2022 Writing Award Finalists

Page Turner Awards is delighted to announce our 2022 Writing Award Finalists, shown in random order!

Please join us in congratulating these rising stars by leaving them a comment at the bottom of their finalist submission. Click 'see more' to read their submission. And you can also congratulate the finalists in our forum.

Find entrants by adding a first name or surname into the search box below, don't search with both first name and surname.

Get Notified For 2023 Awards

Alexandra Palmer for "Dash the School Cat and Nap Time"
Genre: Childrens Picture Books

I qualified as a primary school teacher in 2001 and have worked in Cornwall since then. I started to write for SPCK Publishing assembly website in 2017 which provides high quality Christian assemblies for teachers. My dream would be to see my book published and for it to be a starting point for

Andrew Devereux for "The Seventh"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Andrew Devereux is a freelance musician, small business owner and writer. He has played music all over the world and currently holds the position of bass trombone player with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Sinfonia of Birmingham. Andrew runs a web design company during the day and writes

Michael Bowe for "The Enduring Echo Of Words Unsaid"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

In 2020, Michael Bowe's second novel, The Weight of a Moment, won the American Fiction Award for Literary Fiction. A graduate of Georgetown University and a recipient of a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Mr. Bowe is an accomplished businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and novelist, and a

Greg Bayer for "Return to Baghdad"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Like Professor Stillman in his novel RETURN TO BAGHDAD, Greg Bayer was a philosophy prof, mostly at St. John’s College, Santa Fe; while he's published many papers in academic journals, RETURN is his first real foray into fiction. Like Stillman, he worked at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in 2006-7, as

J.A. Adams Mondello for "Bomb Cyclone"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Author of Pillars of Salt, J.A. Adams has been immersed in various cultures while living on the east, west, and gulf coasts. After completing a Ph.D. and a sixteen-year teaching career in English composition and literature at Louisiana State University, Adams is happily retired in Colorado to a full

Maggie Humm for "Radical Woman: Gwen John & Rodin"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Following academic books on feminism, art, and Virginia Woolf, I gained a Diploma in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia/Guardian and am honoured to be shortlisted for prizes, including the Impress and Eyelands prizes. I was mentored by The Literary Consultancy, and Gold Dust. A

Bridget Kinsella for "The Last Good Summer"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

Bridget started writing seriously over ten years ago and has since written seven novels. With the aim of improving her writing skills, she completed a number of online courses, including a three-month selective course offered by Curtis Brown Creative. Bridget also writes non-fiction in the form of

Katherine Black for "Glad Grace"
Genre: Mystery & Cozy Mystery

Katherine Black was born and raised in Texas but has spent most of her life in England. Her background is in art history. She spent years working for arts charities before leaving it all behind for the glamourous life of a stay-at-home mum. Now that the children are getting older, she's pursuing her

Maria de Luca for "Prospect Avenue"
Genre: Historical Fiction

I’m a writer in search of an audience. Looking for an agent, a publisher. Oh, and a film producer too. That’d be nice. My flash fiction story, BE WITH YOU AGAIN, was a finalist at the West Atlantic Writing Awards in summer 2021. My screenplay, WOODEN HEART, was a finalist at the London International

Jayden Cox for "The Shadow of Galahan"
Genre: Fantasy

My name is Jayden Cox, and I'd like to think that I have an infinite imagination. My only goal is to share it with the world. I developed a love for writing during a very hard battle with anxiety that I still fight to this day. I have found a way to channel my imagination into positive energy

PatriciaDonovanNZ DONOVAN for "A Filthy Week"
Genre: Crime

Patricia Donovan writes adult fiction and is the author of three novels. While they cross three genres – from the past to the future with a thriller in between – they share a common thread: a woman’s journey and her quest, in the face of obstacles, to find her strengths and happiness, and make her

Vanessa Croft for "That Known Darkly"
Genre: Historical Fiction

I am a lifelong reader and hobby writer. Born to an English, civil-engineering family I started writing as a child when my father was posted to a country without television and only one small library, and I was obliged to entertain myself. A passion for storytelling has never stopped, and I

KIM GOTTLIEB-WALKER for "Caterina by Moonlight"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Kim Gottlieb-Walker is an American photographer and writer living and working in Los Angeles, CA. Over the past 50 years, she has built a distinctive portfolio that includes some of the most notable musicians and personalities of the '60s and '70s. A graduate of UCLA with honors in Motion Picture

Peter Kesterton for "Toys in the Tree"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

I was born in Manchester to Irish parents, I went to Bristol University and then Oxford where I studied physics and astronomy. I then worked at the BBC, firstly on the technical side as a studio manager and sound engineer, and then later as a journalist and producer in news and documentaries

Pamela Meyer for "DEATH IN MINIATURE"
Genre: Mystery & Cozy Mystery

As a high school forensic science teacher, I discovered inventive ways to solve crimes and the 'world's mother of forensics,' Frances Glessner Lee. Lee's breathtaking miniature crime scenes ignited my imagination and stirred a passion in me to capture the stories that came to mind on the page. I am

David Tenenbaum Tenenbaum for "The Last Plague"
Genre: Young Adult

David Tenenbaum is a novelist and screenwriter from Richmond, VA. He’s written six books including a cli-fi thriller The Lost Tide, which was shortlisted at the Eyelands Book Awards and its sequel The Lost Tide: Playing with Fire, which received the Kops-Fetherling Legacy Honorable Mention Prize.

David Tenenbaum Tenenbaum for "Survivor Andromeda"
Genre: Sci-Fi

David Tenenbaum is a novelist and screenwriter from Richmond, VA. He’s written six books including a cli-fi thriller The Lost Tide, which was shortlisted at the Eyelands Book Awards and its sequel The Lost Tide: Playing with Fire, which received the Kops-Fetherling Legacy Honorable Mention Prize.

Kaye Stone for "Sapphire Rain"
Genre: Memoir

SAPPHIRE RAIN, my memoir illustrates how to heal heartache and pain through seven primary phases like trusting intuition and speaking truth. In this inspirational narrative, I revisit my personal experiences of abuse, teenage pregnancy, divorce, and clairvoyance. My story lays the groundwork for

Edward Pontacoloni for "The Rookery"
Genre: Fantasy

Edward Pontacoloni is an New York Attorney Emeritus Pro Bono Publico and an outdoorsman residing in New York's Adirondack Park with his wife of 43 years, Janice. His bragabout children, Edward, Nicholas, Denise and Michael are grown. He is the author of the fairy tale, The Adventures of Firstyr the

Claudia Bretag for "Ember"
Genre: Young Adult

Claudia Bretag is an editor, teacher, retail assistant and aspiring author from Sydney, Australia. She is an active member of both Writing NSW and IPEd. Claudia is at her best in a cafe with a cup of coffee while her fingers tinker away at a keyboard to uncover a new chapter each day.

Tim Pareti for "Ernie's Bleachers"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Tim Pareti was born and raised on the north side of Chicago. His Italian-American family started Ernie's Bleachers, which eventually became the iconic Murphy's Bleachers. An award-winning journalist, he worked as a reporter and editor for Scripps newspapers and was a freelance writer for the Chicago

Michael Brooks for "Brothers"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Michael is in his seventies and had retired from a business career to embark on what he loves; to read and write. He is a prolific reader of all genres, but has a significant interest in history and historical fiction. He was born and raised on the East Rand of South Africa, and now lives on the

Graciela Kenig for "The Plans They Made"
Genre: Action Adventure

Graciela Kenig is an accomplished writer with extensive experience as a features journalist, online forum contributor and career columnist. Her book, BEST CAREERS FOR BILINGUAL LATINOS, 1998 McGraw-Hill, is still relevant today. Her trajectory in Communications includes Media and Public Relations

Philip Reari for "A Masquerade of Humans"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Philip Reari (pen name) is an editor at an environmental organization in Washington, D.C., and a former journalist published in Wired, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Grist, Gizmodo, n+1, The Rumpus, Dissent Magazine, and many others.

Rajan Nair for "Regicide in Pulivaalgiri"
Genre: Young Adult

I have been an advertising copy writer for more than 30 years now, and have won over 150 national and several international awards for excellence in creativity, for some of the biggest brands in India. I finally took time off and wrote a novel. This is my first one, and it’s about 30 years late in

Eira Morgan-Jones for "The Sentinel of the Sun"
Genre: Young Adult

Eira Morgan-Jones is the author of three children’s books, published through the Cornish Book Company. She grew up building dens and skinning her knees in the woods and forests of Hampshire, and is to this day never truly happy unless in sight of trees. This connection to nature, and particularly

Harriet Garfinkle for "Waltzing On Our Knees"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

My short fiction has appeared in The Conglomerate, Open: The Journal of Arts and Letters, RiverSedge, a publication of University of Texas, and Gris-gris Online Journal of Literature, Culture and the Arts. I have received several Effie Lee Morris awards from the WNBA-SF Chapter. I am an alumna of

Steve Blayney for "The Authority"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

My name is Steve Blayney, I am 56 years young and a fiancé (soon to be husband), a father and a grandfather, as well as an aircraft safety engineer. After leaving school at the tender age of 16, I joined the Royal Air Force and proudly served Queen and country for fifteen years. Upon leaving the RAF

Krista Vellis for "Amaia's Web"
Genre: Paranormal & Supernatural

Krista Vellis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education. Taking a holistic approach to researching her current manuscript, she studied with a psychic, worked as a catechist aide, and learned to read tarot cards. Her short story, Meant to Be, appeared in

Alexandria Burnham for "Vice of Mutiny"
Genre: Historical Fiction

A​lly Burnham is an AWGIE nominated writer, with her screenplay Unsound (2020) considered for Best Original Feature at the 2020 awards. ​A romantic-drama, the film won Best Australia Feature at the 2020 Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Best Fiction Feature Film at the 2020 ATOM Awards, and was

Elaine Hrivnak for "Miami's Vice & Virtue"
Genre: Young Adult

I teach English (ESL) both at the University of Pittsburgh and through my website: LearnESLPittsburgh.com. Writing has always been important to me. I enjoy creating new lives, then weaving strange but true aspects of our world into my creations. Since my family deals with neurodiversity and mental

Teri-Lynn Hope for "Haunted Ladies Literary Club"
Genre: Mystery & Cozy Mystery

Born and raised in upstate New York, school in New England, lived in California, residing part of the year in England, but I go back and forth. I dated a rower in college who took me to Henley-on-Thames for the Regatta once and I decided to come back after a marketing career. I traded a sunny beach