The legendary Clarion Writers' Workshop uses the funds from its annual Write-a-Thon to subsidize the tuition and expenses of the next generation of science fiction and fantasy writers.
It's a simple system: writers pledge to produce a certain number of words during the event (June 21-Aug 9) and readers pledge donations to egg them on. I've used the Clarion Write-a-Thon to keep me on track for a bunch of works, including my Locus- and Sturgeon-nominated story The Man Who Sold the Moon and my forthcoming novel Utopia.
I'm a graduate of Clarion (class of 92!) and a frequent instructor, as well as a volunteer on its board of directors. It's run as a nonprofit, on a shoestring, with virtually every cent raised going directly to the costs of instruction for each year's crop of students. It's a brilliant program that was essential to my own development as a writer.
Welcome to Clarion UCSD's Sixth Annual Write-a-Thon! What is a write-a-thon, anyway? Think charity walk-a-thon. In a walk-a-thon, volunteers walk as far as they can in return for pledges from sponsors who make donations, usually based on the number of miles the volunteer walks. Our Write-a-Thon works like that too, but instead of walking, our volunteers write with a goal in mind. Their sponsors make donations to Clarion sometimes based on number of words written, sometimes based on other goals, or just to show support for the writer and Clarion.
All donations are made through The Clarion Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, EIN #20-3114945.
