So I’ve been perusing the bookstores for books by Clarion West instructors. I’m applying for the class of 2009, and I figure it would be good to at least have a passing familiarity with the writing of the people who are going to teach.
First store I went to didn’t have work by any of them. So I went to a Chapters (the Canadian Borders) and found work by Elizabeth Bear, and of course, Karen Joy Fowler, but that’s it. So I guess I’m going to have to resort to Amazon. This makes me unhappy.
The slate of instructors can be found here. I’d like to read at least a book by each of them. Does anyone have a recommendations?
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13 Comments(+Add)
Abe books (now owned by Amazon) is a conglomerate of independent used book stores, including in Canada. abebooks.com is the website. I use them all the time. Of the listed writers, Rudy is the one I’m not familiar with.
I had Dr Kessel as a writer in residence when I went to Clarion in 1996. He’s a fantastic person. Novel to read is “Corrupting Dr. Nice” or “Good News From Outer Space.” But he’s best known for his short stories, some of which are online. His recent collection The Baum Plan for Financial Independence is pub’d by Small Beer Press. Several of the stories are audio files online, one read by Greg Frost. Another good source of bibliography is to check out their websites.
Bear is Bear. Plenty of her work about, in current magazines, online, in book stores. Read her shorts as well as her novels.
Nalo should be readily available. You’ve found something by KJ Fowler.
Hartwell is a senior editor at Tor and I’d kill to spend time with him.
Good luck with your app.
Oz
Thanks for your thoughts, Nick. I didn’t know you went to Clarion! If I may ask…. what should I put in the application essay? Should I make it witty/funny or pure business?
To be honest, I’ve read the bios of all the instructors and there isn’t a single one who isn’t highly decorated. I mean, I’ll be blown away if I’m accepted and can study under any of them.
However, with limited reading time, I have to aim to read their seminal work first (remember I’m going to the WotF workshop not two weeks after Clarion closes, so I’m have to read Wentworth, Powers, Anderson, Farland, …etc as well)
Not Nick. Oz.
I went to Clarion, not Clarion West. Cat knows more about how Clarion West is oriented. I don’t remember doing an essay, just submitting 2 of my short stories. But that was then. And that was Clarion.
For Kessel, read his latest short stories and his Nebula winning ones. Same for Fowler. Read Nalo’s first novel that won a contest to be published. Bear just won a Hugo last year.
Should be interesting if you end up doing both in one year. WOTF is about writing quickly under pressure. Clarion is not.
Oz
Sorry! I thought this was Nicholas Ozment, who frequently uses the same moniker! I should have used the sig on the comment, and I will, next time
Thanks for the thoughts on Clarion. I’d thought Clarion = Clarion West except for location. Interesting to hear that there’s a difference other than the instructors.
Looks like I’ll be picking up some collections on Amazon. Reading their shorts is a great suggestion.
There’s more similarity between Clarion and Clarion West than there is with WOTF. They’re both six weeks. They both have writers in residence for a week. They both focus on short stories. They’re about the same size. But even when I went, there was a slight difference in the philosophy. That’s why I suggest talking to a West Alum about the specifics.
Not to mention that I went so long ago. :::cough, cough::: I’m a writer that was more hindered by it than helped, though I can name four of my six writers in residence as personal friends, not just mentors.
If West is like Clarion, they only admit you if you’re at a point where you can be helped a lot by the program. If you’re too advanced, they won’t admit you.
abebooks.com, not just Amazon. It has great search features. You can narrow the results by your geographic area.
Oz
Wow. Now I’m a little alarmed. I might be disqualified because I won WotF?
>I< sure feel like I need help to get to the next step in story writing. I’m not exactly a master, I just wrote a story that happened to appeal to the WotF judges.
I was going to use my WotF winning story as a writing sample, but maybe now I’ll use something a little less polished.
Is it one or two you submit? Because if it’s two, I’d do one that’s polished and one that has something you’re not happy with, something you’d want critiqued. But if Hartwell is going to read only one, you want your WOTF in your app package and then discuss how you feel you just got “lucky” in your essay if West doesn’t take two stories in the package.
Do you really feel you just got “lucky?”
Plenty of time yet, I think.
Oz
I really do feel like I got a lucky story. I look at my writing, even that story, and feel like there’s so much I could do better.
For a completely objective comparison, look at my co-winners, Matthew Rotundo and Donald Mead, both of whom already had pro-sales when they won.
When I’ve won a Hugo/Nebula, or at LEAST get a few more pro-sales, I’ll acknowledge that I’m decent. Until then, I could use all the help I can get.
Oh, PS, I added you to the site’s blogroll. Your comments have been awesome!
I’m flattered to be added to your blogroll! I picked yours up from that discussion thread about everyone’s blogs. Doubled my reading pleasure in one day, I think!
Oz
I order my stuff through Chapters online and I order seriously weird stuff (“The Aristocracy in Mexico from 1910 to the end of the 20th century” is my Christmas present to myself). I’ve found it’s cheaper than Amazon, a lot of times, because of the postage. There’s also Abebooks which Oz already mentioned.
I think I’ll take a look at AbeBooks, then Chapters. Actually, I just re-discovered an independent sci-fi/fantasy bookstore from my youth, White Dwarf Books, so I’ll probably try and get them from there first. Vive Les Independents!
You can also try the used book store that’s almost on Granville and Broadway. Actually, it’s on Broadway between Granville and Fir. They sell used comic books, movies and lots of sci-fi and fantasy. There’s also a very big used bookstore downtown, it’s based on these Japanese used stores … the name escapes me. Find Book maybe?
Yeah, I’m familiar with that one. It’s across from Chapters, and they have a pretty nifty selection. Still it’s always better to be a customer at a place that might eventually host a book signing, and White Dwarf seems more like that kind of place
Thanks for the suggestions, though!