization was barely noticeable. In particular, no advertising for Scientology was carried out. In some cases, organizers even expressly refused to speak about Scientology in the context of the events. Hubbard's books were advertised, but only those without any obvious Scientology reference. The organizers had identified themselves as Scientology members, but were polite and reserved. Part of the event, however, was a visit to a museum dedicated to L. Ron Hubbard, in which Scientology-related devices such as the e-meter were also on display. A short film about Scientology was also shown. Award winners were urged to thank Hubbard, who died in 1986, in their speeches. In the workshops where Orson Scott Card , Tim Powers and Ian Watson were speakers, teaching material from L. Ron Hubbard was used. The workshops take place on the ASI premises.

Most of the award ceremonies until 2002 were held on the ASI premises. Since 2003, they have mainly taken place in renowned buildings in the Los Angeles metropolitan area , such as the Beverly Hills Hotel (2003), the Hotel Roosevelt (2009) and the Wilshire Ebell Theater (since 2012). The disparity between the amount of the prize money and the assumed costs of the lavish gala events met with criticism. It has been suggested that the competition actually served to improve Hubbard's reputation in literature and especially in the science fiction genre. The celebrations, organized by sponsors Bridge Publications and Author Services Inc., were so lavish that they were greeted with both joy and disgust. One award winner, the illustrator Frank Wu, described a “fake Hollywood” atmosphere, Carl Frederick reported on well-organized events, glamorous roof garden parties and paparazzi - according to him, “the full program (... they give you the whole works) . ”The purpose of the event is certainly to promote Hubbard.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e own presentation on the WOTF homepage
  2. ^ Entry on Illustrators of the Future in the register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
  3. ^ Entry on Writers of the Future in the Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Tony Ortega: Scientology's Writers of the Future Contest: Troubling Ties to Abuse in the Church. In: The Village Voice . February 14, 2012, accessed March 8, 2017 .
  5. ↑ self-presentation; Conditions of participation
  6. ^ A b c d Tony Ortega: Scientology's 'Writers of the Future' Contest Loses a Participant After Our Expose. In: The Village Voice. Retrieved March 8, 2017 .
  7. ^ A b c d Writers of the Future Contest. In: SFE - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. May 11, 2016, accessed March 8, 2017 .
  8. ↑ 2016 Writers / Illustrators of the Future Awards Winners. In: Locus Magazine . April 12, 2016, accessed March 8, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Entry on Galaxy Productions Inc. in the register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
  10. ↑ Werner Billing, Michael Sauer: Opus Dei and Scientology: The state and sociopolitical ideas. Conflict or agreement with the Basic Law? Retrieved March 8, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Jim C. Hines: Writers of the Future and Scientology. February 14, 2012, accessed March 8, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Scientology defectors describe violence, humiliation in "the Hole". In: Tampa Bay Times . February 14, 2012, accessed March 8, 2017 .
  13. ^ Tony Ortega: Nancy Cartwright and Karen Black Announced For 'Writers of the Future' Gala - a Direct Response to the Voice? In: The Village Voice. April 6, 2012, accessed March 8, 2017 .