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.
Board of Directors
Shweta Adhyam
Chair
Shweta speaks five languages, belongs to four cultures, has had three careers, loves two cities, and thinks escapism is excellent.She/her.
Linda Breneman
Treasurer
Linda is a huge fan of science fiction in all its forms. She lives in Seattle, where she writes, listens to audiobooks, wrangles a small cockapoo, and donates to medical research, social services, and arts organizations.She/her.
M. Huw Evans
Secretary
Huw attended Clarion West in 2012 and served as workshop administrator 2014–2017. He writes, edits, and—when time and family permit—reads.He/him.
Susan Gossman
Reader, gardener, hiker, political junkie, owner of a troublesome cat, and investor. Susan serves on the Development Committee.
She/her.
M. L. Krishnan
M. L. Krishnan is a writer and editor that hails from the coastal shores of Tamil Nadu, South India. She attended Clarion West in 2019, and is currently the Marketing Director of khōréō—a quarterly magazine of speculative fiction and migration. She lives in the Midwest, and wages a losing battle with tenacious squirrels in her downtime.
She/her.
Jon Lasser
Jon Lasser lives in Seattle. He’s a graduate of Clarion West 2016. His stories have appeared in Galaxy’s Edge, Diabolical Plots, Underland Arcana, and elsewhere.
He/him.
Tod McCoy
Tod is a 2010 graduate of Clarion West. He runs Hydra House Books, writes contemporary fantasy and poetry, and loves pizza and chimichangas. But not mixed together.
He/him.
Kris Millering
Kris Millering is a linguist by training, a tech tinkerer by trade, and a writer and photographer by avocation. She attended Clarion West in 2009.
She/her.
Zola Mumford
Zola Mumford is an academic librarian; researcher; past Washington State Book Awards judge; past Curator of the Seattle Black Film Festival; present co-leader of the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute; a community story training program of the Wa Na Wari community arts project; and writer.
Dominica Phetteplace
Dominica Phetteplace is a writer and math tutor. She attended Clarion West in 2007.
SHe/her.
Nisi Shawl
Nisi Shawl has been on the board 20 years! They attended Clarion West in 1992 and are still writing. Their time as CW’s Communications Director helped tighten their prose.
They/them.
Elsa Sjunneson
Elsa Sjunneson is a nonfiction & fiction writer and disability rights activist. She lives in Seattle with her husband, two children and ridiculous corgi.
She/her.
Misha Stone
Vice Chair
Misha is a librarian in Seattle specializing in readers’ advisory. Misha loves books, karaoke, coffee and fall in the Northwest.She/her.
Yang-Yang Wang
Yang-Yang Wang is an actor and writer who attended Clarion West in 2014. A lover of brevity, and former board chair, he can be found Wednesday evenings on a Fantasy Author D&D Twitch Stream.
He/him.
Staff
María Alejandra Barrios
Workshop Facilitator
María is a writer from Colombia living in Brooklyn. She writes about ghosts, magic and immigration and edits SmokeLong Quarterly en Español.She/her.
Elly Bangs
Database Specialist
Elly attended Clarion West in 2017. She rides her bicycle everywhere and enjoys pie, dream pop, and obscure factoids about outer space.She/her.
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.
Amy Hirayama
Residential Workshop Administrator
Amy is a writer, educator and sumo wrestling fan. She loves forest bathing and cooking elaborate Japanese celebratory feasts.She/her.
Stephanie Morris
Program Administrator
Stephanie reads stuff out loud, fangirls professionally, and occasionally writes stories. She attended Clarion West in 2017.She/her.
Erik Owomoyela
Back-End Developer
Erik built his first website for a Star Trek role-playing group, and then went to journalism school. He attended Clarion West in 2010.He/him.
Rashida J. Smith
Online Program Coordinator
Writer, mom, and occasional cellist, Rashida attended Clarion West in 2005. She loves oatmeal raisin cookies, “kissing books” and superhero movies.She/her.
Jae Steinbacher
Residential Workshop Coordinator
Jae Steinbacher is a writer, editor, and dual class factotum/sorcerer. Jae loves cats, travel, and enamel pins and is a CW’14 graduate.They/them.
Suzanne Tomkins
Special Projects Coordinator
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.