Invercargill Native Honored At Hollywood Awards Gala

Invercargill, New Zealand native Connor Chamberlain is a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest and was honored along with eleven other artists and twelve other writers at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California on April 25th. He illustrated the story, "Graveyard Tongue" by Amir Agoora who is a Writers of the Future winner himself. The illustration and story, along with the other writers' and illustrators' stories and art are published in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40 which was officially released on May 7th. 

Connor Chamberlain was born in 1993 all the way down in the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand—in the sleepy, wide-street town of Invercargill.

Growing up on a small sheep farm, Connor’s view of distant mountains and dense forests ensured that his imagination became a finely tuned instrument, always dreaming of the adventures that could be had over the next hill. So, what’s a kid to do with all that countryside and very little else? Pick up a pencil, of course, and never look back.

As a teenager, Connor fell in love with ’90s anime and Magic the Gathering, which gave him ample material to obsess over. As well as this, Connor was lucky enough to have a cool older brother as an artistic inspiration and rival to spur him on.

Connor studied communication design in Dunedin, New Zealand, and worked for seven years as a graphic designer. He now works for a small New Zealand game company and seeks joy in drawing for his friends and family, as well as creating fan art of his favourite fantasy series (Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive). He now lives in Dunedin with his newly wedded wife and little dog Haku, and continues to hone his craft.

He one daydreams of seeing his art grace the covers of fantasy books and trading cards,and is—as always—pursuing his own unique brand of world-building.

The Illustrators of the Future Contest judges include, Bob Eggleton (11 Chesley Awards and 7 Hugo Awards), Larry Elmore (Dungeons & Dragons book covers), Echo Chernik (graphic designs for major corporations including Celestial Seasonings tea packaging), Rob Prior (art for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book).

The Writers of the Future Contest judges include, Tim Powers (author of On Stranger Tides), Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (Dune prequel series), Robert J. Sawyer (Quantum Night), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), David Farland (Runelords), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series) to name a few.

Following the 1982 release of his internationally acclaimed bestselling science fiction novel, Battlefield Earth, written in celebration of 50 years as a professional writer, L. Ron Hubbard created the Writers of the Future (writersofthefuture.com) in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers of speculative fiction to get that much-needed break. Due to the success of the Writers of the Future Contest, the companion Illustrators of the Future Contest was inaugurated five years later.

In the 40 years of the Writers of the Future Contest, there have been 559 winners and published finalists. The past winners of the Writing Contest have published 2,000 novels and nearly 6,300 short stories. They have produced 36 New York Times bestsellers, and their works have sold over 60 million copies.

In the 35 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, there have been 406 winners. The past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,800 illustrations, 390 comic books, graced 700 books and albums with their art, and visually contributed to 68 television shows and 40 major movies.

The Writers of the Future Award is the genre’s most prestigious award of its kind and has now become the largest, most successful, and demonstrably most influential vehicle for budding creative talent in the world of speculative fiction. Since its inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have produced 40 anthology volumes (with this event) and awarded upwards of $1 million in cash prizes and royalties.

For more information about the Contests, go to www.WritersoftheFuture.com.

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