Romanian artist, winner in International Contest

Roman City, Romania artist, Alexandra Albu is a winner in the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest earning her a trip to Hollywood, a week-long master-class workshop and her art will be published in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 39.

Alexandra Albu was born in 1989 in Roman City, Jud. Neamt, Romania, a country which for 50 years was part of the “communist bloc” led by the U.R.S.S.  She is also known by the pen name, “Cyberaeon.”

“After the bloody revolution in December 1989, our country stepped on the path of democracy after which we joined N.A.T.O. and the E.U.

My parents are both former teachers with my dad being a math teacher and my mum a music teacher.

At first I studied at Scoala generala nr. 3 from Roman. However, in time, I noticed  I had an interest in the English language so I enrolled in Colegiul Național Roman Vodă, “bilingual – english” section.

Another passion of mine is drawing. I’ve been drawing ever since I was little but I started taking it more seriously after I finished high school and since then I have tried to learn from every tutorial or book I could get my hands on.  I love bringing characters and stories to life, both mine and other people’s.

Currently I am working as a freelance illustrator and my portfolio can be seen here:  https://www.artstation.com/cyberaeon

I have no formal art education as of yet but I am going to enroll in an Art University in the near future to further improve my skills and get a degree in the field,” the artists stated.

The Contest, one of the most prestigious writing and illustrating competitions in the world, is currently in its 39th year and is judged by some of the premier names in speculative fiction.

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 (Quantum Night), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), David Farland (Runelords), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series) to name a few.

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).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.

The intensive mentoring process has proven very successful. The 382 past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,000 illustrations, 360 comic books, graced 624 books and albums with their art and visually contributed to 68 TV shows, and 40 major movies.

The 452 past winners of the Writing Contest have published 1,150 novels and nearly 4,500 short stories. They have produced 32 New York Timesbestsellers and their works have sold over 60 million copies.

The Writers and Illustrators 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 contemporary fiction.

Since inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have produced 38 anthology volumes and awarded over $1,000,000 cumulatively in prize moneys and royalties.