Clarion West 2014

So this is great news that I can now share: I got notified a few weeks back that I was accepted to attend Clarion West this summer. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s a six-week writing workshop with a focus on speculative fiction, held here in Seattle. (There’s an affiliated workshop that’s basically the same thing held annually in San Diego, confusingly just called Clarion). By all accounts it is the absolute shizzle shizazzle for folks who write SF or fantasy and want to get better at it.

This year’s lineup of instructors looks great: Kij Johnson, John Crowley, Ian McDonald, Charlie Jane Anders, Hiromi Goto, and Paul Park. I’ve read work by some of them, and obviously I’ll be checking out the others’ writing in the next few months.

Apparently it’s a pretty intense six weeks. Folks come from all over the US and from other countries to attend, though fortunately for me it’s only about four miles away: I’ll be living at the UW campus for the six weeks with the rest of the group — in a sorority house, apparently — but I should be able to visit with my wife and son occasionally. It’ll also be great to be hanging out in the U District again — I worked at the University Book Store right off-campus for three years in the mid- to late-90s. Good times. All in all I have to say I’m really looking forward to this whole undertaking.