Pen Stewart (Ghent, 7 April, 1977) is a fantasy, scifi and YA author and an artist, editor and speaker. In 2015 she published two short story collections: ‘Nanokanaries en olifantenhersenen’ and ‘Tijd M.A.N.Chine’. These were followed in 2016 by ‘Opgejaagd’, a gothic horror story published as part of the ‘splinters’ series by publishers Quasis, and in 2017 by her first fantasy novel ‘Wintercode’, which was illustrated in colour. In 2020 appeared her novel ‘Onderuniversum’, set in a dystopian future. Thanks to ‘Wintercode’ Pen became the first fantasy author in Flanders and the Netherlands who was awarded a scholarship with Literatuur Vlaanderen for an epic fantasy novel.
As a teacher of writing she started the first school for fantasy writers in Flanders, through ‘Creatief Schrijven’ in Antwerp. She collaborated on various short story collections and was nominated for awards at a good number of Flemish and Dutch writing competitions. In 2013 she won the Phoenix Award at the Harland Awards. Pen is also the founder of ‘Artistic Chapters by Pen Stewart’, which offers training in writing, training in reading (secondary schools), proofreading services, workshops and editing services. Teachers and librarians can book lectures by authors with financial support from Literatuur Vlaanderen through auteurslezingen.be, or in the Netherlands through De Schrijverscentrale. Pen also organises long-term writing courses to help schools stimulate reading in children and she helps the schools find the necessary financing.
For the Buckminster College project of the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels she is “Praeceptrix Phantasiae”, and in the school year 2023-2024 she will start teaching a course on how to write fantasy, aimed at highly gifted students.