FREE MONEY, FRIENDS

Clickbait can be a force for good, I swear. But seriously, this is a love letter to you, my fellow Black writers. To you, Indigenous writers and queer writers. To you, international writers and homeless writers and disabled writers and working class writers. To you, writers who identify as women and writers who identify as non-binary. To you, writers whose multitudes intersect in a glorious splendor. I am talking to you, writers whose voices have been traditionally underrepresented and systematically silenced. Writers who have written your beautiful, multitudinous selves into your art, only to face disbelief. Writers whose art suffocates because you must always explain and justify yourself, no matter what you are writing. Writers who yearn to expand your craft, only to find yourself confronted by a sea of uncomprehending white faces in every classroom.

It is time to take up space. The world needs our stories, whether it will admit it or not. And one of the first steps to overtaking the world by literary storm is to learn to wield your craft like the most finely-honed blade.

So start with a Clarion West scholarship.

For every online class, Clarion West holds several scholarships open for Black, Indigenous, and other writers from underrepresented identities, distributed on a first come, first served basis, because it is long past time for us to invest in you — your craft, your voice, your story, your art. There’s no application. Email us at workshop@clarionwest.org with a one-paragraph statement about your scholarship interest and/or need. Are you Black or Indigenous? Email us. Are you from a marginalized background? Email us. Do you have financial need? Email us. Please include the name of the class you would like to apply the scholarship to.

So don’t choose between plotting and pantsing when you can explore the fine art of plantsing with Kiini Ibura Salaam on Friday, March 12. Draw your readers deep into both your character and your world with Nicola Griffith on Monday, March 15. Get in-depth hands-on game-writing experience with Elizabeth LaPensée on Thursday and Friday, March 18-19. Learn how to write well-paced, believable fight scenes with Alan Baxter on Tuesday, March 23. The future is Indigenous — and Brian K. Hudson will show you just how on Monday, March 29.

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