Generosidad A Través De Las Generaciones
(Generosity Across Generations)
“I do not believe I would have been capable of writing the book that would become my debut, The Hacienda, without the intense critique and workshopping experience of Clarion West, nor without the community that it provided.”
“I do not believe I would have been capable of writing the book that would become my debut, The Hacienda, without the intense critique and workshopping experience of Clarion West, nor without the community that it provided.”
- Isabel Cañas (CW '18)
What is the Clarion West Six-Week Summer Workshop?
Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization that runs an acclaimed six-week summer workshop. Since 1971, the workshops have been geared to help students prepare for a professional career as a writer of speculative fiction. Each week features a different instructor (or team of instructors), a highly regarded author or editor offering their unique perspective on the field. Students come away with essential tools for improving their writing as well as a set of friendships and professional contacts that can last a lifetime.
Recent graduate Isabel Cañas (CW '18) founded the Flores Scholarship for students who identify as Latinx/e. Isabel received the first Worldbuilder Scholarship, provided by George R. R. Martin. The Worldbuilder Scholarship covers tuition, fees, and lodging for one student each year. Paying this forward, Isabel created the Flores Scholarship which was awarded to inaugural recipients Ana Hurtado and Alex V. Cruz in 2022. Other notable scholarships include the Blue Corn Creations scholarship for indigenous writers and the Octavia Butler award.
Below, Isabel Cañas (pictured) tells us more about staying true to her own voice and the joy it has brought her:
" ... writing The Hacienda taught me that joy in publishing (and, hopefully, success) only comes when you write what you want to write. For years, and even now, I hear the phantom voices of past and future rejections in my head, wondering why my manuscripts aren't "more Mexican" or why I don't write magical realism or write about immigration. It is vital to shut those voices out and write what keeps you up at night.”
- Isabel Cañas (CW '18)
