Your Personal Odyssey Workshop 2026

The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced the application deadline for the 2026 Your Personal Odyssey Writing Workshop (YPO). The remote program began in 2022 and is an intensive, one-on-one workshop experience in which students may pick a six-week, 12-week, or 18-week pace on writing topics of their choice and assignments of their own designs.

The six-week session begins June 1, 2026. The 12-week session begins August 12, 2026. The 18-week …Read More

Clarion 2026 Instructors

The Clarion Workshop in San Diego CA has announced the instructors for its 2026 session: Andy Duncan, Elizabeth Hand, Grady Hendrix, Sarah Pinsker, Abbey Mei Otis, and Erin Roberts.Jac Jemc is faculty director.

The workshop will be held June 28, 2026 – August 8, 2026 at UC San Diego. Applications for the workshop opened on December 1, 2025 and close February 15, 2026. For more information, see the Clarion website. …Read More

2026 Odyssey Workshop Online Classes

The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced its online classes for 2026.

Melissa Scott will teach Worldbuilding in Fantastic Fiction from March 5 – April 2, 2026.

Barbara A. Barnett will teach All the World’s a Page: Adapting Acting Techniques to Strengthen Your Fiction from Feburary 24 – March 24, 2026.

Barbara Ashford will teach One Brick at a Time: Crafting Compelling Scenes from March 3-31, 2026.

Applications to participate are …Read More

Clarion West 2026 Virtual Workshop

Clarion West has announced that the 2026 Summer Six-Week Workshop will run virtually from June 21-August 1, 2026. The instructors will be Tara Campbell, Indrapramit Das, David Thomas Moore, and Rebecca Roanhorse.

Tuition is $3,600, and full and partial tuition scholarships will be available for application for those with financial need. Applications for the workshop will open on December 1, 2025.

For more information, see the Clarion West website. …Read More

Clarion West 2026 Novel Writing Workshop

Clarion West’s nine-month online Novel Writing Workshop is open for applications for its 2026 year. Karen Lord will be the instructor. The workshop will include class sessions, office hours, one-on-one meetings, and guest lectures.

The workshop will be held virtually from March 9 to November 23, 2026. Applications are open from October 13 to November 13, 2025. The supporting tuition is $3,200 and the Helping Hands tuition for those in …Read More

Clarion West Announces Teen Writing Camps

Clarion West has announced it will host its first three first in-person summer camps for teens in 2025. Eligible teens are students entering 9th grade through 12th grade, and all camps take place over the course of a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clarion West partner locations in Seattle WA.

The Worldbuilding Summer Camp for BIPOC Teen Writers, instructed by Tara Campbell, will be held July 7-11, …Read More

SFWA Career Mentorship Program Open to Applications for 2025

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has opened applications their 2025 career mentoring program, seeking both mentors and mentees. The program is an all-volunteer service provided free of charge… with the objective of providing community, sharing knowledge, and offering networking opportunities. The program runs for three months.

Mentees are chosen via lottery and paired with mentors based on their responses to questions. Mentorships are open to all SFWA …Read More

Clarion West Announces Scholarship for Trans Writers

The Clarion West writers’ workshop has announced a new scholarship for trans, two-spirit, nonbinary, and other gender-expansive authors. The Sea Star scholarship, funded by an anonymous donor, will cover full annual tuition (currently $3200) for one qualifying student per year. Clarion states:

Trans, two-spirit, nonbinary, and other gender expansive authors who continue to change and inform the landscape of speculative fiction for the better. We know that trans writers are …Read More

Salam Award Workshop Participants

The participants for the second Salam Award Workshop have been announced for the 2025 session. The workshop will run for ten days beginning on February 17, 2025, and will host 14 writers at LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan. The instructors for this session are Karen Joy Fowler and Robert V.S Redick. The cohort for the 2025 workshop includes:

  • Zaynah Abbas
  • Tooba Afraz
  • Saher Hasnain
  • Omar Ali Jehangir
  • Kehkashan Khalid
  • Maeeda …Read More

Clarion 2025 Instructors

The Clarion Workshop in San Diego CA has announced the instructors for its 2025 session: Elizabeth Bear, Premee Mohamed, Cadwell Turnbull, Annalee Newitz, Jedediah Berry, and GennaRose Nethercott. Jac Jemc is faculty director.

The workshop will be held June 29, 2025 – August 9, 2025 at UC San Diego. Applications for the workshop opened on December 1, 2024 and close February 15, 2025.

While you are here, please take a …Read More

Clarion West Virtual Workshops

Clarion West has announced that their next six-week workshop will be held virtually instead of in-person, and will run June 22-August 2, 2025. The new format is designed to give students more time to write, additional lecture time with instructors, and more experimentation with workshopping models. The instructors will be Maurice Broaddus, Malka Older, Diana Pho, and Martha Wells. Applications open on December 1, 2024 and close February 15, 2025. …Read More

Clarion West 2025

TheClarion West Summer Workshop has announced its 2025 instructors: Maurice Broaddus, Malka Older, Diana Pho, and Martha Wells.

The six-week summer workshop will be held virtually from June 22- August 2, 2025 (they alternate virtual and in-person years).

The workshop is moving forward with a new format designed to give students more time to write, additional lecture time with instructors, and more experimentation with workshopping models. Their sneak …Read More

2025 Salam Award Writers Workshop Applications Open

The Salam Award Writers Workshop is open for applications for its 2025 session. The workshop will be held February 17-27, 2025 in Lahore, Pakistan. Karen Joy Fowler and Amal El-Mohtar are the lead instructors. There will be a Clarion/Milford style workshop, lectures on craft, guest sessions from members of the Salam Award board, and a sightseeing tour. Since 2017, The Salam Award has honored the best Pakistani and Pakistani-diaspora writing …Read More

New Clarion West Scholarships

Clarion West has announced two new scholarships for 2024 students.

The Salam Award Scholarship, sponsored by The Salam Award, provides up to $1,000 for a student of Pakistani origin, whether a Pakistani resident of any ethnicity, or a Pakistani-origin student anywhere in the world.

The Malik Sharif-Fehmida Anwar Scholarship, sponsored by Clarion West instructor Usman T. Malik and his parents, is an annual scholarship providing up to $2,500 to …Read More

Clarion 2024 Instructors

The Clarion Workshop in San Diego has announced the instructors for its 2024 session: Matt Bell, Jeffrey Ford, Nalo Hopkinson, Sam J. Miller, Alyssa Wong, and Isabel Yap. Jac Jemc is faculty director.

The workshop will be held June 23, 2024 – August 3, 2024. Applications for the workshop open on December 1, 2023.

The Clarion West Summer Workshoppreviously announced its instructors and dates.

While you are here, please take …Read More

Clarion West 2024 Instructors

TheClarion West Summer Workshop has announced its 2024 instructors: Ruoxi Chen, Carmen Maria Machado, Usman T. Malik, Brenda Peynado, Sarah Pinsker, and Cadwell Turnbull. The six-week summer workshop will be held June 16 – July 27, 2024 in Seattle WA, with applications opening in December 2023. For more information, see the Clarion West website.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or …Read More

2024 Odyssey Workshop Online Classes

The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced its online classes for 2024.

Barbara Ashford will teach The Heart of the Matter: Bringing Emotional Resonance to Your Storytelling from January 9 to February 6, 2024.

Gregory Ashe will teach Writer’s Toolkit: Taking Your Story from Idea to Manuscript from January 18 to February 15, 2024.

Jason Ridler will teach Right Voice for the Right Story: Discover the Variety of Voices Inside You …Read More

Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund To Close

Debbie Cross and Paul Wrigley have announced the end of the Susan C. Petrey Clarion Scholarship Fund. Over the past 43 years, the fund has awarded 71 scholarships to Clarion & Clarion West Writers Workshops in Michigan, Seattle, and San Diego.

The fund was established as a memorial for writer Susan C. Petrey, who died in 1980. At first, scholarships were awarded just to the Clarion Workshop. With the restart …Read More

Orbit Announces Free Virtual Event Series

Orbit has announced How to Write Your First SFF Novel, a free virtual event series for aspiring speculative fiction authors. The series will run from October 11 to November 15, 2023.

Each event in the series is a virtual panel discussion with four SF writers on topics including How to Choose an Idea for Your Novel , Tropes as Writing Tools , Writing While Working or Caretaking , and more. …Read More

2023 Scholarship from Hell Recipients

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) announced Alex Luceli Jiménez as the recipient of its 2023 Scholarship From Hell, and Timaeus Bloom as winner of the Virtual Scholarship from Hell. The scholarship places writers in the intensive Horror Universityworkshop, which will take place duringStokerCon 2023.

Jiménez will receive airfare to and from the StokerCon venue, a four-night stay at the convention, free registration for StokerCon 2023, and free choice of Horror …Read More

2023 Williamson Lectureship

The 46th Williamson Lectureship, held April 13-15, 2023 in Portales NM, was a chance for the event’s committee to try a few new things, including a student display of science fiction artwork inspired by author Jack Williamson’s work and the screening of student genre films.

The theme of Climates of Empire suited the second in-person post-COVID Lectureship, held to honor SF pioneer Jack Williamson at Eastern NM University and around …Read More

Photo Story: Rainforest Writers Retreat

The annual Rainforest Resort Village writers retreat, hosted by Patrick Swenson and Fairwood Press, took place at Lake Quinault WA with three sessions: Feb 22-26, 2023; March 1-5, 2023; and March 8-12, 2023. For more, see their website.

 

This report and more like it in the May 2023 issue of Locus.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We …Read More

Photo Story: Salam Award Writers’ Workshop

The inaugural Salam Award Writers’ Workshop was held March 5-11, 2023 at Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan. The workshop brought in 14 international writers, with instructors Elizabeth Hand and Mary Anne Mohanraj, for daily workshops, evening panels, and tours of the city. Organizers say this week-long residency was the first of its kind in the country. Attendees included former winners and finalists of the Salam Award, given …Read More

2023 Wayward Wormhole Workshop

The inaugural Wayward Wormhole workshop will run November 1-21, 2023 at Castle de Llaés in Gurb, Spain. The instructors are Tobias Buckell, Ann Leckie, Sarah Pinsker, and Cat Rambo. Applications open April 10, 2023 and the fee is $4,915, which includes Twenty-two nights shared accommodation in a 10th Century castle (anticipating two students per room), instruction, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, commemorative T-Shirt, and other SWAG, plus one night’s hotel stay …Read More

Clarion West Call For Poster Artist

Clarion West announced a call for an artist to create artwork for our 2023 summer programming! The submission deadline is February 24, 2023 and compensation starts at $750, with the potential for increased payment depending on experience.

We want to commission a piece of art that inspires us and our writers to create and explore with bravery and freedom. The art needs to represent the genres of science fiction, …Read More

2023 Horror University Workshop Open

The Horror Writers Association’s 2023 Horror University Online is currently open for registration for the next quarter (February, March, and April 2023). They are offering virtual workshops on a variety of topics for horror writers everywhere interested in refining their writing, learning new skills and techniques, or perfecting their manuscript presentation.

Live courses include:

  • The Master Plotting Crash Course with John Skipp, February 6
  • Decoding Screenwriting with L. …Read More

Workshop News

The Odyssey Workshop has announced the Space Cowboy Books Working Class Writers Scholarship :

Funded by the award-winning Space Cowboy Books, which has the mission to spread the love of science fiction, literature, literacy, and print media, the Space Cowboy Books Working Class Writers Scholarship is offered to provide financial support for a working-class or impoverished writer to attend Your Personal Odyssey. To be considered for this scholarship, you must …Read More

Your Personal Odyssey Workshop

The Odyssey Writing Workshop has transitioned away from its old in-person, six-week workshop model, continuing the online approach that began in during the pandemic: Your Personal Odyssey Workshop.

Director Jeanne Cavelos explains,

Holding Odyssey online in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic revealed to me that a huge number of talented writers want an in-depth, challenging program to build their skills but can’t attend a six-week, in-person workshop. More …Read More

2023 Clarion West Workshop Going Virtual

Clarion West announced via email that the 2023 Summer Workshop will be held virtually. Per the announcement:

The workshop dates are June 25 – August 5, 2023. We accept 15 students in virtual classes to keep the workload and screen time manageable for all. Tuition is $3,200, and applicants can apply to scholarships through the workshop application. Applications are open January 4 – March 1.

No changes to the instructor …Read More

2023 Clarion Applications Open

Applications for Clarion’s six-week summer workshop are open now through March 1, 2023.

The workshop will be held June 25 – August 5, 2023 in San Diego CA, and the instructors are Andy Duncan, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Tochi Onyebuchi, Anjali Sachdeva, and Rae Carson & Charles Coleman Finlay. Jac Jemc is faculty director.

The application fee is $55 until February 15. From February 16 to March 1, the fee is …Read More

Salam Award Writers Workshop 2023

The inaugural Salam Award Writers Workshop will be held March 6-10, 2023 in Lahore, Pakistan. Elizabeth Hand and MaryAnne Mohanraj are the lead instructors. There will be a Clarion/Milford style workshop, lectures on craft, guest sessions from members of the Salam Award board, and a sightseeing tour. Since 2017, The Salam Award has honored the best Pakistani and Pakistani-diaspora writing in the SFF genre. This workshop will exclusively focus on …Read More

Clarion West Seeks New Home

The Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle WA is looking for new facilities:

Clarion West has a long history of partnering with universities and organizations in the Seattle area to house the Six-Week Workshop. As we’ve honed in on what our students need for their workshop experience and focused on affordability, equity, and accessibility, the number of potential partners has narrowed. Even before the pandemic, we couldn’t secure a long-term …Read More