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Pen 2 Paper Judges

Thank you to this year's volunteer judges!

2020

David Borden (non-fiction division) is an award-winning artist and writer living in Austin, Texas. Once, long ago, he sold everything and moved to Morocco for five years. He is often described as unconventional, irreverent, and indomitable. His oldest daughter taught him to laugh loudly, face every day with courage, and dare to dream. His first graphic novel, And Yet We Rise, was featured on Fox7 News. Find David at: Scribblefire.com, on Twitter and Instagram @dsborden, and on Facebook @scribblefire.

 

Eric Clow (poetry division) has been passionate about the arts since childhood. He started writing screenplays and making short documentaries in high school. In 2011, he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Geography, but he also received extensive training in filmmaking, screenwriting, creative writing, and radio programming. After moving to Austin, Eric dove further into the arts, exploring songwriting, music, and screenwriting, and began work at Art Spark Texas where he helped to extend the creative opportunities he enjoyed to others with disabilities. "Faceplant," his web comic collaboration with artist David Borden, combined his interest in extreme sports with his experiences in the disability community and won the 2018 Pen 2 Paper Comics Division.

Heidi Johnson-Wright (Non-Fiction division) is a seasoned free-lance writer and an ADA compliance professional. She is a contributor to the anthology, Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities. Published by Oleb Books, the anthology was released October 1, 2018. Heidi's non-fiction short story "Crip Cargo" won the 2017 Pen 2 Paper Grand Prize.

 

Dianne King (Non-fiction division) is a writer for SAFE Disability Services in Austin, which works to stop abuse against children and adults with disabilities. In her off time, she is a short fiction writer who recently ended a troublesome relationship with a young adult novel. Her short fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction, American Airlines Magazine, and Glimmer Train Stories. Her story, "Small Speaking Parts," won the Glimmer Train Open Fiction contest in 2003. She is a former journalist and feature writer for Texas newspapers, including The Austin American-Statesman.

 

Matthew Limpede (Fiction division) is the Publisher at Carve Magazine, LLC, which produces a quarterly literary magazine and offers online writing classes, short story critiques, and a robust blog of tips for writers. Over the past decade, Matthew has worked with hundreds of writers through classrooms, workshops, and online communities to help them find inspiration, become their own ruthless editor, and establish their esteem and careers as writers. Matthew attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas. He lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He has been publisher of Carve since 2007.

 

Maryan Nagy Captan (Poetry division) is an experimental writer, editor, and Fellow at The Michener Center for Writers. Her work has appeared in The Egyptian Writers Folio, Outside Roe (Anomaly Press), Foundry, Occulum, YES Poetry, AJAR, and elsewhere. She is the author of copy/body (Empty Set Press, 2017) and serves as Marketing Director for Bat City Review.

 

Maria R. Palacios (Poetry division) is a feminist writer, poet, author, spoken word performer, polio survivor, and disability activist whose message of hope and empowerment pulsates and breathes through her work. Maria's work has been featured in anthologies, articles, audio interviews, and other multimedia publications. Her work embraces self-acceptance, empowerment, and social justice surrounding women with disabilities, gender, and sexuality and a wide spectrum of issues as they relate to diversity. Her publications including Criptionary: Disability Humor & Satire, Dressing Skeletons: A Poetic Tribute To Frida Khalo, Poetic Confessions Vol. I, and the now out-of-print The Female King, as well as two empowerment journals for women and young girls, and The Big Little Black Book: An Address Book Revealing What Women Want Men To Know. Maria is also the founder of Houston’s Women with Disabilities Empowerment Forum and Grand Prize winner of Pen 2 Paper 2013. To learn more about Maria R. Palacios’ work and ongoing projects, you may visit her at goddessonwheels.com or our guest blog. Watch Maria read her latest work as the featured author at the May 2018 Lion & Pirate open mic!

Gina Panza Woodruff (Fiction division) graduated cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Communications Art and Design and has 20+ years experience in web design and technical marketing communications. She was an active and contributing Director on the Writer League of Texas' Board for three years, stepping down at the end of 2018. In the interim, she launched a creativity coaching business and has been a gallery teacher at the Blanton Museum of Art. She currently works part-time for Art Spark Texas and lives in Austin.