Locus Bay Area Writers Workshop: Writing Master Class with Annalee Newitz November 2019

November 16, 2019Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.At Locus Magazine HQPreservation Park, downtown Oakland(near the 12th St BART) $150.00

“A revolution is happening in speculative fiction, and Annalee Newitz is leading the vanguard.” —Wil Wheaton

TURN YOUR OBSESSIVE RESEARCH INTO AMAZING WORLDBUILDING

In this class, Annalee will give you the tools to build another world. They’ll talk about how to create believable, nuanced cultures, environments, and geographies ...Read More

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Locus Writers Workshop 2019 with Connie Willis & Amal El-Mohtar

Join Connie Willis and Amal El-Mohtar for a two-day intensive writing workshop held in Seattle this June. Early registration is open! Further details, including session topics, will emerge later down the line. The workshops will bookend the Locus Awards weekend. Friday, June 28, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 30, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

$265

SESSION ONE: AMAL EL-MOHTAR: USING POETRY TO WRITE PROSE

Poetry and ...Read More

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Announcements News Workshops 

2019 Odyssey Workshop Scholarships

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The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced several scholarships available for students attending in 2019. Scholarship applications and information queries should be made by contacting director Jeanne Cavelos.

The Miskatonic Scholarship, funded by George R.R. Martin, covers full tuition, textbook, and housing. It will be awarded to a promising new writer of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Martin said, “What we want are nightmares new and resonant and profound, cosmic terrors that will ...Read More

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News Workshops 

2019 Odyssey Writing Workshop

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The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced instructors and dates for its 2019 summer session. Guest lecturers are Scott H. Andrews, Joshua Bilmes, Holly Black, Neil Clarke, Sara King, Nisi Shawl, Fran Wilde, and Paul Witcover. The workshop will be held June 3 – July 12, 2019 at Saint Anselm College in Manchester NH.

Early action application deadline for “those who, if admitted, need several months to arrange their affairs” is ...Read More

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Announcements News Workshops 

Odyssey Workshop Announces Online Instructors

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The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced the instructors for its online Winter 2019 classes: Barbara Ashford will teach “Getting the Big Picture: The Key to Revising Your Novel” from January 2 – February 13, 2019; Lucy A. Snyder will teach “Riveting Descriptions: Bringing Your Story to Life in the Reader’s Mind” from January 3-31, 2019; and Scott H. Andrews will teach “Emotional Truth: Making Character Emotions Real, Powerful, and Immediate ...Read More

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Alpha science fiction writing workshop
Features 

Photo Story: Alpha Workshop 2018

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The Alpha workshop for young writers was held July 25 – August 5, 2018 in Greensburg PA.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and ...Read More

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Features 

Photo Story: CSSF YA Novel Writing Workshop

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Tina Connolly taught a YA-novel writing workshop at the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, held June 24-29, 2018.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT ...Read More

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Locus Writers Workshop 2018 with Connie Willis & Yoon Ha Lee

Join award-winning authors Connie Willis and Yoon Ha Lee for a two-day intensive writing workshop held in Seattle this June. The workshops will bookend the Locus Awards weekend. Friday, June 22, 2018, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 24, 2018, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

$255 DAY ONE: YOON HA LEE: “DESIGN-A-WORLD: MAKING UNIQUE WORLDS FROM START TO FINISH”

Worldbuilding means different things to many people, whether it’s starting ...Read More

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Announcements News 

Odyssey Workshop Scholarships

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The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced several scholarships available for students attending in 2018.

The Miskatonic Scholarship, funded by George R.R. Martin, covers full tuition, textbook, and housing costs. It will be awarded to a promising new writer of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. The winner will be selected by a panel of three judges.

The Parasite Publications Character Awards, funded by Sara King, will provide three scholarships in the amounts of ...Read More

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Blinks 

Blinks: Ansible; The New Yorker does SF; Sheehan on Powers; Dillon obit; Paul Krugman; online horror workshop; China Miéville; Ben Bova

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» David Langford’s Ansible 299

» The New Yorker’s June 4 & 11 science fiction issue table of contents – the ‘Sci-Fi’ section includes Bradbury, Le Guin, Miéville, Atwood, Russell, and Gibson

» Washington Post: Bill Sheehan reviews Tim Powers’ Hide Me Among the Graves

» NY Times’ Leo Dillon obit, with a slideshow

» Wired: Economist Paul Krugman Is a Hard-Core Science Fiction Fan

» LitReactor is hosting an ...Read More

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Blinks 

Blinks: Quebec writers workshop, Dirda on Saler, Marcus on Ahmed, Gibson, Brave New World turns 80

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» Quebec Writers’ Federation is offering an 8-week Workshop on writing fantasy and science fiction stories, led by Claude Lalumière

» Washington Post: Michael Dirda reviews Michael Saler’s As If

» Seattle Post Intelligencer: Richard Marcus reviews Saladin Ahmed’s Throne Of The Crescent Moon

» LA Times: William Gibson talks to Wired

» Huffington Post: Brave New World Turns 80 ...Read More

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Blinks 

Blinks: NYT and LAT reviews; Best of year lists; World SF Blog; Odyssey Workshop

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» LA Times: David L. Ulin reviews Don DeLillo’s The Angel Esmeralda; Nick Owchar reviews Atwood’s In Other Worlds; and Michael Hiltzik explains the copyright controversy over Philip K. Dick’s “Adjustment Team”

» NY Times: Christopher Buckley reviews Charles J. Shields’ book about Kurt Vonnegut; Robert Christgau reviews Jonathan Lethem’s The Ecstasy of Influence

» NY Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2011 include titles by DeLillo, King, Duncan, ...Read More

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Workshops 

Writing Workshop Applications Open

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The application period for the six-week Clarion writing workshop is open from December 1, 2010 through March 1, 2011. The six-week workshop will be held June 26 through August 6, 2011, at the University of California, San Diego. Scheduled instructors include Nina Kiriki Hoffman, John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, David Anthony Durham, John Kessel, and Kij Johnson. For more information, visit the Clarion application information page.

Clarion West‘s application period is ...Read More

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Films 

Homicide Squad: Josh Pearce and Arley Sorg Discuss Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

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Infamous DC Comics character Harley Quinn (née Harleen Frances Quinzel) changes out of her manic pixie dream girl role for Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. This latest film in the DC Universe begins immediately after the Joker dumps Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). The end of their relationship marks the end of her protected status in the criminal underworld. Her singular goal — to ...Read More

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Features Slider 

Year-in-Review: 2019 Magazine Summary

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The following sections are primarily sorted by Hugo Eligibility: Professional, Semiprozine, etc., and then loosely by pay rate, SFWA qualifying market, and the amount of fiction pub­lished. We covered 82 magazines, 17 audio sites, and eight critical magazines.

We continue to see new venues launching under the crowdfunding format, older venues trying out print or subscription models, and of course funding by grants in non-US venues. A few magazines shut ...Read More

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Films 

“VIOLET, YOU’RE TURNING VIOLET, VIOLET!” Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss Color Out of Space

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This adaptation of the 1927 H.P. Lovecraft short story stars Nicolas Cage as Nathan Gardner, who lives in a secluded area of New England with his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), daughter Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur), and sons Benny and Jack (Brendan Meyer and Julian Hilliard). All Gardner wants to do is raise alpacas and enjoy some fine bourbon, but when a meteorite crashes onto his land one night, his plans go ...Read More

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Issues 

Issue 709 Table of Contents, February 2020

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The February 2020 issue of Locus magazine is the annual Year in Review overview with essays, the Locus 2019 Recommended Reading List, and book and magazine summaries tracking the progress of the industry. The issue also features an interview with co-authors Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. Mike Resnick (1942-2020) is remembered with an obituary and appreciations. News includes the Philip K. Dick Award nominees, the Stoker preliminary ballot ...Read More

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Films 

“There’s Always a Bigger Fish”: Josh Pearce and Arley Sorg Discuss Underwater

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Arley: THEY KILLED THE BLACK GUY!

(We’ve put all the deep dark secrets below a spoiler line at the bottom of the review.)

In Underwater, six people at the bottom of the Mariana Trench—Norah (Kristen Stewart), Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Emily (Jessica Henwick), Paul (T.J. Miller), Smith (John Gallagher Jr.), and Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel)—try to reach safety after something destroys their deep sea habitat.

Arley: Okay. Overall I thought ...Read More

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Announcements News 

Chiang Named Notre Dame Artist-in-Residence

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Ted Chiang will be artist in residence at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study for the 2020-21 academic year. He will take part in a two-day workshop, engage with Notre Dame faculty, and participate in weekly seminars. His Exhalation (Knopf) appears on the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2019 list.

While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. ...Read More

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Films 

Robots and Nonsense: Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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Tim Pratt, via Twitter: Two things they got a lot of in Star Wars is droids and shit that don’t make no sense.

Josh: I liked it more than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

Arley: Me too!

Josh: Good! I recognize that The Last Jedi was trying to do a lot more, storywise. But when I rewatched it I was bored by a lot of parts, like ...Read More

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Issues 

Issue 708 Table of Contents, January 2020

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The January 2020 issue of Locus magazine has interviews with Joe Abercrombie and Arkady Martine. News includes Lois McMaster Bujold‘s induction as a SFWA Grand Master, an eleventh hour save for venerable San Diego bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, George R.R. Martin’s new bookstore Beastly Books, the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award finalists, B&N news, and much more. Gahan Wilson, Andrew Weiner, Ian Covell, ...Read More

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Books Reviews Short Fiction 

Arley Sorg Reviews Best New Horror #29, Edited by Stephen Jones

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Best New Horror #29, Stephen Jones, ed. (PS Pub­lishing/Drugstore Indian Press 978-178636-392-3, £14.99, 579pp, tp) February 2019. Cover by Howard Nostrand.

In 1990 Constable & Robinson published the first Best New Horror, edited by Stephen Jones & Ramsey Campbell, featuring horror short fiction from 1989. That volume won a British Fantasy Award, a World Fantasy Award, and began a legacy. Jones became sole editor with 1995’s The Best ...Read More

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News Workshops 

Taos Toolbox and Odyssey Applications Open

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Applications for the 2020 Taos Toolbox writing workshop are open now through April 1, 2020. The two-week workshop will be held June 7-20, 2020 in Angel Fire NM and will feature Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress as instructors, with George R.R. Martin and E.M. Tippetts as special guest lecturers. Martin is sponsoring the Terran Award, “providing full tuition for an applicant from a non-English-speaking country.” Other scholarships are also ...Read More

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Announcements News Workshops 

New Clarion West Scholarship for Native American Writers

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Publishing firm Blue Corn Creations has gifted $1,000 to create a scholarship for writers of Native American descent who wish to attend the Clarion West Writers Workshop. Blue Corn Creations owner Rob Schmidt said,

We’re excited about developing the next generation of Native superhero, science fiction, and action/adventure stories. To do that, we also need to develop the next generation of Native writers. This scholarship will help accomplish that.

The ...Read More

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Announcements News Workshops 

McIntyre Gives to Clarion West

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Vonda N. McIntyre (1948-2019) has left her literary assets to Clarion West, expressing her wish that “the organization manage her liter­ary copyrights in perpetuity.” She also left a bequest of $387,129 to the program, the largest single financial gift in the organization’s history: “The bequest will bolster the Clarion West endowment, strengthening our mission and ensuring our financial stability for years. Vonda’s extraordinary generosity will allow Clarion West to continue ...Read More

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Conventions Features 

Can*Con 2019 Report

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Can*Con 2019 was held October 18-20 at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa, Canada. There were 452 registered memberships; 436 members were in attendance. There were seven guests of honour: Charlie Jane Anders, Lee Harris, DongWon Song, Kelly Robson, and Science Literacy guests Brock Dickinson, Stephen Leahy, and Deborah Raji.

Programming featured 164 panelists at 134 sessions, discussing science, writing, publishing, literature, and more, including “Behind the Scenes of Grant Applications”, ...Read More

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Conventions Features 

2019 World Fantasy Convention Report

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The 45th World Fantasy Convention was held October 31 – November 3, 2019 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott in a still-smoky California. Guests of honor were Margo Lanagan, Beth Meacham, Reiko Murakami, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Tad Williams, with toastmaster Robert Silverberg. Life Achievement Awards winners were Hayao Miyazaki and Jack Zipes.

Attendance was down from the prior year, with 660 warm bodies out of 762 total memberships purchased, ...Read More

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News Workshops 

Clarion West 2020 Applications

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Applications for Clarion West’s six-week summer workshop are open now through March 1, 2020. The workshop will be held June 21 – July 31, 2020 in Seattle WA, and will feature Ted Chiang, Neil Clarke, Tina Connolly, Andy Duncan, Eileen Gunn, Nalo Hopkinson, and Caroline M. Yoachim as instructors. For more information, see the Clarion West website.

A.T. Greenblatt has announced that she will cover the application fees for two ...Read More

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Books Reviews Short Fiction 

Paul Di Filippo Reviews The New Voices of Science Fiction, Edited by Hannu Rajaniemi & Jacob Weisman

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The New Voices of Science Fiction, Hannu Rajaniemi & Jacob Weisman, eds. (Tachyon 978-1-61696-291-3, 432pp, $17.95) November 2019

In the deep past of our genre, how did one become a notable new writer? The first step back then was always the same as it is now: publish some good, standout stories as your apprentice and journeyman work. But subsequent public recognition in the days when print magazines dominated the ...Read More

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