27 thoughts on “Writers Going to Clarion West”

1. Have faith–they said that I was the last person they were calling last night and they’d be in touch during the first of this week with other people. More people on their list to call, and some of their choices were going to other workshops instead. Still a total possibility.

2. Thanks, Maggie! (and congrats!)

   By the way, I really liked your post about deciding to apply to CW. I had a similar experience. I used to travel for work quite a lot (between the USA and Europe). Two weeks was the longest time I spent away and it was hell.

   Strangely though, my wife and two boys are really pulling for me to get in to CW. I think it may have something to do with my summer backup plan: a cross-country road trip. Perhaps they aren’t quite as interested in giant balls of twine as I’ve been led to believe? 🙂

3. Ugh, I just found this sad story!

   This writer was accepted but had to decline because they just started a new job. Best of luck next year!!!!

   http://naamenblog.wordpress.com/

4. Jim Stewart added to the list above.

5. You are welcome, and thank you :).

   I’ll be pulling for you.

6. Author, and Clarion West grad, K. Tempest Bradford has graciously posted a “relink” to her CW Journal from 2003 for all the newly minted Clarionites. Enjoy, folks! 🙂

   [P.S. Thanks, Maggie!!]

7. I haven’t heard anything and the blogosphere has been quiet the last two days.

   Hello to the folks in the following cities!

   Austin, TX
   Chicago, IL
   Oxford, MS
   Iowa City, IA
   Portland, OR
   Minneapolis, MN
   New York, NY

   I’ll bet you’re anxious too! Thanks for stopping by!

8. Damn! You’ve caught me lurking, Editor… (Iowa City, IA)

9. I’m so excited to see who else is going, and it has been quiet. I’ve been hoping you’ve caught who has been accepted so I can go over and squee for them.

   Maybe it will be an exciting weekend on-line?

10. Hopefully so!

    I’m going to keep up my searches regardless of the outcome for me. I think it is exciting to read the posts of folks who are going (good luck with your prep work, btw!).

11. Ha! Just when I post that no one is posting, Pam Rentz posts her acceptance! Congrats, Pam!!!!

12. Thanks for keeping up the searches. In addition to the Clarion prep it’s insane here at my house anyway. (I am chair of grant writing at my son’s school, and lots of grants are coming due. WHEW!) I’m happy to see the people I’ll be spending time with.

    I just want to reiterate that if you don’t get in this time that I hope you’ll continue to apply. Timing is everything.

13. Hi! Thank you.

    I must be the Portland, OR person. Clicking around trying to find my classmates instead of getting my work done.

14. Hi, Pam. Welcome and Congrats!!!

    I saw a few cities pop up in my log. A number of visitors who’ve been looking in every few hours. So, I thought I’d say hello! 🙂

15. @Maggie

    Thanks! Even if I don’t make it I’m definitely going to apply again. Heck, I may even submit some stories for rejection publication. 😉

16. “Don’t Give Up Hope”

    Over on the CW website, there is an ongoing thread about what to do while you are waiting to hear about your submission. A few folks were posting about the process and such. Vylar Kaftan (CW ’04) jumped in today with the best advice:

    My suggestion is–you won’t know until you receive the response. In the meantime, do what you’d do anyway. Just keep writing.

    Here is a link to the thread:

    CW Forum – While You’re Waiting.

17. Absolutely! Keep writing. And if you don’t get in you’ll be an even better writer when you submit next year.

18. Yep! Practice, practice, practice.

    In the CW forum thread, Vylar put up a challenge for folks to write a story before they heard from CW.

    I was already working on a new story, but I used the nudge to blast through. Wasn’t easy either as I was on a business trip (conference) and had to find excuses to bail out of social functions so I could do my real work [writing]. 🙂

19. No news so far today, but here are a few of the cities folks are checking in from…

    Gulfport, MS
    Otsego, MI
    Hillsboro, OR
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Aberdeen, MD
    Atlanta, GA

    Welcome!

20. Rajan Khanna just posted his CW acceptance along with an announcement that his mother is undergoing treatment for cancer. Best wishes to you and your family, Rajan.

21. Well, I suspect the number of visitors to this page will dwindle down soon… My email rejection came in at 2230 EST last night.

    Here are a few more cities from the logs! Welcome!

    Piscataway, NJ
    Carthage, IL
    San Mateo, CA

22. @St. Andrew – Don’t feel bad about being caught lurking. I’m not going to reveal how many times you dropped in. 🙂

    P.S. Your original comment on this thread got caught in the spam chopper! Sorry!

23. John Remy has blogged his “acceptance” as an alternate for CW. I didn’t know they had a bench program. Good for him!

24. Carol Ryles is going to CW. Check out this Australian writer’s post about why she chose to apply to CW in Seattle over San Diego and Brisbane.

25. Hi editor, thanks for visiting my blog and for the congrats. Hope San Diego people don’t get too upset that I like Seattle’s weather better. Honestly though, the choice was a hard one, and the weather was a minor consideration. I would have been happy with either.

    I first decided I wanted to go to Clarion 10 years ago, but couldn’t go because of family & uni commitments. So every year I’d make myself a ‘Virtual Clarion’ folder and conduct my own private Clarion where I’d try to churn out 1000 words a night and then workshop what I wrote with the help of ‘how to write’ books by people like Nancy Kress & Ursula Le Guin. Made me feel a bit better about not going and kept me writing in a different way than my (at the time) usual sporadic fashion.

    All the best for the future,
    Carol

26. Oh, I think the people in San Diego will be able to handle it. 🙂

    You’re right about the choice though. Very difficult to decide where to apply with all the great writers.

    Your trajectory is similar to mine. I’ve wanted to go to Clarion since, well, 1986? [Crap, where has the time gone?] Like you (and many others going to Clarion), work and family commitments have kept me from pursuing my dream in recent years. Although in my case I wonder if that wasn’t more of a convenient excuse as the before I could lay claim to a family the limiting factor was fear.

    This was the first year I managed to get up the gumption to apply. I’m looking forward to putting it out there again next year.

    Have fun in Seattle!!!

27. Two more snagged from the CW message boards.

    http://alphawolfguide.livejournal.com/
    http://spitkitten.livejournal.com/