Clarion West Alumni News for November 2017
Fall is advancing and there’s a chill in the air here in the northern hemisphere—perfect weather for curling up with a story. We’re busy getting ready to open applications season for the 2018 Summer Workshop. If you have a friend who might benefit from the workshop, let them know that applications open in early December.
There are five One-Day Workshops currently open for registration. From facing your fear to breaking the rules, these intensive workshops can help invigorate your writing life. Visit the One-Day Workshops page to find out more and to register.
The Clarion West Class of 2013 has gotten together to fund a partial scholarship for a 2018 Clarion West student. Thank you for your hard work, CW ’13!
Seattle has been named a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network. Clarion West is part of Seattle’s vibrant literature scene, and we’re so happy that the city has been given this honor.
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve hired a new Workshop Administrator. Julie “Jae” Steinbacher is a writer and editor residing in Raleigh, North Carolina. She attended Clarion West in 2014 and completed an MFA in fiction at North Carolina State University in 2016. She’s a 2017-18 NC Arts Council fellow in literature. Jae loves travel, webcomics, and shiny things, and is looking for a good cat to settle down with.
Awards
Adam Shannon (CW ’16) won second place in the International Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest.
Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkewti (CW ’15) won second place in The Masters Review Short Story Award for New Writers with her story, “The Devil is a Liar.”
Ibi Zoboi (CW ’01) was honored by the Foundation for Letters at their annual gala. The Foundation for Letters, based in New York, helps urban students engage with writing.
Neile Graham (CW ’96) won a World Fantasy Award in the Special Award, Non-Professional category for fostering excellence in the genre through her role as Clarion West’s Workshop Director. Kij Johnson (CW ’87) won the World Fantasy Award in the Long Fiction category for her novella, “The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe.”
Publications
Colleen Anderson (CW ’97) has quite a bit of news to report. She received a Canada Council Explore and Create grant for writing, and is currently finishing edits on the anthology Alice Unbound, due out from Exile Editions (Canada) in April 2018. She has had several new stories published: “The Healer’s Touch” in The Sum of Us: Tales of the Bonded and Bound (Laksa Media Group, 2017); “Sins of the Father” in OnSpec #105; “Love in the Vapors” in Futuristica 2 (Metasaga, 2017); and “Changes” in Deep Waters #2, from Golden Fleece Press. Her story “A Book by Its Cover” was published as a podcast in StarShipSofa.
She’s also had several recent poetry publications: “Rapunzel and Medusa” in Polu Texni; “Wings” in HWA Poetry Showcase IV; “Tooth Fairy’s Pouch” in Eye to the Telescope #37; “Witch Moon” in The Future Fire #2017.42; “Blood Thirst” and “Last Evening” in Polar Borealis #4; “Spirit Bottle” and “Geomystica” in Eternal Haunted Summer, Summer 2017; “Bone People” and “Evidence” in Transition Magazine (through the Canadian Mental Health Association); “Voodoo Doll” in Grievous Angel; and “This Song” in Deadlights Magazine #1.
Andy Duncan (CW ’94, instructor ’05 and ’15) has been elected to a two-year term on the board of directors of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Andy also has been named a juror for the 2017 Endeavour Award, to be announced at OryCon in November 2017; and for the 2017 Shirley Jackson Awards, to be announced at Readercon in July 2018.
E. Lily Yu‘s (CW ’13) “The View From the Top of the Stair” was published in Hazlitt in October.
Maura McHugh‘s (CW ’06) story, “Y,” issue 1 of Eyedolon, a new online anthology series from Broken Eye Books, edited by Scott Gable. Subscribe to Eyedolon at their Patreon page.
“The Fall of the Mundaneum,” by Rebecca Campbell (CW ’15), was published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies in September.
Brenta Blevins (CW ’12) has a story in the Nov/Dec issue of Analog.
Robert Guffey‘s (CW ’96) autobiographical short story, “My First Visit to The Trans-cultural Health Improvement Center,” is in the most recent issue of Panorama (Vol. 4, Autumn 2017). His story, “The Sheet,” was published in Phantom Drift Vol. 7: Creatures Born of a Long Denial. He was also interviewed by the radio show Deep State Blues about his work and other items of interest.
Vina Jie-Min Prasad‘s (CW ’17) story, “Fandom for Robots,” was published in Uncanny in September.
Unspeakable Horror 2: Abominations of Desire features stores from Evan Peterson (CW ’15) and Helen Marshall (CW ’12).
Nisi Shawl’s (CW ’92) story “Evens,” was published in The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir (Three Rooms Press, 2017), edited by Gary Phillips.
“Circus Boy Without A Safety Net,” by Craig Laurance Gidney (CW ’96), was published in Glittership in October.
Appearances and new endeavors
Adele Gardner (CW’04) is guest-editing the Arthuriana issue of Eye to the Telescope, seeking speculative fiction poems related to the legends of King Arthur and company. The deadline for submissions is December 15. Adele notes that though the guidelines don’t say so, reprints are welcome.
Adele is also teaching six workshops for NaNoWriMo at the Hampton, Virginia main library: Flash Fiction Workshop on November 4 4, Exploring Mystery Genres with Sisters in Crime on November 13, Poetry Workshop on November 11, Fiction Critique Session on Nov. 11, Tales & Tea: Historical Fiction Writing Workshop on November 15, and Flights of Fancy: Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Workshop on November 28. If you will be in the Hampton, Virginia area in November and would like to attend these free workshops, contact the library for more information.
Brad Swift (CW ’93) has a new Patreon, and is offering a new short story each month to his patrons. Visit his site to support his work.
Keep well, and write on!