The Authors Quill guests Illustrator Connor Chamberlain second hour Author Amir Agoora

Dunedin, New Zealand artist Connor Chamberlain is a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest earning him a trip to Hollywood for a week-long master-class workshop, an awards event and his winning art will be published in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40.

The awards event honoring Mr. Chamberlain and the other winners in the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests will be April 25th at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California.

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 (The Oppenheimer Alternative), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), Hugh Howey (Wool), 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 35 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, there have been 394 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.

In the 40 years of the Writers of the Future Contest, there have been 547 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.

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. Amir Agoora is a Yemeni-Puerto Rican screenwriter from Connecticut. He’s half Middle Eastern & half Hispanic – like Shakira but without the moves.

Amir graduated from the University of Connecticut with English and political science degrees. While at UConn, he tutored at the University’s Writing Center and for the Second Chance Educational Alliance, tutoring writing to the formerly incarcerated. Those experiences fostered his passion for supporting unheard voices.

The day after graduating from college, Amir joined the amazing Sesame Workshop Writers’ Room, where he met phenomenal writing fellows and instructors. To these amazing folks, he is eternally indebted.

Amir now works as a freelance screenwriter and script coordinator on two awesome upcoming NBCU kids’ shows. He also had the great pleasure of writing for PAW Patrol on Nick Jr.

Outside of writing for TV, he’s written award-winning short speculative fiction. His fantasy piece Da-ko-ta was a winner for Writers’ of the Future 2024. Additionally, later this year, Amir will be attending Clarion Workshop.

When Amir is not writing… he tutors writing! During the school year, he volunteers weekly at the International Rescue Committee NYC to tutor writing for K-12 refugees.

He’s also a literature lover, jazz trumpeter, and very poor poker player … or is he?

Find out more about Amir here,... AmirAgoora.com