2023 Writing Award Finalists

I'm a proud native of Suffolk, but now live in Wiltshire, divorced with two adult sons, in a small house with a garden I've made from scratch, and two loving, beautiful, mischievous and entertaining Burmese kittens. I've been writing since I was a small child, and began my first published book at

Thirty years experience as a behavioral scientist served me well to write of people facing life's challenges. My writing encompasses a novel, short stories and, with a collaborator, Tino Juarez, screenplays. Currently living in Central Mexico, I was born in Chicago but have lived in England, Spain

Chad V. Broughman was the recipient of the Rusty Scythe Prize Book award in 2016 and in 2017 was awarded the Adobe Cottage Writers Retreat honor in New Mexico. As well, Chad was awarded two chapbook contracts for his short story collections––“the forsaken” and "slighted"––both published by Etchings

Hi. I'm currently based in Liverpool with my partner and two children. I've worked for many years as a teacher in Further Education, teaching English, Psychology, Sociology, History, Creative Writing, Access to Higher Ed: you name it. I worked in F.E. as Head of the English, History and Sociology

Alon Lankri is an author of genre fiction, with a focus on fantasy and satire. He has spent way too many years in academia, amassing degrees in writing, economics, management, and teaching. When he isn’t imagining new worlds, Alon dances salsa with his wife, children, and labrador and occasionally

Greetings from the far south-east corner of the world map! When I'm not writing or reading I'm usually making things with my hands. Shortlisted for an Aurealis award in 2016. I believe in the power of stories.

Diane Corso is a San Francisco Bay Area blogger at The Corso Papers, where she enjoys writing about bad (and good!) horror films. Her latest novel, Broken Things, placed second in the Horror/Paranormal category of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Contest for 2023. She recently guested on

I grew up on a petite island in eastern Canada then drifted into a corporate career that fit my nomadic nature and took me around the hemispheres. I've left my footprints on every continent. In 2020, I left the business world to focus on my creative writing projects. Themes of nomadism, self

A Gemini through and through, Angelica has two different writing styles that work together to enlighten and motivate her readers when they read her works of art. The first style writing in the poetry, fantasy, self-help and parenting genre to include helpful messages that are either subtle, in

Esme Carpenter was born in England where she started writing at a young age. She graduated from the University of East Anglia's BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and went on to become an English teacher. Esme writes fantasy and science-fiction for young adults and adult readers

Aleks was born in Poland and grew up in North East England. She teaches Art History at Cambridge University and her academic book, VISUAL CULTURES OF DEATH (Brill 2016), was well reviewed. Aleks began writing her debut novel, FOREST ON THE EDGE, during her Oxford Brookes University MA in Creative

A life left to my own devices all over the world bred mythical mysteries, fantasies and misery. So I'm an author. I have a feather quill tattoo.

I grew up in Manchester, the daughter of a botanist and a South African Indian immigrant who became a mental health social worker. I spent much of my childhood in the Herbarium of Manchester Museum, where my father worked and on which the Herbarium in The Blue Poppy is based. I travelled widely with

Roughly based on my own experiences living in Hong Kong, Dancers on the Midway is my first novel, a work of literary fiction that is set against the tumultuous backdrop of Hong Kong’s transition from British to Chinese control in the late 1980s, James is an American who finds himself caught up in a

Megan Catana (formerly Schikora) lives in the US. Her work won third place in prose in the 2020 New South Writing Contest and was nominated by Flash Fiction Magazine for the 2019 Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. Her short fiction and creative nonfiction can also be found in The Rumpus, The

I am eighty-two years young. Born in Batesville, Arkansas. I graduated from Lutcher Stark High School in Orange, Texas. I received my BA Degree with a Major in Voice and Minors in Speech and Drama and Secondary Education from Arkansas College (now known as Lyon College). I taught Choir, Band and

Hi! I'm Nurse Jenn. A wife, mother, ER nurse and author. After over 14 years in the emergency room, I've learned a thing or two, usually that thing is you have no idea what's going to walk through the door next. My debut novel, Nursing Intuition: How to Trust Your Gut, is a mix of Eastern meet

I am an author, playwright, and freelance writer loving life in the American Southwest. Surviving and fleeing my upbringing in the Chicago area under the tutelage of white supremacist parents, I wandered until I found my true home here, inspired by the mystical landscapes, unique cultural history

I'm a writer, actor, and story coach from Edmonton, Canada. After working for years in a technical field, the company I worked for went under. Seeing it as an opportunity rather than a drawback, I decided to follow my passion of writing and film fulltime. With numerous produced screenplays and

I have been awarded second place in the final judging of Hastings Litfest, (a submission from a previous crime thriller), and ‘Sins of the Fathers’ reached a longlist of 20 in the Bridport Prize. (1629 entries). It also achieved a Highly Commended 4th place in the Yeovil Novel Prize, the longlist of

Chris Berg Chris Berg was born in the '50s in Gridley, California to a state game warden and his Army nurse, wife. Except for a short stint living in New York City, he's lived on the left coast all his life. After graduating with his B.S. from San Jose State University he made his way to his true

My debut novel, Running to Graceland, won the Independent Book Publishers gold medal in popular fiction in 2019. I have published fiction in Close to the Bone, Flash Fiction Magazine, Vermont Magazine and a young adult short story anthology published by Simon and Schuster, Soul Searching (2002). I

Eugene Aucoin is a published author whose first book won Asia’s Best Book of the Year in Theology in 2020: The Cardinal Sin Award. His book, "Has Science Killed God? – Three Powerful Ideas that Will Reignite your Faith" (Manila: St Pauls’ Books, 2019), was also published in French in Canada in July

Greetings! My name is Michelle Iantosca. I was born and raised in New England, where I still reside today. I am a fulltime health care worker, an avid reader of Suspense, Thrillers, and Horror, and I spend my free time sharpening my skills as a novelist. I aspire to create three-dimensional and

Eugene Aucoin is a published author whose first book won Asia’s Best Book of the Year in Theology in 2020: The Cardinal Sin Award. His book, "Has Science Killed God? – Three Powerful Ideas that Will Reignite your Faith" (Manila: St Pauls’ Books, 2019), was also published in French in Canada in July

My debut novel, Running to Graceland, won the Independent Book Publishers gold medal in popular fiction in 2019. I have published fiction in Close to the Bone, Flash Fiction Magazine, Vermont Magazine and a young adult short story anthology published by Simon and Schuster, Soul Searching (2002). I

Alex is the the author of THE ELSEWHERE, a genre-twisting paranormal thriller about the voices in our heads and the lengths we go to to avoid them. His aim is not to invent new worlds or fill his books with huge, sprawling maps but instead to tilt our own world, just a little, until we see it from a

I am a senior acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

Darrell Bowling, after a career in corporate aviation spanning fifty-five years, I now follow my favorite pastime, storytelling. With a thirty-year history as a pilot, part-time dealer, and pit boss for Nevada casinos, my background lends me to a life most only dream of. An old Chinese proverb reads

I'm a freelance fiction editor from the UK living in Galicia, Spain. I love to write.

Katie Eagan Schenck writes sweet romance and women’s fiction that warms the heart and gives all the feels. She has an MFA in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte and her debut novel, A Home for Christmas, was released in October of 2022. When she's not writing she's either drafting

Rob was born and bred in Surrey, with stints in Oxford and Freiburg, Germany, to study French and German, and is now based in South East London. He is fifteen years deep into an advertising career, but has always written during spare time as a creative outlet. Looking to elevate his craft, Rob