Workshops for people who are serious about writing
Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization that runs an acclaimed six-week residential workshop every summer, online classes and workshops, one-day and weekend workshops, a reading series every summer, and other events throughout the year.
At Clarion West, you’ll be among award-winning and best-selling writers in science fiction, fantasy, games, horror, and more. Our workshops and classes are taught by world-class instructors from across the field of speculative fiction. Wherever you may be in your career, whether novice or sage, we offer a diverse listing of classes that is packed with valuable information to take your writing to the next level.
Every summer, the Clarion West Six-Week Workshop offers time away from everyday distractions and encouragement to experiment and take artistic risks. The critique sessions are the heart of the workshop: students learn not only by receiving critiques, but by reading others’ work and constructing their own critiques. Instructors work directly with attendees to present group critiques of newly written stories, participate in discussions about writing techniques or professional concerns, and hold individual or small-group conferences. Learn more about the Six-Week Workshop.
In addition, we offer instruction throughout the year with workshops and classes that vary in intensity, topic, and number of sessions. We invite prominent authors from across a broad range of speculative fiction to teach our classes and workshops. A few of our most recent instructors include N. K. Jemisin, Samit Basu, Cat Rambo, Ted Chiang, P. Djèlí Clark, Karen Lord, Daniel Abraham, Elizabeth Hand, Cadwell Turnbull, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Amal El-Mohtar, Nicola Griffith, Karen Joy Fowler, Kij Johnson, and Nisi Shawl. Learn more about our online classes and workshops.
You can support Clarion West’s mission to forge new voices in speculative fiction in many different ways. Learn how you can get involved with the Clarion West community!
Latest News
2025 Featured Artist
Meet Sejuti Bala Each year, Clarion West works with a new artist to create an image that is used across the Write-a-thon, on our website,…
Introducing the Clarion West Class of 2025!
We are delighted to welcome a new group of writers to the Clarion West family! Clarion West will be running virtually this summer, and we’ll…
Announcing New Development Director – L.D. Lewis
In December, Clarion West announced the search for our new Development Director thanks to a three-year grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Our board…
The Curve of The World To Be Published By Aqueduct Press!
Clarion West is pleased to announce that Vonda N. McIntyre’s final novel, THE CURVE OF THE WORLD, will be published by Aqueduct Press. Six years…
Introducing Carlos Hernandez
We have a change to announce for this summer’s instructor lineup. Now joining us for Week 3 is Carlos Hernandez! Carlos is a New York…
Announcing a Scholarship for Trans Writers
We are delighted to announce the Sea Star Scholarship, an annual full-tuition scholarship for our flagship Six-Week Workshop, offered by an anonymous donor, which will…
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