By: Cynthia Underwood
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 4/8/2019 – John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press, said: “This year was groundbreaking in that Aliya Chen made history becoming our first Chinese Grand Prize Winner ever selected in either of our competitions.”
This year’s event was an invitation Only Black-Tie GALA held in the opulent Grand Ballroom of the Taglyan Cultural Complex nestled in the heart of Hollywood. After a delicious four course meal catered by Divine Food, guests were wow’ed with a Sci-Fi Stomp and Body Percussion Dance.
Event Emcee, Gunhild Jacobs, Executive Director of Author Services, Inc. introduced Keynote Speaker, Ed Hulse, an award-winning journalist and historian who specializes in documenting American popular culture of the late 19th and 20th centuries. In his speech, Hulse said to the winners, “You represent a new generation of writers, alternately building upon and superseding literary traditions now more than a century old. Yours are the ideas and concepts that will shape Science Fiction for years to come.”
During conversation with Gunhild Jacobs, she said that she is particularly pleased with how this years’ winners were able to articulate their feelings about winning the awards.
Following the awards ceremony a book signing was held in the foyer.
This year’s 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Writing Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies. They included: Kyle Kirrin of Creede, CO, Preston Dennett of Reseda, CA, Kai Wolden of Eden Prairie, MN, David Cleden of Fleet, Hampshire, UK, Rustin Lovewell of Gaithersburg, MD, Carrie Callahan of Bardstown, KY, Elise Stephens of Seattle, WA, Christopher Baker of Ramsbury, Wiltshire, UK, Mica Scott Kole of Westland, MI, Andrew Dykstal of Arlington, VA, Wulf Moon of Sequim, WA and John Haas of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
This year’s 12 Quarterly Awards Winners of the Illustrating Contest were each presented with cash prizes and trophies. They included: Emerson Rabbitt of Minneapolis, MN, Vytautas V (Vytautas Vasiliauskas) of Paris, France, Yinying Jiang of Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK, Alexander Gustafson of Essex Junction, VT, Christine Rhee of San Francisco, CA, Sam Kemp of Birmingham, West Midlands, England, Allen Morris of Cleveland, MS, Jennifer Ober of Atlanta, GA, Josh Pemberton of Seattle, WA, Qianjiao Ma of Arcadia, CA, Alice Wang of Bellevue, WA and Aliya Chen of Fair Oaks, CA.
In addition to cash and trophies, the winners also are invited to attend a workshop with Echo Chernik and other judges to learn the business side of being a professional in the field.
Here is the link to see Stewie the Art Expert Cats article
