FREDERICK, Md., Mar. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Novelist, poet, internationally-produced playwright, and longtime Frederick resident, Jessica McHugh, has received a Bram Stoker Award® nomination for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Her collection, A Complex Accident of Life consists of 52 pieces of gothic blackout poetry inspired by and created from the pages of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Established in 1987, the Bram Stoker Award® is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association. Notable winners include Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, and Kathe Koja. Jessica's fiction has made the preliminary ballot a handful of times, but after thirteen years as a published horror writer, she's progressed onto the final ballot, where she appears with some of the best poets working today. Stokercon, the famous convention hosted by the Horror Writers Association, was due to take place in Colorado this year but has gone virtual due to Covid-19. The Bram Stoker Awards® Ceremony will be virtual as well, announcing the winners on the evening of May 23rd.
A former downtown tour guide for Taste Frederick Food Tours and creative writing instructor for Writopia Labs in DC, and a current employee at the North Market Pop Shop, Jessica has lived in Frederick since 2003 and is often spotted writing at places like White Rabbit Gastropub and Idiom Brewing Company.
While several Maryland authors have been nominated for Stokers in the past, A Complex Accident of Life has the honor of being the first collection of blackout poetry to be nominated for the award, which is due in part to its publication by Maryland-based small press, Apokrupha Publishing.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Jessica has completed her second book of horror blackout poetry, this time from the pages of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. The collection, The Birds Other Animals Shouldn't Charm is due for release by Apokrupha Publishing in July 2021. She also has two horror novels slated for release in 2021 by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.
The Bram Stoker Awards® will air on May 23rd 8pm-10pm EST on the Horror Writers Association youtube page, hosted by renowned horror author, Jonathan Maberry.
Media Contact
Jessica McHugh, McHughniverse, 240 440 9351, [email protected]
SOURCE Jessica McHugh

Share this article