2023 Contest Winners
It's time to announce of Dream Foundry Contest winners! This year, we once again had entrants from every continent other than Antarctica. Every year we are extremely pleased to see so many creatives come out to participate. It's clear the current wave of emerging creatives are poised to push the field into new levels of excellence and it's a great privilege to be able to reward some of that effort.
| Writing Contest | Art Contest |
|---|---|
| 1st Place - Albert Nkereuwem 2nd Place - Fatima Abdullahi 3rd Place - Jessica Andrewartha |
1st Place, Monu Bose Prize for Art - ReYtzin 2nd Place - Ahmed Asi 3rd Place - Brave Burattino |
In addition to their cash prizes, all of the winners will be offered special showcases at Flights of Foundry 2024, and their choice of the convention’s workshop and limited seating sessions. Congratulations to the winners! This was a very competitive year and we're proud to showcase these winners. Thanks also to everyone who participated. Our gratitude also to contest coordinators Julia Rios and Dante Luiz and this year's contest judges: Suzan Palumbo, John Wiswell, Solomon Enos and Sloane Hong.
Goldman Fund Applications for Palestinians Attending Glasgow WorldCon Are Open
Dream Foundry is thrilled to announce that applications for grants from the Goldman Fund for Palestinian creatives and fans seeking to attend the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow are now open! The preferred application window is 31 July - 5 November 2023, though applications outside this window may be considered for any remaining funds.
This is the Goldman Fund’s inaugural year. Offered through Dream Foundry’s Con or Bust program, the fund has a total of ￡8,000 per year for five years, and will assist citizens of Palestine and self-identified members of the Palestinian diaspora with expenses incurred from travel to and attendance at the annual WorldCon. The fund was created by Farah Mendlesohn in memory of her mother, Carole Goldman.
Con or Bust is a grant-making program that provides greater access for creators and fans of color to science fiction conventions, events, and professional development opportunities. Since its relaunch as a Dream Foundry program in 2023 it has provided direct support to fifteen individuals, and hosted multiple networking and support events. Dream Foundry is actively accepting donations and endowments to expand this program.
The find more information about Con or Bust, or apply for support from the Goldman Fund, visit www.dreamfoundry.org/dreamfoundry.org/con-or-bust/
Dream Foundry 2021 Art Contest Winners
Dream Foundry is excited to announce the winners of this year's contest for emerging artists. This contest is designed to provide a boost to beginners in the field, with professional judges and significant cash prizes. In addition to cash prizes, all winners will receive first pick of workshop seats at Flights of Foundry and showcase events at the online convention in April 2022.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Dream Foundry Art Contest:
WINNERS
1. Ellen He
2. Yue Feng
3. Vinnia Kemala Putri
Special thanks and a round of applause to this year's finalists:
- Mikoto
- Albokhari Mohamed
- Nair Nascimento
- Alex Pernau
- Julia Quandt
- Mols Slom
- Cathlyn Vania
Our first place winner is the recipient of the Monu Bose Memorial Prize, which the Dream Foundry is honored to issue. More information on the prize can be found here.
We would also like to extend our thanks to contest coordinator Dante Luiz and judges Juliana Pinho and Charis Loke. We are incredibly grateful for the gift of their expertise and time to help us uplift emerging voices in speculative art and illustration.
Dream Foundry 2021 Writing Contest
Dream Foundry is excited to announce the winners of this year's speculative short story contest. This contest is designed to provide a boost to beginners in the field, with professional judges and significant cash prizes. We're pleased to have had over 400 contestants, with entries from more than 40 countries. In addition to cash prizes, all winners will receive first pick of workshop seats at Flights of Foundry and showcase events at the online convention in April 2022.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Dream Foundry Writing Contest:
WINNERS
1. "Cooking: A Science" by Shinjini Dey
2. "Amadi on the Concrete" by Jarred Thompson
3. "Clear As Water, Red As Ruin" by Sigrid Marianne Gayangos
Special thanks and a round of applause to this year's finalists:
- Amy Johnson
- Brienne D. Hayes
- C. Bradley White
- Cat T.
- Kay Orchison
- Kellye McBride
- Robin Sebolino
We would also like to extend our thanks to contest coordinators Vajra Chandrasekera and J.D. Harlock and judges Vajra Chandrasekera and Premee Mohamed. We are incredibly grateful for the gift of their expertise and time to help us uplift emerging voices in speculative writing.
Free Fall Challenge 2021
We're delighted to announce that this fall, our Free Fall Challenge will be returning! This event is for creatives of all kinds, with a community space to encourage attaining goals, fostering skills, and honing craft.
The challenge will begin November 1st. Prepare to stretch your creative muscles, set goals, leap into new feats, and cheer each other on!
The goal of this month-long event is to foster skills that will help you translate your current workflow into something sustainable as you learn your limits, expand your boundaries, build endurance, and learn how to work without burning yourself out. Build a plan! Set goals! Make a schedule! And cheer each other on! And if you don't succeed, that's okay too. In fact, failing is a valuable learning experience and we're here to help guide you through it.
Maybe you're writing a novel this November. Or perhaps a series of short stories? Awesome. This is for you. If you're thinking of making a new interactive fiction game? Good! This is for you, too. Want to stretch your drawing practice or try a new medium for a month? This challenge is all yours. Want to translate a poem a day, or write the scripts for your next SFF podcast? Jump right in! Whatever your project is, if you’re dedicating the month to doing something big and difficult for you, the Free-Fall November challenge is for you, and we're here to help you with it.
We're running the challenge through our Discord server, complete with a dedicated channel for co-working, tips, and encouragement.
How it works!
- The Dream Foundry is providing space for co-working, accountability, and scheduling help.
- Come over to our Discord server and find the #free-fall-challenge channel.
- Let us know what your plans and goals are - and if you’re not sure how to set goals that are the right level of challenging, we’ll help you out!
- When you have your plan ready, you can sign-up here. If you want to join the official co-working sessions, you’ll need to sign up.
- You can also share your progress and join in on twitter with the hashtag #freefallchallenge.
- And if you stumble along the way? We’ll help you recover, with some cheerleading from the other folks working on their own challenges.
- The official launch of the Free Fall Challenge will take place in our community room November 1st. Details and invites will be sent to those who sign up using the form below. We look forward to seeing everyone there!
Preparations for your jump can start now! Drop in, get hyped, and prepare to make November a challenge that gives you life!
Sign up here!