Clarion Workshop Opens for Applications

The Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop is accepting applications for its 2010 class from 1 December 2009 through 1 March 2010.

For those unfamiliar with the Clarion workshop, it is an intensive six-week-long workshop in which you write short stories and critique the stories of your seventeen classmates. Ideally, you write six stories during those six weeks, but the number is up to you.

Although the instructors come from the world of speculative fiction and the workshop teaching focuses on spec fic, people who write in any genre are welcome to apply.

The lineup of teachers for 2010 is especially wonderful:

• Delia Sherman, fantasy writer and anthologist
• George R.R. Martin, fantasy writer
• Dale Bailey, horror writer
• Samuel Delaney, science fiction writer and literary critic
• Jeff VanderMeer, fantasy writer and anthologist
• Ann VanderMeer, publisher, editor, and anthologist

The online application process is easy. You submit contact information, a brief summary of your educational background, a few details about your writing habits and goals, and two short stories.

As you may know, I attended Clarion in 2009 and found it worth every penny. My writing improved, my critiquing ability improved, and I made seventeen friends-for-life, most or all of whom will be famous writers one day. I blogged about the experience here and here.

To learn about Clarion 2010 and the application process, check out the Website http://clarion.ucsd.edu/workshop.html and the links there.

If you want to know more about my six weeks at Clarion, please feel free to ask questions in the comments or to email me privately at ShaunaRoberts [at] ShaunaRoberts.com.


Thanks for visiting. I'll be blogging at Novel Spaces again on December 24, when I'll talk about networking at writers'conferences.

—Shauna Roberts