I am incredibly honored, excited, and ready to officially announce that my project, “TURN: A One-Man Audio Drama,” has been named an Official Selection at the 2026 New Jersey Web Festival!
To keep it real with you all: the festival didn’t select the fully produced audio production. Instead, they officially selected the full manuscript (the text/script itself) to compete in the script writing categories!
At first, I was a little confused about how a festival splits the two, but honestly, I am overflowing with gratitude that they chose the manuscript.
Writing this piece was one of the hardest, most vulnerable things I’ve ever done. I started writing TURN back in 2018 when I was 23 years old, trying to capture the rawest, heaviest parts of my mental health struggles as a young adult. I literally had to wait six-or-so years, grow up, and learn what recovery actually meant to me before I could finally sit down, write Chapter 10, and finish the story.
To know that a panel of industry judges read those exact, naked words on a page—without any music, sound design, or vocal performance to back them up—and decided the writing alone was worth honoring means more to me than I can put into words.
This project is a deeply personal piece of my soul, blending autobiography and fiction in a way that helped me make sense of my own life. Knowing that this story of survival and “turning around” to face yourself is being recognized on this stage is the ultimate validation.
23-year-old Paul would be freaking out right now. 31-year-old Paul is also freaking out—but maybe a little more grounded!
Thank you to everyone here who has supported me, listened to me vent, let me share about this project, or taken the time to listen to the audio release. Thank you for being there for me through all the twisty-turny parts of my life.
More updates on the festival and writing competition to come!
— Paul