Scholarships

There is a place for your voice at Clarion West

If you are serious about your writing career, the Clarion West Six-Week Workshop is the place for you. Our goal is to admit and enroll the strongest cohort possible from around the world regardless of their financial circumstances.

The tuition for the 2025 Six-Week Workshop is $3,200. We’re committed to helping our accepted students get to the workshop, and we do our best to meet the financial needs of everyone who requests tuition assistance. In recent years, up to 94% of our class has received scholarship aid.

The scholarship application is part of the application to the workshop. Scholarship decisions are considered after the class has been accepted into the Six-Week Workshop.

Who can apply for a scholarship?

Anyone with financial need can apply for a scholarship. We will ask about the details of your financial situation as part of your application. We also have scholarships that support PGM or BIPOC writers, that is, writers who identify as People of the Global Majority or Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. 

How do I apply for a scholarship? 

You can apply for a scholarship by checking the financial aid box on the application and filling out the details related to your financial situation to the best of your ability. We will keep your application details confidential and will only share it with the workshop staff who determine aid awards.  

What is the deadline for applying for a scholarship?

You must indicate your need for financial aid when you apply to the six-week workshop. Your application is reviewed without regard to your financial aid request.

We understand that financial circumstances may change between submitting your application and hearing back from the workshop. If that is the case, please notify us immediately upon your acceptance.

When should I expect to hear back about my scholarship application?

If you are accepted to Clarion West, you will be notified of your awarded financial aid within a few weeks of your official acceptance to the program. We cannot guarantee exact amounts of coverage, but we do our best to match scholarship funding to each student’s level of financial need.

If I do not receive a scholarship this year, can I apply again next year?

You can apply to the workshop as many times as you want. At this time, none of our accepted students has needed to decline their spot due to financial need. We have seen students run successful crowdfunding campaigns when their need exceeds their scholarship aid, and our community is very active in spreading the word in these cases.

What kind of additional expenses should I expect while attending the Six-Week Workshop?

For our virtual workshop, you will be responsible for your own meals, housing, internet connection, and computer. You may also wish to purchase books by your instructors and a class T-shirt.

If you are attending a workshop in Seattle, you should expect to pay for any coffee or drinks you buy outside of the dining hall, as well as occasional group meals off campus with your fellow students and instructors. You will likely also want to account for buying instructors’ books, public transportation fees, and comfort items. If you plan to explore the area, you may want to factor in miscellaneous spending money as well. Keep in mind, too, that if you buy a book every week, you may need to fly home with an extra suitcase! Check out Clarion West’s FAQ for more information.

Scholarships for People of the Global Majority (PGM), or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)

Through the generosity of our donors, Clarion West provides a number of scholarships for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color from anywhere in the world. Named scholarships include:

  • The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship: managed by the Carl Brandon Society, the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Award is a full-tuition award given to one student who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color;
  • The Blue Corn Creations Scholarship: started by Blue Corn Creations, this scholarship is supported by an anonymous donor and is a full-tuition award given to writers who identify as Native American/Indigenous writers from the Americas.
  • The Flores Scholarship: this scholarship is a full-tuition scholarship award given to one student who identifies as Latinx/e. Two scholarships are available for 2025.
  • The Salam Award Scholarship: For the year 2025, The Salam Award has agreed to sponsor a student of Pakistani origin, whether a Pakistani resident of any ethnicity, or a Pakistani-origin student anywhere in the world up to USD $1,000. 
  • The Malik Sharif-Fehmida Anwar Scholarship: Usman T. Malik and his parents Malik Tanveer Ali and Shabnam Tanveer Malik have offered an annual travel scholarship to help fund travel up to USD $2,500 for a student of Palestinian origin. The applicant should be Palestinian Arab-Muslim or Arab-Christian from Gaza, West Bank, or Golan Heights, or may be Palestinian diaspora located anywhere in the world. 

Additional Scholarship Funds Available in 2025

Below is a list of scholarship funds currently available for applicants in 2025. The full amount and number of scholarships may still change before applications are finalized. The Clarion West Financial Committee reviews all applicants once the class has been accepted and awards scholarships based on the best match of donor stipulations and financial need.

* When appropriate, applications may be sent on to the Carl Brandon Society and the George R. R. Martin Foundation for final selection.

Full and partial scholarships are available from private donors in memory of the following honored individuals:

New in 2025:

  • The Sea Star Scholarship: this scholarship is a full-tuition scholarship award given to one student who identifies as two-spirit, trans, nonbinary, or under the gender expansive umbrella.

Additional Scholarships available in 2025 for any student with financial need in 2025:

  • Anonymous full-tuition award: A full-tuition scholarship is provided by a generous anonymous donor each year. 
  • Norwescon: This is a full-tuition scholarship provided by Seattle’s own local convention. 
  • Science Fiction Writers of America: A partial scholarship is frequently provided by the Science Fiction Writers of America. 
  • Space Bear Scholarship: A partial scholarship provided by an anonymous donor. 
  • Space Cowboy Books: A partial scholarship provided by the award winning Space Cowboy Books in Joshua Tree, California, a bookstore whose mission is to spread the love of science fiction, literature, literacy, and print media.

Additional funds: Clarion West frequently has one or more full or partial scholarships available from generous anonymous donors and previous classes. Sometimes these scholarships are named and sometimes they are available for Clarion West to distribute as needed. 

In addition, the following full and partial scholarships are available to select students:

Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship

A full-tuition scholarship awarded by the Carl Brandon Society to a single student of color. Learn more about the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship.

Our Butler recipients
  • 2024: Tanisha Tekriwal
  • 2023: Kiran Kaur Saini
  • 2022: Wen-yi Lee
  • 2020*: Naomi Day
    * awarded in 2022
  • 2021: Lue Palmer
  • 2021: shakirah peterson
  • 2019: Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas
  • 2018: Dennis Staples
  • 2017: Stephanie Malia Morris
  • 2016: S. Qiōuyì Lù | 陸秋逸
  • 2015: Mimi Mondal
  • 2014: Chinelo Onwualu
  • 2013: Geetanjali Vandemark
  • 2012: Indrapramit Das
  • 2011: Jeremy Sim
  • 2010: Erik Owomoyela
  • 2009: Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
  • 2008: Caren Gussoff Sumption
  • 2007: Christopher Caldwell

Worldbuilder Scholarship

A full-tuition scholarship awarded by George R. R. Martin to a single student who demonstrates interest and skill at fantasy worldbuilding. Learn more about the Worldbuilder Scholarship.

Our Worldbuilder recipients
  • 2024: Conrad Loyer
  • 2023: A.M. Barrie
  • 2022: Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
  • 2020*: Tania Fordwalker
    * awarded in 2022
  • 2021: December Cuccaro
  • 2019: Tim Chawaga
  • 2018: Isabel Cañas