Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin

Hey everyone,


Since Ursula is such a beloved figure in our circles, I thought this would be of interest. The nonprofit I work for, Literary Arts, was asked by Ursula's family to create a live event to honor her life and work. I was fortunate (and very, very nervous, tbh) to be tasked with doing all of the visual design.

Speakers include our own Kelly Link, Margaret Atwood (by video), Molly Gloss, Walidah Imarisha, Jonathan Lethem, China Miéville, and Daniel José Older.

You can watch the livestream here on Wednesday, June 13 at 7:30pm PST.

In the slim chance you're located near Portland, OR there are still a handful of free tickets left to the show.

Best,
Alanna

Introduction: DM Armstrong

Hey, all. Sorry for the much delayed response. I'm very excited to meet all of you, to read your work, and get to know each of you.

Do you have a nickname?

No.

What do you like to read?

Authors I’ve enjoyed in the past year or so: China Mieville, Hanya Yanagihara, Jeff Vandermeer, Jesmyn Ward, Colson Whitehead, Ken Liu, Paolo Bacigalupi, Mark Haddon, Kim Stanley Robinson, Neal Stephenson, Manuel Gonzales, Brian Evenson, A. Merc Rustad, Maxim Loskutoff, John Scalzi, Kelly Link, Leigh Bardugo, Dale Bailey, Anthony Doerr, Dan Vyleta, Charlie Jane Anders.

What kind of stories do you write?

Mostly fantastical/fabulist—based in reality. I’d call it urban fantasy, but it’s often rural. (Almost no high fantasy). Sci-fi: leaning toward near-future, near-reality-based over space opera or far-flung future. Also realism.

How would you describe your personality?

Private.

What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?

Writing. Reading. Biking. More writing.

Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?

My wife and three-year-old son. I hope.

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?

I did a masters and a PhD in creative writing, so I guess that counts as “intensive”? Nothing so compressed for time though. Or genre specific. Both of those attributes make Clarion exciting, but also scary (see below).

What scares you most about Clarion?

I process slowly (as is evidenced by the lateness of this post), so I’m hoping I can work quickly and well with everyone’s feedback. Possibly being out of touch with what my fellow writers are doing. Only figuring out how to take full advantage of Clarion after I’ve left Clarion.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?

Write. Read. Bike.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?

Pen. Notebook.

What is your ideal career?

Move to writing/screenwriting full time? A little less teaching creative writing.

What else do you want us to know about you?

I write literary and speculative fiction and push to meld those two with every new publication. Here’s what I write and what I’ve published: www.davidarmstrongwriter.com.

I’m always looking for people with whom I can talk about books, and I’m always looking for recommendations from other writers/readers who share my interests. I've wanted to attend Clarion for a long time and am thankful to be sharing this experience with all of you this summer.

The 3Cs: Comic-Con & Cosplay?

Since past groups have been able to go to comic-con together, I thought it'd be fun to post some themed questions. Some food for thought. Some "so are we all going as the whole LOTR fellowship or what?". You know, that. So . . .

Have you gone to Comic-Con before, and if so, when?

What fandom peaks your fancy?

Will you cosplay? If you could/can, what will it be as?

What celebrity would you be most excited to see?

Is there a particular panel/area you are most excited to see?


Feel free to add extra questions or anything you would like to share about yourself. :)

ALSO, I know that not everyone enjoys the idea or experience of Comic-Con, or may be nervous about going. If you're one of those people, don't feel like you have to participate if we do become able to go. There are so many amazing things to do in SD, Comic-Con is just one, and so if you think you rather go do one amazing thing instead of this specific amazing thing, then go for it!




I suppose it'd be right for me to go first:

Have you gone to Comic-Con before, and if so, when?

I've never been, though I have wanted to for a long time. Two years ago, my roommate and I walked around downtown, outside of the convention center and admired all the cool cosplays people had on, while grabbing some good food to eat. But I've never been in, so I'm excited to go.

What fandom peaks your fancy?

      I love Stranger Things. LOTR. I enjoyed Sherlock while it lasted (but book Sherlock will always have my heart). Jurassic Park is my shiz--not the new movies. No.
      Superpeople movies are a thing I enjoy, but only the movies, so it's a casual relationship. I love Disney because, well, childhood (can Disney be problematic? absolutely. Do I still wish I had all my old VCRs from when I was five? Maybe . . .). You know what's not problematic? Studio Ghibli. Also childhood, and adulthood.
       I think that's it for now. Just me and my basic-ness.
     
       P.S. I was wrong. Avatar the Last Airbender and Gravity Falls.

Will you cosplay? If you could/can, what will it be as?

      So my friends and I have a long-running joke that revolves around the internet phenomenas of "Gandalf Epic Sax Guy 10 Hours" and "Teen Dresses up as Sexy Gandalf". So I will likely be dressing up as sexy Gandalf (Gandalf with stockings and heels underneath the long cloak), blasting the sax from a speaker every so often.
     OR I'll do something less weird. Mabel from Gravity Falls? Pointy-boob Lara Croft? Wonder Woman? Cthulu? The Raven from E.A.P.'s poem, but just the Raven? The world is my fabric store.

What celebrity would you be most excited to see?

      I made this question, but I don't have a good answer for this question. I'm not too acquainted with the comic world, but I'd like to meet the cartoonist Aminder Dhaliwal and Larry F. Houston. And anyone from said interests above, of course.

Is there a particular panel/area you are most excited to see?

      I have just realized that very little is confirmed for this year's Comic-Con. So I guess no, not right now, but we'll see when they post more info on the website.

P.S.S. Maybe this is just me, but I find a good amount of fun in posing/answering seemingly random questions (i.e. if you could be part animal, but only one animal and it would have to be your top half only, what would it be?). If you too have thought about this, I encourage you to do so.

Hi all! I'm late to the party (just found the blog invite in my spam!) but I am so very excited to meet you all and clock some intimate hours with your words + ideas!

Picture of me sandwiched by wolves:

Do you have a nickname?
I use Eliza + Liza interchangeably.

What do you like to read?
I love big slabs of world building. Kim Stanley Robinson is the writer working now who stimulates / moves me the most. I'm definitely on team Jemisin (to join the chorus!) and recently I've been spending time with Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. The folks who got me into the SF game were Samuel Delaney, Octavia Butler and Ursula K Le Guin. I just finished Christopher Priest's Inverted World and found it lovely!

What kind of stories do you write?
I write SF, sometimes in worlds akin to our own, sometimes in extreme environments. My language is literary but sober, although lately I've been playing with more stylized prose. I use SF as a tool of critique, although I hope my stories are living, compassionate texts. I want to use Clarion as a chance to veer from my usual genre orientation and ventilate my hard SF with a breath of fantasy.

How would you describe your personality?
Cynical but curious and joyful (but very, very cynical).

What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?
I live in LA but am moving back to NY to teach right after Clarion, so I would have been writing my dissertation (I'm nearing the end of a PhD program) and working my three jobs in LA to save up for New York's inhumane cost of living.

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?
Not for SO long! I went to the Iowa Young Writers' Studio as a bratty little teenager and haven't stepped into a creative writing class since.

What scares you most about Clarion?
Writer's block! I tend to seesaw between prolific phases where I feel naturally stimulated and passive phases where I just read & absorb. I can only hope Clarion coincides with the former, and I'm counting on the environment to coax me into that mode.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?
I moved to LA for the nearby nature. The city is nested between so many different landscapes, and I love foraying into them with friends.

Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
All of the above (except: no kids)! Everyone in my LA extended fam is sore at me for making myself scarce right before moving away.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
My car. I've fallen prone to American car culture and I'm very attached to this bubble on wheels that is my only zone for privacy.

What is your ideal career?
I'm too social to be able to imagine a career that consists only of writing. I will probably teach in some capacity, since I'm currently on the academic track. I also work as a translator and will probably do so forever.

What else do you want us to know about you?
I translate from Polish to English and I've lived in Poland for long stretches of time. In LA I work at a sensory deprivation therapy center and a bookstore and do research and writing for a virtual reality production company. I learn through work so at any moment, I'll have multiple jobs in disparate environments. 

Introduction: Silvia Park

due to a shortage of selfies

Do you have a nickname?

Just Silvia :)

What do you like to read?

All kinds. Recent loves are Carmen Maria Machado, Jeff VanderMeer, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mieko Kawakami, rediscovered Ursula Le Guin, and Elfriede Jelinek’s The Piano Teacher. Also, I managed to get a signature from George Saunders last week and I need to brag because he drew me a ghost!

It looks approximately like this:

:o

What kind of stories do you write?

It’s hard to say; I don’t think I’ve written enough short stories to see a pattern yet (I spent far too long on a novel project that was killing me softly). But right now, I’m writing about robots and hermaphroditic mermaids. I’m also trying to write more happy endings.

How would you describe your personality?

I’m one of those introverts who mistakenly thinks she can pass for an extrovert. I can come off as reserved, but that’s just my lobster shell and I’m quite cheery underneath, like a lobster-armored Santa. I wish I could be more chipper on the outside, but that only happens when I’m very, very tired. A candle’s final flare so to speak.

What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?

Likely wither in a dark corner of the room like a parasitic mushroom. And continue to write.

Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?

Hahaha, did anyone pick their boss? For me, it’s my family and friends.

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?

I’m in an MFA program, so I’ve definitely done workshops but nothing quite like Clarion. I hear it’s nose-bleedingly intensive. *shudders*

What scares you most about Clarion?

The “one story a week” deal. Not having a car. Or a driver’s license. Being forced to eat eggs that “taste like felt” because of said lack of car and driver’s license.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?

Lately, I’ve been marathoning Bob’s Burger. I’d really like to dabble in figure drawing and water color this summer.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?

Water filter.

What is your ideal career?

Full-time writer who can travel as an excuse for “research.”

What else do you want us to know about you?

I grew up in South Korea, I used to visit Japan quite often, and I’m living in NY for the time being.

Introduction: Shane Moring

Hey everyone. I'm Shane. I'm as excited to meet all of you as I am the teachers and it'll be really cool to see everyone's ideas and innovations.
Here's my photo





Do you have a nickname?
Nope.

What do you like to read?
Too much to list really. The last couple I've read, not counting the Clarion Authors, have been Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, and a short story collection by Kenzaburo Oe. Next on my list is Journey to the West but I've had a hard time tracking down a good English translation.

What kind of stories do you write?
It might be easier to describe the two projects I'm currently working on than rather than describing running genres or themes across everything I've done. The first is about a guy accidentally making first contact with a merperson trapped in a flooded cave and trying to determine its intelligence and moral value compared to a human's. The second takes place in a low fantasy setting draws a lot of inspiration from Greek hero cults and various mythological and historical figures.

How would you describe your personality?
I like meeting new people and learning new things. I've had mixed results in combining these characteristics. Just the other day I spent thirty minutes explaining the finer points of hybridization to my coworker before they finally told me they just weren't that interested in mules.

What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?
Working, writing, and playing basketball probably. I work as invigilator (that's a fancy word for a test proctor but since everyone here is probably a vocab nerd too I figured I could get away with it). I have a more exciting semi-professional career playing video games but I don't take that too seriously.
 

Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
Not my Roommates that's for sure. They scheduled someone to crash in my room the minute I told them I was going to be gone for six weeks.

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?
Nope.

What scares you most about Clarion?
More excited than scared really.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?
Sports, reading, and most popular forms of entertainment. TV and movies are a really cool medium that I wish I knew a little more about.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
Probably my basketball and beach trunks just in case an opportunity arises.

What is your ideal career?
Not totally sure. Something where I can help people, do something I like, and pay the bills. All three criteria would be preferable but I'd probably settle for two.

What else do you want us to know about you?
I do some volunteer work at the local elementary school as a storyteller. I also had a one off gig as a juggling clown at a kid's birthday party.

Introduction: Kathy Nguyen

Hello everyone! This is my dorky self:

Do you have a nickname?

My sister calls me Kappy, but everyone else calls me Kathy.

What do you like to read?

This is a difficult question to answer, mainly because there are too many books to list, and my reading habits are kind of…all over the place?

Some of my favourite novels include: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, The Shining by Stephen King, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, and Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Right now I’m reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and am enjoying it so far.

Some shorts stories that I love are: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Summer People” by Kelly Link, “Z.Z.’s Sleep-Away Camp for Disordered Dreamers” by Karen Russell, “The Last Ride of the Glory Girls” by Libba Bray, “Why I Read Beowulf” by Shashi Bhat, “Visitation” by Brad Watson, and “Fox 8” by George Saunders. 

I’m also partial to comics/manga, although I wish I was more of an expert in this area! Stuff that I’ve read and fangirl over: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano, and 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa. A comic series I started this year was Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

Also, if anyone has any reading recommendations for me, I would love to hear them!

What kind of stories do you write?

Speculative fiction! I’m interested in stories that are liminal in some way, either through structure/genre or theme, but I have also always wanted to write the perfect, quiet horror story at some point.

How would you describe your personality?

I’m rather shy and easily freaked out! If you think back to your high school days, I’m the kid in P.E. who does everything she can to avoid the ball but still gets hit in the face anyway.

What would you do this summer if you hadn’t been accepted to Clarion?

I would have continued working in a lab and volunteering at my local hospital. I think I also would have found a second part-time job for the summer to convince myself that I was being productive. Maybe I would have had time to fit in some travelling. Above all, I would have kept reading and writing. 

Who will you miss most while you’re in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?

My family. 

Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?

No. The closest I have ever come to something like this would be those two undergraduate writing courses I took, and there was more than a hundred students enrolled in them. (So not even close at all!)

What scares you most about Clarion?

Well, everyone here seems to be so, so talented and have so much life experience; if anything, I’m super excited and lucky to learn from you all! I guess I’m worried that I won’t be able to keep up everyone, since I just make everything awkward and I work so slowly and I haven’t read widely or thoroughly enough and I haven’t had much in the way of a formal education in writing and maybe my writing sucks and I’m not actually supposed to be here (!). I think I should have posted sooner.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?

I go to the library. Sometimes, while I’m there, I borrow DVD’s so I can watch them with my sister late at night on the weekends. I watch many excellent (if you haven’t already, check out Spirited Away!) and not-so-excellent movies this way.

What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?

Definitely a spiral-bound notebook, a mechanical pencil, and a heavy-duty eraser. I like to write stories in longhand, although I fear this might get me in trouble because I’m slow enough at writing already without having to type up everything.

What is your ideal career?

A writer.

What else do you want us to know about you?

I’m Canadian! 

/(^-^)/ \(^-^)/ \(^-^)\

Social Media?

Hey everyone,

I figured I'd make a place where we can share our social media handles if we have 'em. I pretty much only use twitter (@AlannaFaelan) but feel free to add me on Facebook as well (Alanna Ulmer.)

Introduction: Alanna Faelan

Left: My BFF, Right: Me

Do you have a nickname? Kirby, bequeathed to me for the shameless, maniacal glee I apparently exhibit while dominating Smash Bros with one of its cheesiest characters. What do you like to read? In fiction—great characters. If I’m not interested in the voice, it’s hard for me to sink into the text. I generally read 3-4 books at a time, so I take forever to finish. Some of my current favorites are Ursula K Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Carmen Maria Machado, Ottessa Moshfegh, Kelly Link, Lauren Groff, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Sarah Manguso, China Miéville, Joy Williams, and Jeff VanderMeer. Poetry faves are Morgan Parker, Ocean Vuong, Mary Oliver, Warsan Shire, Shinji Moon, and Claudia Rankine. I also like social justice-focused nonfiction (currently reading How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others In America and White Out) and a lot of graphic novels/comics (Saga, Preacher, Unsounded, OGLAF, Rat Queens). What kind of stories do you write? I started off writing literary fiction, usually about working-class queer women navigating trauma, mental illness, messy relationships, etc. with a backdrop of declining post-industrial areas (particularly Philadelphia, my hometown.) I grew up reading almost exclusively genre fiction but didn’t think I would be a “real” writer if I wrote it; it took me 26 years to figure out that was bullshit. I’m only now embracing my earliest influences: YA authors like Phillip Pullman and Tamora Pierce, mystery and neo-noir a la Dennis Lehane and Jonathan Lethem. How would you describe your personality? I come off chill and easygoing but am actually a high-functioning neurotic mess. I love a good-natured shouting match over a disagreement about theme interpretation in prestige television. I’ll banter with the best of them but am more comfortable with attentive listening. I have a little bit of a goth aesthetic going on but it’s mostly to appease my inner rebellious 12-year-old Catholic school girl and cultivate the perception that I am purposefully standoffish rather than too nervous to speak to anyone at the party. What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion? Hardcore moping cut with the occasional trip to a lake so I can look at the water while hiding in tree-shade, where the sun cannot turn me to dust. Probably spend 3 months seriously contemplating creating a D&D campaign but, lacking someone to outsource the math to, never follow through. Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)? My partner, who is already threatening to sneak into my room and cry on all my soft things while I’m gone. Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before? I’ve participated in the Tin House Summer Workshop twice, but I don’t think that it compares workload-wise. What scares you most about Clarion? That I will be revealed to be a fraud, can’t actually write speculative fiction, won’t be able to produce the volume of work required, will be crippled by anxiety, what if the water pressure in the shower is awful, etc. etc. What do you do to relax or for recreation? I watch a lot of television (a lot), movies, reading, tabletop games, online roleplaying (though that hobby has recently died for lack of a good outlet), enabling my fixation with ice cream & pastry. What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker? Snacks and weed. What is your ideal career? Spot in the writer’s room of the next Breaking Bad. Barring that, getting to do cool graphic design for literary / social-justice nonprofits while steadily publishing on the side. What else do you want us to know about you? I played a werewolf character in an online D&D campaign for 15 years. So I know a lot about werewolves. I’m maybe a little obsessed with werewolves. I grew up in South Philadelphia and moved to Portland, OR about two years ago, though I will remain an angry East Coaster forever. I use she/hers or their/theirs pronouns, whichever you want.

Introduction: Nic Anstett

Do you have a nickname?

Nick? I guess it’s Nick. Or Nic. Or Nikki. Gender is a whole thing, y’know?

What do you like to read?

I’ll be honest and say that due to the nature of my job I read way more graphic novels and comics than I do traditional prose/literature. Of which I have an appreciation for Tom King, Brian K. Vaughn, Jonathan Hickman, Gail Simone, Marjorie Liu, Jeff Lemire, Kieron Gillen, Jason Aaron, and I’m still in a very deep love affair with Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing is Monsters.  

As a youngin’ (comparatively, I know) I read lots of military science fiction and have fond memories Robert Buettner’s Orphanage series and Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels. (Although to call him military sci-fi is maybe not the most correct label.)

Currently, I’m on a Matt Ruff kick and I’m really excited to see what he and Jordan Peele do with Lovecraft Country on HBO.

I have a huge soft spot for John Le Carre Cold War espionage novels and the complicated political and social environments he creates for his characters. I sort of have a thing for spies.

  
What kind of stories do you write?

I find that I most often write my stories about secrets, both personal and cultural, and how they affect us as individuals and societies. Most of my stories deal with queer identity with a focus on gender and queering of form. Slipstream would be the closest genre descriptor, but I tend to dabble in new weird or other fun surrealist weird gobbledygook.


How would you describe your personality?

I’m the kind of person who will tell you that they are an ENFP and be sincere and happy about it. Regardless, I like spending time around and learning from new people and discovering things as I go.


What would you do this summer if you hadn't been accepted to Clarion?

In all honesty, probably just work my job and try to get the short film I shot two years ago finished (finally). Oh, and all my friends are going to Disney World. So I get to wistfully look at them through social media as they take pictures with Star Wars characters.


Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego (cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?

My girlfriend, most definitely. We are doing a road trip from Maryland to San Diego on my way to Clarion so that should help with the missing a little bit. My family and dogs are sure to be sad as well. Let’s hope the job does okay without me.


Have you participated in an intensive writing workshop before?

That depends on what you mean by intensive, I guess? I minored in creative writing in undergrad and all of the classes for that were in a workshop setting. I also participated in the Juniper Institute for Young Writers as a teen and that was pretty intense for, y’know, a 17 year old.


What scares you most about Clarion?

This is sort of my big “career moment” for 2018 and I want to make it count. My plans of attending graduate school didn’t’ really pan out so I feel a lot of personal pressure to make the most of my time at Clarion. Make connections. Make memories. Write. A Lot.

What do you do to relax or for recreation?

I write reviews! I started doing little one paragraph movie reviews on my Facebook feed when I was in high school and people seemed to like them so I’ve kept at it while also doing blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.

I also enjoy biking, hiking, swimming, and failing to avoid arguments with people on the internet.


What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?

Some comfort movies, books, and comics. Also…board games? I know we’re going to be up to our necks in writing, but games are fun.


What is your ideal career?

Any career that allows me to tell stories for a living would be a dream come true. I enjoy working in various different mediums and genres so I’d be just as happy writing/publishing novels as I would be producing/writing for film or TV.

What else do you want us to know about you?

I am an unabashedly huge Star Wars fan. I have been my entire life and it’s probably going to be that way until I die. Even the movies I don’t like, I love in their own weird way.

I’m sort of in the middle of a transitional period of my life when it comes to gender identity. So, pronouns are sort of an up in the air thing.