Clarion West News

­­Our seventh Clarion West Write-a-thon ended on July 30, 2010, along with this year’s Clarion West Writers Workshop. Several participants posted about their agony and ecstasy at the Clarion West Forums and on their blogs. Michael Swanwick's generous offer to immortalize donors in his 42 Write-a-thon stories was snapped up within hours of him making it--see the results here and on our Forums. Many thanks and congratulations go out to all our Write-a-thon participants and their friends, and to everyone in the Clarion West community.  Read more »

With your help, we've once again raised the money needed to meet the Amazon.com challenge grant three months early. Amazon.com told us they would give Clarion West $25,000 if we could raise $25,000 by October 31, 2010, and as of July 31 we've raised over $30,000. The 2010 Write-a-thon was essential, bringing in over $9000, almost half of what we needed. Our community's generous donations of time and money are making it possible for us to run one of the world's premiere writing workshops. Thank you to all our friends and supporters, old and new: Potlatch, Norwescon, the Carl Brandon Society, the Susan C. Petrey Fellowship, King County 4Culture, Amazon.com, and the growing list of those who keep Clarion West a going concern even in tough times.  Read more »

Pat Murphy, Karen Joy Fowler, and three other stellar Clarion West supporters gave a reading at San Francisco's Borderlands Bookstore on July 10. The reading raised over seventy dollars and unquantifiable awareness for our 2010 Write-a-thon and also featured Tim Pratt, Rachel Swirsky, and Katherine Sparrow. The appreciative audience included Ellen Klages, Jed Hartman, Nick Mamatas, Maggie Croft, Christopher Reynaga, and many more CW, Clarion, and Clarion South alumni and friends.

Thanks to Borderlands for hosting this reading, and to Erin Cashier for organizing it. If you’d like to organize a Clarion West-themed reading in your area, you can contact Erin Cashier at writeathon@clarionwest.org. We’re working out the details right now and looking forward to coordinating similar events soon.

In the first three days of our 2010 Write-a-thon, we've had 42 donors take up multiple-award-winner Michael Swanwick on his offer to include their names in all 42 of the stories he's writing. Swanwick is sold out! Thank you all so much, and a special thank you to Cory Doctorow and Boing Boing for spreading the word so fast.

There are still several weeks of Write-a-thon to go. If you'd like to donate in support of another participating author (some will also include your name, or that of a cherished friend or enemy, in a new story), go here. You'll find links to Write-a-thon pages for Eileen Gunn, Kij Johnson, Andrea Hairston, Vonda N. McIntyre, and many more.

If you're a Clarion West member, you've been receiving our biannual newsletter through the mail since you joined. Now the Seventh Week will be available as a PDF--starting with our Fall 2010 issue. Although the old printed-on-paper edition will still be delivered to those who prefer it, we’re hoping most members will choose the new electronic option because:  Read more »

• We can offer better content, including color photos and more in-depth articles and interviews.
• Fewer trees will die.
• We’ll save a ton on printing and mailing costs.

At our Annual Meeting March 5, three new members joined our Board of Directors and two longtime board members retired. Kelley Eskridge is our new board chair, and Kij Johnson ('87) is now our vice chair. Karen G. Anderson will take on some development duties such as grant writing, as well as her general board responsibilities. Both Kelley and Kij are award-winning authors with close ties to the Clarion West community, while Karen has a background in digital journalism and is active in the Seattle-area fan community, especially with the Foolscap convention.

Our outgoing chair, Deborah Fisher, remains on the board. Eileen Gunn, our outgoing vice chair, has retired from the board but remains active as a volunteer, as does outgoing Development Director Kate Schaefer.  Read more »

Potlatch 19 is in Seattle March 5 – 7, with special Clarion West guests and events. Hugo Award winner David Levine (‘00), fresh from his (simulated) Mars mission, is there, as are Nebula Award winner Ellen Klages, Vonda N. McIntyre (who has won both awards and founded CW’s first incarnation to boot), and others including--we hope--you. You won’t want to miss our scholarship auction Saturday night at 8 p.m., featuring Octavia E. Butler memorabilia, signed first editions from Jack Cady, Charles de Lint, Kathe Koja, and others, and a range of beautiful and peculiar craft objects.  Read more »

Clarion West will receive $3200 from Norwescon 33 to fully fund a scholarship for one of our 2010 writing workshop students. We'll select the scholarship recipient from among the eighteen applicants chosen to attend this summer's session of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. You can learn more about the workshop and the application process here. Incoming Clarion West Board Chair Kelley Eskridge and alumna Caren Gussoff ('08) will officially accept the donation during Norwescon 33's Awards Banquet, to be held on April 1, 2010.  Read more »

­­Our sixth Clarion West Write-a-thon ended on July 31, 2009, along with this year's Clarion West Writers Workshop. Several participants posted about their agony and ecstasy in the Clarion West Forums and on their blogs. K. Tempest Bradford spotlighted writers of color participating in the Write-a-thon and raised money for the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Fund as well as Clarion West.  Read more »

With your help, we've raised the money needed to meet the Amazon.com challenge grant three months early! Last October, Amazon.com told us they would give Clarion West $25,000 if we could raise $25,000 by October 31, 2009, and as of July 31 we've raised over $35,000.  Read more »

With standing-room-only audiences, publicity in the New Yorker, and lively participation from Samuel R. Delany, Pat Murphy, Tim Pratt, Jack Womack, and Cat Rambo ('05), two July readings highlighted the coast-to-coast presence of the Clarion West community. On Wednesday, July 15, in New York City, Ellen Datlow and KGB's Matthew Kressel hosted a CW benefit featuring Delany, Womack, Rambo, and alumni Rajan Khanna ('08) and Kris Dikeman ('05). See photos from the event here.  Read more »

We have more than 70 writers signed up for the 2009 Write-a-thon. Eileen Gunn, Michael Swanwick, Cat Rambo, Louise Marley, Rachel Swirsky, Nisi Shawl, and a host of others will be writing for donations from June 21 through July 31. Support Clarion West by sponsoring them as they reach their writing goals.

Potlatch 17 will be held in Seattle at the Hotel Deca from February 29 through March 2. From its first year of existence, Potlatch has been an important source of financial support for Clarion West. In 2008 Potlatch will host several special 25th Anniversary events for us.  Read more »