6/6/2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Science fiction and fantasy writers from across the country will gather this month at Michigan State University for the 34th annual Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop.
For more than 25 years, the workshop has brought editors and authors in the science fiction and fantasy writers' realm to the MSU campus for a six-week period. This year the workshop, which began June 3 and runs through July 14, is being held in Van Hoosen Hall.
Six nationally recognized science fiction and fantasy authors are conducting the workshop as writers in residence and are joined by a guest editor from "Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine." Nineteen competitively selected writers were chosen from applicants from 13 states, Canada, Australia and Papua, New Guinea, with academic/professional backgrounds ranging from security, engineering and journalism to physics, economics and drama.
"We are delighted to have such strong participants from such a wide range of geographical and career backgrounds. And, of course, they are all potentially excellent writers," said Lister Matheson, professor of English at MSU and director of the workshop for the past five years.
"The writers in residence are a good combination of long-established major figures, people in the midst of fine careers and exciting young authors whose reputations are taking off," Matheson said. "It is a sign of the success of the workshop that five of the six instructors this year are themselves graduates of Clarion."
The writers in residence for 2001 are Mary A. Turzillo, Geoffrey A. Landis, Pat Murphy, James Patrick Kelly, Steven Barnes and Kelly Link. The guest editor is Shawna McCarthy.
According to Matheson, the workshop continues to receive enough contributions from external sources and former Clarion participants to be able to give varying scholarships to all participants, based on financial need and the quality of their writing.
"The Clarion Workshop is extremely grateful to the Office of the Provost and the College of Arts and Letters for their support and sponsorship and to organizations such as the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association, Oregon Science Fiction Conventions Inc., the New York Science Fiction Society and to Ray Walsh, owner of Curious Books and The Archives Book Shop, for their annual scholarships," Matheson said. "The workshop also relies heavily on the continuing loyalty of 'Clarionites' (alumni and friends of Clarion), who contribute generously to various scholarship funds, including the Damon Knight-Kate Wilhelm Endowed Scholarship."
In addition to the workshop, eight free public readings and book signing sessions will be held at The Archives Book Shop at 517 W. Grand River in East Lansing and Barnes and Noble at 2299 W. Grand River in Okemos. The schedule is as follows:
- Steven Barnes: 7 p.m., Thursday, June 7, The Archives Book Shop noon, Saturday, June 9, Barnes and Noble
- James Patrick Kelly: 7 p.m., Thursday, June 21, The Archives Book Shop
- Geoffrey Landis: 7 p.m., Thursday, July 12, The Archives Book Shop
7 p.m., Thursday, July 5, Barnes and Noble
- Kelly Link: 7 p.m., Thursday, June 14, The Archives Book Shop
- Pat Murphy: 7 p.m., Thursday, June 28, The Archives Book Shop
- Mary Turzillo: 7 p.m., Thursday, July 12, The Archives Book Shop
The Clarion Workshop was founded by Robin Scott Wilson in 1968 at Clarion State College (now Clarion University) in Pennsylvania. Wilson built his system partly on the tradition of mutual criticism in use at the Milford Science Fiction Writers' Conference.
Many workshop graduates have published since leaving Clarion, including Ed Bryant, Octavia E. Butler, George Alec Effinger, James Patrick Kelly, Vonda McIntyre, Kim Stanley Robinson, Martha Soukup and Bruce Sterling.
For more information about the Clarion Workshop, contact Matheson at (517) 355-9598 or visit the Web at http://www.msu.edu/~clarion