Written by Tanya Terry
Azure Arther, a Flint native, will be in Hollywood to be honored as a winner in the Writers of the Future Contest. The contest, one of the most prestigious writing and illustrating competitions in the world, is currently in its 34th year and is judged by some of the premier names in speculative fiction.
Arther recently told the Courier what it’s like to be honored in this way as a person from Flint.
“I wouldn’t say that it is special, so much as that it’s cool,” she said. “My family and friends are still in Flint. My ties will always be to Flint because this is where my family is. Flint is where the person I was forged. I was raised here, my family is here, and I return here yearly.”
Arther will be published in the international bestselling anthology, “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38” and was awarded $500. Prior to the black-tie awards gala, she will attend a week-long workshop with some of the top professionals in the industry.
“Well, the cash prize was only $500, but at the same time, the amount that is poured into the workshop, flying me out there, etc, ends up being priceless,” Arther expressed. “I know that Orson Scott Card, the author of Ender’s Game, is closely aligned with this workshop; so I am hoping I will have the opportunity to work with him.”
Arther currently resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, son and Blazion, the Betta fish. Arther began writing at a young age, and much of her current style has been heavily influenced by Octavia Butler and Henry James.
“Octavia Butler was an out of the box writer and an amazing author, as was Henry James. Both of them wrote with styles of long sentences, that appeared to ramble, but didn’t. Henry James, in particular, had a very poetic style to his writing, which is experimentally hybrid, and I love that about his work, as mine is similar.”
Arther said she is obsessed with literature. She’s also passionate about writing, teaching, parenting and reading books with her son. Her stories and poems have appeared or are forthcoming in more than a dozen publications, but Writers of the Future is her first professional sale.
“It means I might finally get a membership to get a membership to the SFWA. (laughs). I have wanted to be a part of the World Science Fiction Society and the SFWA since I realized they existed, probably around 12ish years old. But, wants aside, I love to expose more people to my ideas, the worlds I build and the joy that I have for writing. I hope others find joy in that, as well.”
Agatha’s Monster” is the piece that will be featured in “L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38.”
“This piece is about a Black family of monster hunters in a science fiction/fantasy universe. It is written for middle school age and up.”
Arther is hoping that a publication will further her career, and this publication and workshop are no different. She would love to be able to write and converse with some of the names in the industry that she respects and admires.
She also hopes to be an example of Flint, and not the assumption.
“So many times, when people hear that I am from Flint, the first thing they ask is about water or poverty. There is so much about my upbringing that had nothing to do with either of those, and I love to be able to show that we are not definitively broken, but diamonds in all aspects. I always want for my association with Flint to be seen as a success story for both those in Flint and those outside of it, where my hometown is not synonymous with struggle, but with the creation of successful, unstoppable people.”
For more information about the contest, go to www.WritersoftheFuture.com.
