Shakespeare & Co. is pleased to host a reading by celebrated author John Eric Schleicher on Tuesday, June 11, at 7:00 pm. Schleicher will read from his short story, “Squiddy,” which is included in the new anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume 40: The Best New SF & Fantasy of the Year (Galaxy Press, May 2024). This event is open to the public and free of charge.

John Eric (“J. E.”) Schleicher is an award-winning author who writes stories that leave behind a fantastical aftertaste long after reading. His short fiction has appeared in Creepy Podcast and Writers of the Future, Volume 40 and will appear in the forthcoming anthology, Year Six, by Black Hare Press.

His short story, “Squiddy,” was a winner of the Writers of the Future contest and is currently being novelized. When not reading or writing, he enjoys wandering wonderstruck (on two legs or knobby wheels) the mountains near his home in Missoula, Montana.

About Writers of the Future
This 40th anniversary edition of the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, the bestselling and most widely influential anthology of its kind, brings you 12 strikingly original stories and illustrations—by the best new creative talent in speculative fiction, all winners of the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests. The collection is rounded out with 3 bonus stories plus 4 articles providing art and writing tips from bestselling authors and internationally renowned artists.

The Contests were created by L. Ron Hubbard out of his lifetime commitment to helping new writers and artists, and are judged by a hall-of-fame roster of top professionals. The Writers of the Future anthology has provided a spectacular launching pad for emerging writers and illustrators who over the past 4 decades have gone on to publish over 2,000 novels—many of them international bestsellers—and helped shape the field of contemporary speculative fiction as it is today and into the future.

Open the Writers of the Future and be carried away by stories—and illustrations—that will make you think, make you laugh, and make you see the world in ways you never imagined.

John Eric Schleicher