John Edward Lawson is the author of 16 books of fiction and poetry, and numerous chapbooks. Over 500 of his poems, stories, and articles have been published in magazines, anthologies, literary journals, and newspapers worldwide. He has been called “The forgotten black man of horror,” but he also regularly publishes science fiction, bizarro, mystery/thrillers, and literary fiction.

John was a winner of the 2001 Fiction International Emerging Writers Competition; in addition to being a finalist for the Stoker Award (2006, Superior Achievement in Poetry) and the Wonderland Award for Bizarro Fiction (2007, collected fiction), other award nominations include two for the Dwarf Stars Award, the Elgin Award, the Pushcart Prize, two for the Rhysling Award, and honorable mention for the 2015 Wonderland Award.

As an editor John is co-founder of Raw Dog Screaming Press, recognized by the Horror Writers Association in 2019 with their Specialty Press Award. He spent four years as editor-in-chief of The Dream People online literary journal of bizarro fiction and poetry. Other editorial projects include three print anthologies, four e-anthologies, and freelance work for such companies as National Lampoon and Double Dragon Publishing.

You can encounter John traveling the USA for book tours, panel discussions, speaking engagements, and leading workshops for organizations and universities. Topics he specializes in are entrepreneurship, productivity, publishing, writing, and disenfranchised communties in the arts. When he’s not on the road you’ll find John managing Broadkill Writers Resort where he regularly hosts writing retreats and specialized workshops at the beach on Delaware Bay. He is also founder of AllAccessCon, an event organizing company for making virtual and hybrid convention space available to attendees, vendors, and event sponsors.

John currently serves as vice president of Diverse Writers and Artists of Speculative Fiction. Other organizations he is a member of the Horror Writers Association, International Association of Innovation Professionals, Internet Marketers Association, and Nonfiction Authors Association.

Since a young age John has been involved in the visual arts. As a photographer John’s photography has been used as cover art for books, in marketing campaigns, and as home decor. He has also participated in the production of numerous short films, including award winners Party Girl and Uberman: An Experiment in Consciousness. Director Jayson Densman collaborated with John spawning a trilogy of PoVids derived from his poetry. His music project, Rage Inducer, has released seven singles and EPs with several more recorded and ready for distribution.

As a storyteller reviewers have compared John to J. G. Ballard, Clive Barker, Donald Barthelme, Ray Bradbury, William Burroughs, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, R. Crumb, James Herbert, Shaun Hutson, John Irving, Franz Kafka, Sarah Kane, HP Lovecraft, the Marx Brothers, Carlton Mellick III, Monty Python, Vladimir Nabokov, George Orwell, Chuck Palahniuk, Johnathan Swift, Walter Tevis, and Kurt Vonnegut. If any of this sounds good to you please consider investigating his books.