Greg Bear Memorial Instructorship
Donors Astrid Bear and Jeffrey Lemkin have committed $2,500 to create the Greg Bear Memorial Instructorship and with the aid of the amazing Clarion West community, have raised the 2nd half to fully fund the instructorship at $5,000 for the 2024 Workshop!
A huge round of thanks to donors Jeffrey Lemkin, Astrid Bear, Albert Folsom, Frank and Dee Dee Catalano, Karen G. Anderson, Kristi Austin, Janet Freeman-Daily, Joe and Gay Haldeman, Benjamin Rosenbaum, and Emma Törzs for making it happen!
In Memory of Greg Bear (1951-2022)
Greg taught for the Clarion West Writers Workshop three times, in 1988, 1993, and 1999. As an instructor, he was considered “funny, smart, and warm (Monte Cook, CW ’99).”
For many years, Greg and Astrid kept up a tradition of inviting the Clarion West class to their home during the workshop for a warm meal and a talk. Many people will tell you that Greg was always gracious and supportive; this extended to his Clarion West students, and from all appearances to every writer he met.
For Clarion West, few instructors embody the impact of generations of writers learning, teaching, and supporting each other more than Greg Bear. When we think about generations, we think about the authors who give back by supporting scholarships, volunteering, and mentoring new writers, as well as the students who go on to write successfully and return to teach for the workshop in their own time.
The Greg Bear Memorial Instructorship will support Week 4 of the 2024 Six-Week Workshop. This week is infamous for the “fourth week burn-out” (when participants start to struggle with the intensity of the workshop), one of the reasons to have an empathetic instructor who is able to be supportive of individuals and patient with a group of writers!
Read more about creating a named instructorship
As of today, two of our six instructorships have been filled for 2024. We are looking for support to cover the costs of each instructor week! You can create a named Instructorship of your own or donate any amount today to the Clarion West General Instructorship fund, helping to ensure that we have the resources we need to recruit the very best instructors — no matter where in the world they hail from. Your donations have a critical impact on our ability to bring these talented writers, editors, and instructors to our workshops.
