Clarion West Alumni News for November 2018
Welcome, stranger, to the November Alumni News.
November is always a great month for reflection and thankfulness. With the days shortening and the holidays rapidly approaching, we hope you all take a moment from your busy schedules to look around, breathe in the autumn air, and briefly check in with yourself. Self-care is important.
If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month, we’ve been posting daily inspirational quotes for NaNoers on our Twitter account, so stop by if you could use a funny or inspiring quote this month.
At the World Fantasy Awards earlier this month, our very own Natalia Theodoridou (fresh out of this year’s CW class) took home the Short Fiction award for the story “The Birding: A Fairy Tale.” A round of applause for another major award presented to our fantastic alumni. We reached out to Natalia once she arrived safely home, and she had this to say in thanks to the CW community:“People keep asking me how I feel, and I keep saying I’m mostly stunned and humbled, and that’s because I admire all the other finalists so deeply, both as writers and as human beings. Having so many Clarion West friends in the room made the award ceremony so much sweeter for me.”
—Natalia Theodoridou (CW ’18)You can read “The Birding: A Fairy Tale” free online at Strange Horizons.
In some bittersweet news, Sheila B. Auster reports that “The Moon Belongs to Everyone,” a story co-written by Michael Alexander (CW ’10) and K.C. Ball (CW ’10), has been accepted for publication in The Eagle Has Landed, an upcoming anthology edited by Neil Clarke. Sheila (Michael’s wife) says that Michael and K.C. were working on a sequel when Michael passed away, and as we reported last month, K.C. recently passed away too. They are both CW alumni, and both are well-loved and fondly remembered.
We’d also like to remind everyone about #GivingTuesday. Celebrated this year on Tuesday, November 27, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates our nonprofits and social services during the holiday season. Consider giving in honor of someone you love.Click here to donate!
Winter One-Day Workshops revealed
For everyone who’s looking for a bit of inspiration or would like to start 2019 with a bang, our latest One-Day Workshop lineup:
On January 27, Seanan McGuire starts off the season with Tailored Stories for Tailored Markets, bringing the experience of her long and prolific career to a workshop about writing for anthologies and other tailored markets. Learn strategies for finding, targeting, and selling to anthologies like a pro.
Then, on February 10, novelist and recent Clarion West instructor Daryl Gregory helps inject action, humor, and character into your manuscript with Running From Bears, a fun workshop about character goals and how to think about them in relation to story. Make your characters drive the plot, instead of the other way around.
Finally, on March 31, Scott Andrews, the venerable editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, presents Making Your Stories Stand Out, a workshop about how to catch that editor’s eye from the very first word. Learn from one of the industry’s most respected (and friendly) editors as he guides you in your next short story project or revision.
Alumni News
Karen Allendoerfer (CW ’87) has an essay, “Finding the Palace Beautiful,” featured in the anthology Alcott’s Imaginary Heroes. The anthology celebrates the 150th anniversary of Louisa May Alcott’s classic, Little Women.
Jenni Moody (CW ’11) has had a short story, “Wingspan,” published in the Crab Orchard Review.
Lawrence Schimel (CW ’91) has several translations and original works appearing in print this month. Six poems will appear in Multiverse: An International Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry: “embalmed” and “microtherapy” by Sofia Rhei; two poems from Saasbeim’s Journeysby Vicente Luis Mora; and “13 Ways of Looking at a Black Hole” and “He Looks Down His Nose” by Lawrence himself. He also published a sci-fi picture book, Manual Práctico para Viajar en Ovni (A Practical Guide to UFO Travel), a fantasy picture book, Cecila y el Dragón(Cecilia and the Dragon), as well as two board books featuring same-sex families: No es Hora de Jugar (It’s Not Playtime) and Pronto por la Mañana (Early in the Morning), which were published in Spanish, Catalan, Latvian, Croatian, Czech, and Flemish.
Alice Sola Kim (CW ’04) has a story now available online at Tin House: “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying.“
See you next month!