Our second alumnus-turned-teacher this year, Week Three instructor Cadwell Turnbull, inspired the class with a project idea: the craft dictionary. The art of the writer’s craft is discovering how an effect is accomplished — whether it’s physically moving characters from setting A to setting B or using unexpected perspectives to surprising effect — and the…
The Six-Week Workshop students started workshopping stories in Week Two. Their instructor, Brenda Peynado, ran the workshop like a writer’s room, asking them to identify the bivalve heart of the story before diving into the discussion. The collaborative structure of the writer’s room method made for a free-flowing conversation peppered with possibility. Three of the…
In the Six-Week Workshop, our Week One instructor, Usman T. Malik, continued the proud tradition of Clarion West students coming full circle. He returned to the six-week fold with insight sharpened by his experience in the 2013 cohort. From Day One, he offered the cohort invaluable advice for thriving over the next six weeks, from…
We are pleased to announce that The Salam Award and Clarion West Week One Instructor Usman T. Malik (CW ‘14) have offered two new scholarships for 2024 Students. The Salam Award Scholarship: For the year 2024, The Salam Award has agreed to sponsor a student of Pakistani origin, whether a Pakistani resident of any ethnicity,…
Housing We are excited to announce that Clarion West’s Six-Week Workshop will return to its traditional home in Seattle’s University District next summer! We are hosting the workshop at the University of Washington, which will give our students plenty of opportunities to work in nearby coffee shops, visit the rest of Seattle easily by light…
This year we are creating a pool for application fees for the Six-Week Workshop, and if you are someone who usually donates application fees, we’re counting on you for support! We’ve seen a significant increase in applicants who cannot afford to pay for the application even at the early bird rate of $35. Last year…
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,…
The Six-Week Workshop moved back online this summer, with a cohort that embraced the flexibility of working from their homes and making global connections remotely. Our 15 students joined from Brazil, Ghana, the U.K., Mexico, the Bahamas, and the U.S., with a high concentration of East Coasters! Although the group was faced with the challenge…
Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship Recipient This summer, the Carl Brandon Society selected Kiran Kaur Saini as its Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship recipient. Since 2007, the Carl Brandon Society has donated this scholarship in Octavia’s name to writers of color attending Clarion and Clarion West. Octavia attended the Clarion Writers Workshop in Pennsylvania in…
On Tuesday, during N.K. Jemisin’s hybrid reading from Astoria Bookshop in New York, Clarion West’s Workshop Facilitator, María Alejandra Barrios, announced our instructors for the upcoming 2024 Six-Week Summer Workshop! The Clarion West 2024 Six-Week Summer Workshop will take place from June 16 – July 27, 2024. Applications for the 2024 Six-Week Workshop are planned…