…is the approximate chance of getting a place at Clarion. I found out yesterday that the Top Gun of science fiction and fantasy writing workshops received about 200 applications this year. They take 18 students, so working out the math…(scratches head and sticks tongue out corner of mouth)…it comes to about 1/10. On the positive side, it could be 2000. On the negative side, anyone serious enough to take six weeks out of their life to take the course will be making a serious application. And 200 serious applications is a LOT of competition. I’m just going to try not to think about any of this until I hear one way or the other.
One in Ten…
Published by Damien Walter
Writer and storyteller. Contributor to The Guardian, Independent, BBC, Wired, Buzzfeed and Aeon magazine. Special forces librarian (retired). Director of creative writing at UoL, published with OUP and Cambridge. Currently travelling the world and writing a book. View more posts