News Workshops 

Clarion West Offers Free Online Workshops

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Clarion West is offering free writing workshops for teens and adults on a first come, first served basis. The classes and writing sprints will run from March 30 – April 24, 2020. Instructors include K. Tempest Bradford, Marie Brennan, Tobias Buckell, Curtis Chen, Andy Duncan, Eileen Gunn, Elizabeth Hand, James Patrick Kelly, Fonda Lee, Henry Lien, Seanan McGuire, Ian Muneshwar, Brooks Peck, Laurie Penny, Erin Roberts, Nisi Shawl, James Sutter, ...Read More

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News Workshops 

2020 Odyssey Writing Workshop Scholarships

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The Odyssey Writing Workshop has announced several scholarships available for students attending in 2020, ranging in size from several hundred dollars to over $4,000. Scholarship applications and information queries should be made by contacting director Jeanne Cavelos. Scholarships include the Miskatonic Scholarship funded by George R.R. Martin for writers of Lovecraftian cosmic horror; the Walter & Kattie Metcalf Singing Spider Scholarship for novelists (applicants must submit a novel excerpt as ...Read More

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Locus Bay Area Writers Workshop: Writing Master Class with Ellen Klages, March 2020

DUE TO CONCERNS ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS COVID-19, THE MARCH 2020 LOCUS WRITING MASTER CLASS WITH ELLEN KLAGES HAS BEEN CANCELED. STAY HEALTHY! Locus Magazine HQ Preservation ParkDowntown Oakland (near the 12th St BART)

“Whenever I start to read a new story by the incomparable Ellen Klages, I feel as if I’m on the edge of my seat in the front row of the theater: keen-eyed and determined, this time, to ...Read More

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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 

Ghostride the Whip: Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss Wonder Woman 1984

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Some 70 years or so after the events of Wonder Woman, 1984 finds the titular hero (Gal Gadot) whiling away her time curating artifacts and impressing mortals with her beauty and charm. She seems to be keeping a low profile, at least until struggling entrepreneur Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) acquires an ancient magical device and threatens to destroy the world in his quest for ultimate power. Wonder Woman must ...Read More

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Features Interviews Slider 

Andrea Hairston: Conjure the World

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Andrea Hairston was born July 9, 1952, in Pittsburgh PA, and lived there until she moved to Massachu­setts to attend Smith College at 18, where she studied physics and math before switching to theater. She did graduate work at Brown, and has taught theater in the US and Germany. She is currently the Louise Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies at Smith College, and the Artistic Director ...Read More

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Books Reviews 

Gary K. Wolfe Reviews The Evidence by Christopher Priest

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The Evidence, Christopher Priest (Gollancz 978-1-473231375, £20.00, 320pp, hc) October 2020.

Long before the notion of worldbuilding became catnip for writer’s workshops and convention panels, Christopher Priest was finding new ways to explore and exploit his mas­sive Dream Archipelago, a string of thousands of islands on a world in which the two major countries on a massive continent waged an endless war, mostly through a frozen south polar wasteland ...Read More

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Announcements News Publishing 

2021 SFWA Givers Fund Grants

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The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) announced the recipients of the 2021 Givers Fund Grants for organizations which further SFWA’s mission: “To promote, advance, and support science fiction and fantasy writing in the United States and elsewhere, by educating and informing the general public and supporting and empowering science fiction and fantasy writers.” Grant recipients are “Any 501(c)(3) or similar organization… with a program related to the ...Read More

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News Obituaries 

James Gunn (1923-2020)

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Grand Master James Gunn, 97, died December 23, 2020. Gunn was one of the field’s true polymaths, excelling as an SF author, editor, and scholar. Gunn served as President of Science Fiction Writers of America in 1971-1972 and the organization honored him with a Damon Knight Grand Master Award in 2006. He was inducted into the SF Hall of Fame in 2015.

James Edwin Gunn was born July 12, 1923 ...Read More

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Conventions Features 

FIYAHCON Report

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The inaugural FIYAHCON took place online October 17-18, 2020, held via Zoom and Dacast, and hosted by FIYAH magazine. Guests of honor were Yasser Bahjatt, Cassie Hart, and Rebecca Roanhorse. Accord­ing to convention director L.D. Lewis, the event was conceived mid-year, in the midst of protests, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trend of conventions switching to virtual events; it was “for­mally launched” July 7, 2020, and the Ignyte awards were ...Read More

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Films 

Through a Mirror, Darkly: Josh Pearce and Arley Sorg Discuss Parallel

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Four friends living together and working to develop an app discover a hidden room in their house and, in it, a magic mirror that can portal them to different, but nearly indistinguishable, parallel universes. Eager to capitalize on the nearly unlimited resources of the multiverse, Leena (Georgia King), Noel (Martin Wallström), Devin (Aml Ameen), and Josh (Mark O’Brien) soon devise a number of get-rich-quick schemes, mostly at the expense of ...Read More

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Features Interviews 

Kim Stanley Robinson: Forward the Future

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Kim Stanley Robinson was born March 23, 1952 in Waukegan IL, and grew up in Orange County CA. He earned a BA in literature from UC San Diego in 1974, a master’s in English from Boston University in 1975, and a Ph.D in literature from UC San Diego in 1982. He went to Clarion in 1975. His doctoral thesis was revised and published as The Novels of Philip K. Dick ...Read More

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Conventions Features 

2020 Sirens Conference Report

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The 2020 Sirens Conference, “Sirens at Home”, an “intersectional, in­terdisciplinary conference on gender, fantasy lit, and other speculative spaces,” was held October 22-25, 2020, online in lieu of the usual Denver CO event. Amy Tenbrink and Hallie Tibbetts are the Sirens co-founders. Tenbrink was con chair and Tibbetts served as programming director. Tenbrink said, “In a year in which we all feel such isolation, we need each other more than ...Read More

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Conventions Features 

2020 World Fantasy Convention Report

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Originally scheduled to take place at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City UT, the 46th World Fantasy Convention transitioned into an online event on June 1, 2020. Nonetheless, the event maintained their target run dates of October 28 – November 1, 2020. Guests of honor were David A. Cherry, Stephen Gallagher, and Anne Groell; special guests were C.J. Cherryh, Stephen Graham Jones, and Cindy Pon; and toastmasters were Tracy ...Read More

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Films 

The Name’s Protagonist… Anonymous Protagonist: Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss Tenet

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After a high-stakes operation at an opera house in Ukraine, a CIA agent (John David Washington) is recruited into a mysterious organization, given the codeword “Tenet” as a key to establishing contact with other members. Their objective is to stop an international criminal named Sator (Kenneth Branagh) who uses “time inversion”: a technology which reverses the effects of entropy and essentially causes objects to move backwards in time. The organization ...Read More

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News Obituaries 

Debra Doyle (1952-2020)

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SF writer Debra Doyle, 67, died October 31 of a sudden cardiac event at home in Colebrook NH. She was best known for work written in collaboration with her husband, James D. Macdonald, including Mythopoeic Award winner Knight’s Wyrd (1992) and the Mageworlds space opera series.

Doyle was born November 30, 1952 in Florida, and grew up mostly in Texas. She married Macdonald in 1978. She was a frequent instructor ...Read More

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Films 

You Gotta Kill the Person You Were Born to Be: Josh Pearce and Arley Sorg Discuss LX 2048 with Bonus Film The Speed of Time

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In this installment, Locus will be taking a look at two indie films that found their way into our inbox: full-length LX 2048 and short film The Speed of Time, both available on streaming services, and both offering up a slightly different selection than what we’re used to seeing in theatrical releases.

Josh: Let’s cover LX 2048 first. I think when I initially emailed you about it, I said ...Read More

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Features Interviews 

Marshall Ryan Maresca: Choosing Magic

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Marshall Ryan Maresca was born March 31, 1973 in Syracuse NY and grew up in upstate New York. He attended Penn State, where he got a degree in video and film production, and was active in the theater world. He settled in Austin TX, where he lives with his wife and son.

Most of Maresca‘s work is in the Maradaine world, an epic fantasy setting he has explored in four ...Read More

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Films 

Sometimes You Get the Bear: Arley Sorg and Josh Pearce Discuss The New Mutants

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A fresh batch of young mutants has arrived, but don’t call them X-Men just yet, and don’t call them superheroes, either. After surviving a freak storm that kills every person on her reservation, including both of her parents, Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt) finds herself in a nearly abandoned hospital occupied by four other teenagers — Rahne (Maisie Williams), Illyana (Anya Taylor-Joy), Roberto (Henry Zaga), and Sam (Charlie Heaton) — and ...Read More

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