Board and Staff Members

Clarion West incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1986, with workshop alumni and other interested members of the science fiction community forming its first Board of Directors. With the help of many dedicated volunteers and a core of committed professional staff, Clarion West has produced some of science fiction and fantasy’s top writers and editors. Graduates have received every major form of recognition in the field, including the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.

Our Board

Susan Gossman

Reader, gardner, hiker, political junkie, owner of a troublesome cat and investor. Susan serves on the Development Committee.

Tod McCoy

Tod McCoy is a Clarion West alumnus whose work has appeared in AntipodeanSF, Qarrtsiluni.com, the.gloaming magazine, and the anthology Bronies: For the Love of Ponies. He runs Hydra House, a small press dedicated to publishing West Coast science fiction and fantasy.

Vicki Saunders

Vicki Saunders is a writer, editor, and graphic designer who attended Clarion West in 2009 and served as Board Chair. She is Clarion West’s Art Director.

Rashida Scholz

Writer, mom, and occasional cellist, Rashida attended Clarion West in 2005. She loves oatmeal raisin cookies, “kissing books” and superhero movies.

Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl has been on the board 20 years! She attended Clarion West in 1992 and is still writing. Her time as CW’s Communications Director helped tighten her prose. They/Them.

Yang-Yang Wang

Yang-Yang Wang is an actor and writer who attended Clarion West in 2014. A lover of brevity, he serves as Clarion West’s Board Chair.

Misha Stone

Misha is a librarian in Seattle specializing in readers’ advisory. Misha loves books, karaoke, coffee and fall in the Northwest. She/her.

Geetanjali Dighe

Geetanjali Dighe is a Digital Marketing professional with over 17 years of expertise in digital operations and technology implementation. She has lived in Mumbai and London, and now calls Greater Seattle her home. She is a 2013 alumnus of Clarion West.

Miriah Hetherington

Miriah enjoys writing, reading, walking her dogs, hanging out with friends and family, and brackets. [Insert quirky personal detail here.] She/Her.

Our Staff

Marnee Chua

Marnee Chua
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Marnee is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, nonprofit administrator, reader, and loves to scuba dive. She prefers stories with kimchi in space. She/Her.

Neile Graham

WORKSHOP DIRECTOR

Neile Graham loves forests, wind, and rain. Also cats, writing, reading, and the writer-wrangling she does for Clarion West. She’s a 1996 workshop grad.

Micaiah “Huw” Evans

WORKSHOP ADMINISTRATOR

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Huw attended Clarion West in 2012. He writes (mostly speculative) fiction and lives in Seattle with his wife, daughter, and far too many books.

Jae Steinbacher

WORKSHOP ADMINISTRATOR

Jae Steinbacher is a writer, editor, and dual class factotum/sorcerer. Jae loves cats, travel, and enamel pins and is a CW’14 graduate. She/Her/They/Them

Jeremy Sim

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

Jeremy Sim is a writer, game creator, and all-purpose tech specialist. An accomplished short fiction author, he manages Clarion West’s publications, community, and online presence.

Katherine Sparrow

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP COORDINATOR

Katherine is a writer and social worker living in Seattle with her partner, two kids, and the enigmatic Couch and Chair (guinea pigs). She attended Clarion West in 2005.

Suzanne Tompkins

OFFICE MANAGER

An independent ass’n. manager/meeting planner, Suzanne has been CW’s Office Manager and/or Bookkeeper since 2005. She’s worked on Facilities at many recent Worldcons. She/Her.

Kate Schaefer

DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR

Kate’s past includes financial analysis for a large but now-defunct bank, database programming, attending Clarion West in 1992, and a great deal of sewing. Her present includes cloud database administration, volunteering for Clarion West, much sewing, and a long reading list.

Erik Owomoyela

WEBSITE MANAGER

A former Nebraskan, Erik first moved west to attend Clarion West in 2010. He now lives in Seattle, finding creative applications for his journalism degree.