Clarion West Alumni News for February 2019
“Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life.”
Daisaku Ikeda
Welcome to February!
Here at Clarion West, the big scramble this month is the end of application season. At the time of writing, there are ten days left to apply to Clarion West’s Summer Workshop in 2019. Time passed fast, didn’t it? If you are interested in applying for the Class of 2019, or you want to pass the information on to a friend, there is still time to apply before the March 1 deadline.Learn more about our workshops here
We’re looking forward to welcoming the Class of 2019 to Seattle this June, along with Elizabeth Hand, Stephen Graham Jones, Amal El-Mohtar, Ibi Zoboi, Jack Dann, Jonathan Strahan, and Ann Leckie. We’ll be announcing our Summer of Science Fiction & Fantasy reading series soon, so stay posted!
We also have a fantastic suite of One-Day Workshops coming up in the next few months. These short workshops are great for any level and take a deep dive into a specific focus in the world of speculative fiction and the craft of writing. Here’s our Spring–Summer 2019 schedule:
| Making Your Stories Stand Out Instructor: Scott H. Andrews March 31, 2019 Learn how to make your short stories stand out in the submissions pile with six-time World Fantasy Award finalist editor Scott H. Andrews. |  |
| Romantic Elements in Speculative Fiction Instructor: Jasmine Silvera April 28, 2019 Learn how romantic attraction between characters can be used to add dimension to conflict and raise the stakes in the plot while avoiding the common pitfalls that elicit reader groans (and not the good kind). |  |
| Revision Bootcamp Instructor: Fonda Lee May 5, 2019 Focus on breaking the revision process down into manageable chunks. Audit your draft for common problems, heighten your story’s themes, and deepen its layers. |  |
Registrations are open right now, so claim your spot!
Alumni News
Alison Wilgus (CW ’14) has a story, “The Backstitched Heart of Katharine Wright,” in the Jan/Feb issue of Interzone. This was her Week Six Clarion West story. Also, her solo graphic novel debut, Chronin Volume 1: The Knife at Your Back, is out from Tor Books on February 19th. Chronin is an SF historical fiction duology, and Volume 2 will follow in September.
Greg Beatty (CW ’00) will have a personal essay, “There’s a Person in There,” published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grandparents, due out in March.
Natalia Theodoridou (CW ’18) has a new story out, “To Stab with a Rose, to Love with a Knife,” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
Curtis Chen (CW ’14) was one of the writers for Malka Older’s Ninth Step Station, a new collaborative fiction series on Serial Box with weekly episodes. He wrote the 3rd and 6th shows, and co-wrote the 9th with author Fran Wilde. He is also celebrating the addition of a new family member and a 14th wedding anniversary — and you’re invited! Click here to RSVP. Later this year, he will co-lead a workshop with Cat Rambo at Cascade Writers.
Izzy Wasserstein (CW ’17) has a short story, “The Crafter at the Web’s Heart,” in the February issue of Apex.
CW instructor Charlie Jane Anders has an opinion piece out this month in the Washington Post: Kamala Harris is wrong about science fiction.
See you next month!