Dear Clarionites:

I’m writing to introduce myself to you all and add a few last words of advice before you head off to Clarion.

First of all, I’m greatly looking forward to meeting you all this Sunday! I’ve been Clarion’s Faculty Director since 2010 and am a UCSD Professor with a joint appointment in Literature and Ethnic Studies. I teach classes on science fiction and other topics at the undergraduate and graduate levels here. One of my specialties is archival research and I’d love to help you take a look at the Clarion archives housed at UCSD if you’d like—they include almost all of the stories ever written by Clarion students.

My new book, Imagining the Future of Climate Change: World-Making through Science Fiction and Activism, was recently published in the University of California Press’s American Studies Now! series.  Part of that book has grown out of the part of my research I am most excited about these days, which is the work I’ve been doing with the Octavia E. Butler Papers at the Huntington Library in San Marino. If any of you is interested in Butler and/or her papers, I would love to talk to you more about that as well.

Second, I want to tell you a little more about my role at Clarion. I serve on the Admissions Committee and read a lot of application stories each year, so I always look forward to seeing the class take shape and witnessing each writer’s pathway through the program each summer. I will also be in the classroom with you two days a week, usually on Mondays and either Thursday or Friday. I read all the stories that are being critiqued each day, participate in the round robins from wherever I am sitting in the circle, and give writers written feedback on their stories.

I also hold office hours at least once a week after lunch and will leave some time at the beginning of each session in case anyone wants to just stop by to chat. I’d like to have a quick (10minutes or so) check-in meeting with everyone during the first two weeks and then meet once again for a longer time (half hour) weeks 4-6. For the second meeting, I always offer to read an extra story and give you feedback—whether it is a trunk story, one I missed in workshop, something that is too long for the workshop, or something else it would be helpful to have discussed. That also gives me a chance to find out how things are going. You should come to me during the workshop if you have questions or issues and I will try to help out.

If you have any questions now, feel free to email me at sstreeby@ucsd.edu. I’ll also be attending the weekly readings at Mysterious Galaxy with you all as well as many other activities that come up. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and happy to connect those ways: https://www.facebook.com/shelley.streeby

https://twitter.com/ShelleyStreeby

Finally, I’m writing to advise you to take a second look at a couple of the documents I believe Patrick sent out earlier: Chris Barzak’s “The Dynamics of Workshopping” and Nalo Hopkinson’s Letter. I am sending them out to you again in a minute over email, so be sure to look for them if you don't have them Because people have a wide range of experiences before coming to Clarion, I find Chris’s handout, which he composed when working as first-week instructor for the stellar 2015 class, the most useful explanation of how the round-robin works and what kind of feedback is most helpful. That class did the round robin beautifully and they were an amazing group. Giving feedback is an art and it’s one I’ve been happy to see many writers hone while at Clarion in ways that benefit others and themselves. Each instructor will likely make small changes in response to their own needs and based on what they think is best for this group.

Nalo Hopkinson’s Letter is also a good thing to reread and take to heart while at Clarion.

OK, that’s all for now, but please feel free to email me or reach out on social media before you come or anytime once you’re here. This is going to be a great summer! Here’s my first try ever at answering some of those questions:

Do I have a nickname? Not really, though my little brother Victor used to call me Blot because I got ink all over everything. My sister-in-law used to call me Ice Pick trying to imagine what it would have been like being me growing up with five rowdy brothers.

What do you like to read?  Some favorites are Octavia E. Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, Ted Chiang, Kim Stanley Robinson, Philip K. Dick, Nora Jemisin, Nalo Hopkinson, James Tiptree, Jr, Lynda Barry, Samuel Delany, Karen Joy Fowler. Also love recent work by recent Clarionites such as Sam Miller, Carmen Machado, Lisa Bolekaja, Alyssa Wong, and many many more. 

What kinds of things do you write? I am currently writing a book on female science fiction writers and the memory-work they did by organizing and leaving large archival collections to research libraries and other institutions—so far this has involved research on Octavia Butler, James Tiptree, Jr., and Judith Merrill, but I am also digging deeper into archives at the University of Oregon and finding more. Throughout my career I’ve been a scholar of popular literature and culture from the 19^th century to the present. My first book was on class and empire in dime novels and best-selling 19^th century sensational fiction and my second was on how radical social movements used culture to organize transnationally from the 1880s-1920s. I’ve also written a recent article on reading the work of the great cartoonist Jaime Hernandez as queer speculative fiction. And I also write science fiction short stories from time to time.

What do you to relax or for recreation? San Diego is a great place to get outside. You all are within walking distance from a beautiful stretch of coast that includes a gorgeous beach and cliffs overlooking the ocean. I love beach-hopping down this part of the coast, especially at low tide, with particular favorites being Beacon’s Beach and Moonlight Beach in Encinitas and Silver Strand on Coronado Island. I also love the marsh and the beach at the Tijuana Estuary at the border.  Torrey Pines a few miles up I-5 from UCSD is an incredibly beautiful place. I also love walking in my neighborhood in South Park/Golden Hill on the border of Balboa Park—I highly recommend visiting the park and the little neighborhoods around it, many of which have craft beer and good restaurants. I’m also into gardening, especially growing vines and succulents.

See you soon!

Shelley Streeby