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Clarion West Workshop and Events
A Workshop for People Who Are Serious About Writing
Clarion West is an intensive six-week workshop for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy, held annually in Seattle, Washington, USA.
2009 Workshop Instructors
We’re pleased to announce that our instructors for the 2009 Clarion West Writers Workshop will be John Kessel, Karen Joy Fowler, Elizabeth Bear, Nalo Hopkinson, David Hartwell, and Rudy Rucker, the 2009 Susan C. Petrey Fellow.
The 2008 Workshop concluded on August 1. Visit our Workshop page for general information about the workshop. Check back with us in September for more information on next year’s instructors and on applying to attend the 2009 session.
Our Fifth Clarion West Write-a-thon
Our fifth Clarion West Write-a-thon ended in August of 2008, along with our twenty-fifth consecutive workshop. Several participants posted about their agony and ecstasy in the Clarion West Forums, where L. Timmel Duchamp, Eileen Gunn, Marilyn J. Holt, Ruth Nestvold, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick collaborated in public on a round-robin short story tentatively titled "Trouble Ensues; or, Castle Dementia," which you can still read. A Swanwick/Gunn 2007 Write-a-thon collaboration ("Shed That Guilt! Double Your Productivity Overnight!") appears in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction's September 2008 issue.
Many thanks and congratulations go out to the Clarion West community and friends of the Write-a-thon participants for generously sponsoring these writers. Over $6,000 has been raised already, and we hope to break last year's record of $10,000 once all the sponsors send in their pledges.
Summer Reading Series a success
The 2008 Clarion West Summer Reading Series is over. Thanks so much for attending and helping us enjoy appearances by some of contemporary SF’s best authors: Paul Park, Mary Rosenblum, Cory Doctorow, Connie Willis, Sheree R. Thomas, and Chuck Palahniuk. To read more about how it went, visit the Summer Reading Series page. We’ll post details of the 2009 summer reading series here early next year.
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Mary Rosenblum |
Cory Doctorow |
Connie Willis |
Sheree R. Thomas |
Chuck Palahniuk |
CW News
- Jul 5 2008
Due to the swift and generous response of the SF community, we have now received enough money to replace the four student laptops stolen July 4 from rooms at the Clarion West residence. Thank you all so much for your very timely help. We'd especially like to thank Jay Lake, Cory Doctorow, and the many other blogger/donors for their generosity and for alerting others to the need for money and laptops. Read more »
- Jun 13 2008
We have more than 50 writers signed up for the 2008 Write-a-thon. Paul Park, Eileen Gunn, Lisa Tuttle, Michael Swanwick, Nisi Shawl, Cat Rambo, Steve Miller, Amy Thomson, and a host of others from all our graduating classes will be writing for donations from June 22 through August 1. Read how they're doing here. Support Clarion West by sponsoring them as they reach their writing goals.
- Jun 9 2008
We just received a $1,500 grant from King County’s 4Culture Sustaining Support program. Kate Schaefer, Acting Development Director, says that while individual donations are the core of Clarion West’s support, “this kind of grant is important, too. Read more »
- Mar 22 2008
On Saturday, March 1, Potlatch 17 sponsored the annual Clarion West Scholarship Fund Benefit Auction, which brought in over $2800 thanks to your donations and purchases. Read more »
- Mar 22 2008
The first event in Clarion West’s year-long celebration of 25 consecutive writers’ workshops took place in Seattle on February 29. Potlatch 17, a small literary SF convention, hosted a reception featuring tasty desserts and much reminiscing and updating among workshop alumni, instructors, and friends—plus appearances by two of the workshop’s founders, Marilyn J. Holt and J.T. Stewart. Read more »
- Nov 22 2007
Our fifth Clarion West Write-a-thon ended in August of 2008, along with our twenty-fifth consecutive workshop. Several participants posted about their agony and ecstasy in the Clarion West Forums, where L. Timmel Duchamp, Eileen Gunn, Marilyn J. Holt, Ruth Nestvold, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick collaborated in public on a round-robin short story tentatively titled "Trouble Ensues; or, Castle Dementia," which you can still read. A Swanwick/Gunn 2007 Write-a-thon collaboration ("Shed That Guilt! Read more »
