Lambda Literary is excited to announce Jobert E. Abueva as the 2022 winner of the inaugural J. Michael Samuel Prize for Emerging Writers Over 50.
The J. Michael Samuel Prize honors emerging LGBTQ writers over the age of 50. The award is made possible by writer and philanthropist Chuck Forester, who created it out of the firmly held belief that “Writers who start late are just as good as other writers, it just took the buggers more time.” The prize is awarded to an unpublished LGBTQ writer over 50 working in any genre and includes a cash prize of $5,000.
Judges Michael Ford and James Hardy chose Abueva from a pool of almost 100 talented writers who showcased the breadth and diversity of LGBTQ experiences and imaginations. The prize will support Abueva’s advocacy work and memoir-in-progress.
On exploring and expressing his truth through writing, Abueva wrote, “Chuck Forester is right. It takes some of us buggers more time to hit our writing stride. Oh, but what a journey I and others in my cohort find ourselves in, and we are soaring.”
Jobert E. Abueva (he/him) is recipient of the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Literary Award for LGBTQ+ historical short fiction and two National Arts Club literary scholarships for non-fiction. He was named the 2021 winner of Writer’s Advice Flash Memoir Contest. Jobert is also a winning storyteller having performed on the ‘Word of Mouth’ stage at the Bucks County Playhouse Theater. His writings have appeared in Harrington Gay Men’s Fiction Quarterly, The New York Times, Newsweek Japan, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Poetry Nippon and most recently The Philadelphia Inquirer where seven of his op-ed pieces speaking to LGBTQ+ and AAPI issues were among the paper’s most read. He is former managing editor of The Bucks County Writer literary magazine produced by the Writers Room of Bucks County in Doylestown, PA. Among his current projects is his first book, a boyhood memoir. Hailing from Manila, the Philippines, Jobert graduated from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and Columbia Business School. He resides in New Hope, PA. More at www.jobertabueva.net
