Three English department students win national award for sci-fi/fantasy writing

Since the Dell Award’s origin in 1992, three students from Chapman University — Sam Wilson, Olivia Garcia and Emely Menjivar — took home awards for their science fiction and fantasy short-story submissions, making these awards a first in Chapman history. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, photo editor

Three Chapman University creative writing students have a new national award to add to their resumes.

Sam Wilson, Olivia Garcia and Emely Menjivar became the first students from Chapman  to win awards for the annual Dell Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing hosted by Dell Magazine, beating out many other colleges and universities across the nation.

Since 1992, these awards have been given out annually to the best short-story written in the science fiction or fantasy genres by a full-time undergraduate student.

Since its beginning, the Dell Award has been awarded to many undergraduate college students from all across the nation, but never to Chapman University students up until this year.

Senior creative writing major Sam Wilson took home the first-place prize with his short story titled “blooming beating hearts.” 

The story was about a gardener on a spaceship who is looking for a place to fit in. According to Wilson, a lot of his story came from those stuck-at-home pandemic feelings that he believes a lot of people went through and are still sorting through.

“It was surreal. I remember that I learned (about my win) in the middle of another class, and I had to get up and leave so I could just let out all the emotion of it,” Wilson told The Panther. “It was incredible to be part of the first group of Chapman students to win this, especially because there were so many of us. I think it really speaks to the incredible writers and creative students we have here right now across the board.”

Wilson found out about the competition through his advanced science fiction and fantasy workshop class taught by English professor Ben Loory, who encouraged Wilson along with his classmates to submit their stories to the Dell Award.

“I think (this win) really shows the incredible work that is being done in this department,” Wilson said. “We have some genuinely incredible professors and students who are creating some wonderful stories. Every class I’ve been in, I am blown away by the creativity and beauty of peoples’ writing. To have three of us being honored with this award really shows how good that work really is and what powerful, creative voices are growing here.”

As the winner of the Dell Award, Wilson received a $500 award and was invited to the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts’s (IAFA) International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) in Orlando, Florida in mid-March. He will also have his winning story published in print or online by Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine in the next upcoming months. 

Senior creative writing major Olivia Garcia was announced as the first runner-up for the 2023 Dell Awards with her short story titled “Of the Known Universe.” Garcia was also invited to the IAFA annual international conference in Orlando to receive her award. 

“‘Of the Known Universe’” is my 30-page short fiction story set in a universe where humans have left behind Earth and migrated to the moon,” Garcia told The Panther. “The idea suddenly came to me in late October 2022. I wrote that first draft in three days. Each night, I stayed up until around 5:00 in the morning just because I lost myself in the story. I still think I could keep writing about that world.”

Garcia’s story features a narrator named Coco who is the first chair violinist of an orchestra that only assembles once every few years. Throughout the story, Coco tries to make sense of art’s role in humanity’s survival in a way that is personal to her. 

“It had been a long time since I put so much emotion behind a single piece,” Garcia said. “I also play the flute, but last semester I took a semester break from being in a symphonic setting and missed it terribly. Music means so much to me, and I wanted to translate everything I feel when I sit down to perform alongside an orchestra into the last few pages of ‘Of the Known Universe.’” 

Garcia also found out about the Dell Award competition from Loory’s workshop class.

“I felt proud of myself for even submitting and hadn’t dared to exercise the possibility that I’d be a finalist,” Garcia said. “I just couldn’t believe it. I think I’m still a bit shy about sharing my work, so the mere fact that people liked it meant a great deal to me.”

The IAFA annual international conference in Orlando took place from March 15 to 18 and consisted of scholarly panels, science fiction and fantasy author readings and signings, performances, film screenings and luncheons and dinners with some of the biggest publishers, editors and authors in the industry, which Wilson and Garcia attended. 

When there were no scheduled events taking place at the conference, people and professionals were eager to talk and network with each other. Both Garcia and Wilson had the chance to meet some of the authors and publishers that they grew up reading as well.

“It was incredible and very surreal. We got to be there along with some incredible scholars and writers,” Wilson said. “There was a ceremony for multiple awards that were given during the time of the conference, and I gave a small speech on stage, which was as amazing as it was anxiety-inducing.”

Junior creative writing major Emely Menjivar was announced as one of the five honorable mentions for the 2023 Dell Awards with her short story titled “Blind Faith.”

“I decided to submit because I thought ‘Blind Faith’ did have potential. My classmates and professor had positive feedback,” Menjivar said. “I mainly entered my story because there was no harm in submitting, and I thought I would regret not doing so.”

Menjivar was also invited alongside Wilson and Garcia to attend the IAFA annual international conference in Orlando in mid-March, but due to personal circumstances, Menjivar was unable to attend. She did, however, receive her award in the mail shortly after.

“I hope more people recognize Chapman for its phenomenal creative writing department,” Garcia said. “I moved here from a smaller town in Missouri, where I was the only writer I knew, so it has been life-changing to be here and be surrounded by writers. I’ve genuinely learned so much and enjoyed all my classes, and I shudder to think what my writing would look like now if not for all the professors and peers that broadened my perspective and helped me along the way.”