FRANK R. PAUL AWARDS

FOR MAGAZINE AND BOOK COVER ART

The 2023 Frank R. Paul Awards will be awarded in 2024 for the best cover art in two categories: Magazine Covers and Book Covers. Prizes will be an award plaque and an honorarium of $500 per award. The awards will be presented at the NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention) in Buffalo this year (July 18-21).

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Submission period closes March 31, 2024.

Artists, publishers and authors are encouraged to submit up to 5 candidates of their own works for the award period (publication date of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023). Those who are not artists, publishers or authors are encouraged to submit up to 2 candidates (including work that is not their own). Professional publications are eligible, as well as semi-pro, fan, independent and self-published magazines and books. Reprints are acceptable (e.g., reprinted books) if the art is new for 2023. Submissions should be emailed to Frank Wu, Awards Administrator, at FWu@FrankWu.com with "Submission: Frank R. Paul Awards" in the email title. Submissions of reprinted texts are acceptable, as long as the cover art is new for 2023.

Submission emails should include:

For books: Title / Cover artist / Date of Publication / Author / Publisher 

For magazines: Title / Cover artist / Date of Publication / Publisher / If the cover illustrates a particular story, the title and author of the story

Please include either a link or an image file for each cover image.

NOTE: AI-generated artwork is NOT eligible for this award. 

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE A STATEMENT THAT THE ARTWORK WAS NOT GENERATED USING AN AI PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Midjourney, DALL-E, DreamStudio, etc.). ANY SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT A DISCLAIMER MAY BE DISREGARDED BY THE JUDGES. ANY SUBMISSIONS OF AI-GENERATED ART MAY RESULT IN PERMANENT BANNING FROM THIS CONTEST.

ABOUT FRANK R. PAUL

Frank R. Paul (1884-1963) was one of the first great science fiction illustrators, and the ONLY Guest of Honor at the first World Science Fiction Convention. His work was an inspiration to and first sf cover images seen by Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Forrest J. Ackerman. At a time when most Americans didn't even have a telephone or a refrigerator, he was painting space stations, robots and aliens from other planets.  In an era when Lindbergh made headlines by flying across the Atlantic, Paul envisioned starships plowing across the galaxy. For a gallery of Frank R. Paul's work, click here. Click here for the entry on Frank R. Paul in The Science Fiction Encyclopedia.

ABOUT THE FRANK R. PAUL AWARD

The first iteration of this award was administered by Ken "Khen" Moore (?1943-2009) and other committee members of the Nashville, Tennessee, Convention Kubla-Khan on behalf of the Nashville Science Fiction Association from 1976 to 1996; each winner also served as the convention's Artist Guest of Honor. For more information click here. 

Past Frank R. Paul Award Winners

1976: John Schoenherr

1977: Frank Kelly Freas

1978: Vincent Di Fate

1979: Michael Whelan

1980: Boris Vallejo

1981: Jack Gaughan

1982: Paul Lehr

1983: Richard M Powers

1984: Alex Schomburg

1985: Ed Emshwiller

1986: Victoria Poyser

1987: Ron Walotsky

1988: Ron Miller

1989: Ron Lindahn and Val Lakey Lindahn

1990: Darrell Sweet

1991: David A Cherry

1992: Doug Chaffee

1993: Alan M Clark and Kevin Ward

1994: Tim Wilson

1995: Larry Elmore

1996: Darryl Elliott

JUDGING FOR THE 2023 FRANK R. PAUL AWARDS

After the close of the submission period, candidates will be judged by a panel of distinguished judges (Frank Wu, Brianna Wu, Jannie Shea and Alan F. Beck). A slate of official nominees will be released, and then later the winners announced in 2024. Bill Engle, Frank R. Paul's grandson, is a member of the awards Committee.

The Frank R. Paul Awards are slated to be presented at the 2024 NASFiC in Buffalo (July 18-21).

For additional information, please contact the Awards Administrator, Frank Wu, at FWu@FrankWu.com

http://www.frankwu.com/frankrpaulawards.html