Clarion West

Six-Week Workshop: Clarion West's renowned Six-Week Workshop is an immersive six-week experience geared to help students build a foundation for professional careers as writers of speculative fiction. Participants must apply to attend and there are more applicants than there is space in the workshop. We especially encourage historically underrepresented writers to apply. In 2023 Clarion West accepted 15 writers from Ghana, the U.K. by way of Pakistan, Brazil, the Bahamas, Mexico, and the United States to attend the virtual Six-Week Workshop with instructors Mary Anne Mohanraj and Benjamin Rosenbaum, Cat Rambo, Samit Basu, Karen Lord, Arley Sorg, and N.K. Jemisin. Writers spent six-weeks writing one short story every week and critiquing 14 others, learning to improve and hone their story writing skills, and learning insights into the writing, publishing, and editing industry.

Outreach Programs: Clarion West hosted its annual author series featuring prominent speculative fiction authors Mary Anne Mohanraj and Benjamin Rosenbaum as a virtual panel and reading on June 27, Cat Rambo as a virtual reading on July 5, Samit Basu as a virtual reading on July 11, Karen Lord as a virtual reading on July 18, Arley Sorg and Christie Yant as a virtual panel with Isabel J. Kim, Kristina Ten, Shreejita Majumder, Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Vida Cruz, and Beatrice Winifred Iker on July 25, and N. K. Jemisin as a hybrid reading on August 1. An average of 60-80 participants watched the readings live and these are available on Clarion Wests Youtube Channel for anyone to view indefinitely. N.K. Jemisin's reading was hosted by Astoria Bookshop in New York and streamed live in Zoom. Approximately 60 people attended the Bookshop reading in person. Thanks to the Amazon Literary Partnership, and other arts grants, this summer reading series was free to the public. Seattle-based author events offered in 2023 included: Steamy in Seattle on May 5th. Award-winning author Gail Carriger from California and Seattle-author Piper J. Drake discussed steampunk, romantic thrillers, and shapeshifter and paranormal romance for an audience of romance writers. This event sold out with 60 participants in-person and 40 Participants online. On July 8, Clarion West partnered with Two Hour Transport for a hybrid open mic event for short story authors. This event had 32 in-person attendees and 2 online. On September 13, Clarion West partnered with the Seattle Public Library for a reading and discussion with author Isabel Caas (CW '18) with 57 people attending. Finally, on November 10, Clarion West held an event with award-winning author Ted Chiang and UW Professor Dr. Emily M. Bender on the topic of AI at Town Hall. This event had 217 people attend in person and 238 watch the event live online. The annual Write-a-thon fundraiser was held June 25 August 5, 2023. In 2023, 698 writers from 27 countries participated, our largest event to date. Additional offerings during the Write-a-thon included 6 free writing classes and 12 writing sessions. The Write-a-thon is a great opportunity for entry-level writers to join the Clarion West community. Our Flash Fiction Workshop is a six-week online intensive experience that empowers writers to create new work and offer and receive critique from their peers. Tara Campbell was our Flash Fiction Workshop hot and provided guidance, critiques, and pre-recorded craft lessons for 150 participants from around the world.

Online Programs: In 2023, Clarion West held 46 online classes and workshops with 1,048 participants attending from all over Seattle, the United States, and around the World. These included 7 free community classes with 799 participants. Prominent authors in the field of speculative fiction taught workshops year-round, including Amy Chua, Shingai Nijeri Kagunda, Naseem Jamnia, Brian Hugenbruch, Marcella Haddad, David Gilmore, Chinelo Onwualu, Eden Robins, Susan J. Morris, Laurie Penny, A.T. Greenblatt, Ian Muneshwar, and more! Clarion West is committed to racial equity in the field of speculative fiction and provided 77 free seats for writers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.