Dear Alumni and Friends, Autumn is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere! In Seattle, we made it through a heat wave and the smoke from the U.S. Pacific Coast wildfires. As 2020 continues to give us all plenty to write (and worry) about, we want to share all of our good news with you. Despite…
Clarion West seeks to foster a global community of writers and readers. To do so, Clarion West must actively support and make room for a great deal more diversity in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their related works. Our anti-racist efforts include partnering with organizations like Writing the Other, FIYAHCON, and Voodoonauts and focusing on…
Did you know? We offer a limited number of full scholarships for each class to Black and Indigenous writers and writers from other marginalized backgrounds on a first come, first served basis. Please email us at workshop@clarionwest.org with a one-paragraph statement about your scholarship interest and need. Please include the name of the class to…
That’s a wrap! We’d like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Write-a-thon: every writer, every donor, every instructor, every reader, every audience member. You make Clarion West possible. In a harrowing year that feels like science fiction, you all joined us as we launched a hugely ambitious experiment to go fully online with…
Dear Alumni and Friends, We’re kicking off the sixth and final week of our annual Write-a-thon. With over 500 global participants writing together, taking free workshops, making friends, and building community, this is our biggest Write-a-thon ever. We’re getting closer and closer to our $20K minimum goal. We hope to hit $30K to offset this year’s…
Dear Alumni and Friends, The year 2020 continues to be a turbulent one. Who’s ready for some good news? We proceed in our mission of supporting diverse, underrepresented genre writers and making our programs as inclusive and accessible as possible. We stand with Black Lives Matter, and we condemn police brutality. This is an awe-inspiring time to witness…
Black Stories Matter What follows is the beginning of a living document listing the Clarion West community’s recommended reading by Black and African American authors. These authors are our alumni, instructors, staff, friends, and heroes, and they include writers of Clarion San Diego as well. While we wish to keep this list focused on science…
Clarion West condemns the ongoing injustice and violence against the Black community in America. Clarion West is not a political organization, yet there is no denying that fiction can be political, especially fiction created out of hope or despair or anger, or that envisions worlds that could have been or ones that are yet to…
Dear Alumni and Friends, A heartfelt THANK YOU for all of our GiveBIG donors this year! Your support overwhelmed us and will go a long way to paying for our spring and summer free classes and workshops that we have been offering in support of writers during these very trying times. By the time that…
Dear friends, What a month! Since our previous alumni e-newsletter, we launched our new series of free online workshops and sprints. Response was so huge that it overwhelmed our server! We followed up with more online offerings with pay options as well as a lottery for free/scholarship spots. This went much more smoothly. To reiterate…