The following press release from James Patrick Kelly was too important and too relevant and just too damn full of good news for me to pass up, so I'm reprinting it here in its entirety. I owe a lot to Clarion, and I'm ecstatic that other new writers will continue to go there each year.

The Clarion Foundation is formed and names 2006 instructors

Rumors to the contrary, The Clarion Writers Workshop will return next year to Michigan State University with a faculty that has won the highest awards in the field and a new organizational structure. In the future, Clarion will be administered by the not-for-profit Clarion Foundation, which this week was awarded tax-exempt status as a 501 (c) (3) corporation.

The Board of Directors of The Clarion Foundation came together this summer to revitalize the workshop. The Board is made up of past Clarion teachers, alumni and friends and includes Chair Kate Wilhelm, Vice Chair James Patrick Kelly, Treasurer Nancy Etchemendy, Secretary Leslie What as well as Walter Jon Williams, Karen Joy Fowler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kelly Link and Cory Doctorow.

Kate Wilhelm said, "We wanted to preserve the classic Clarion experience but saw the need to revamp some of what goes on behind the scenes. I was gratified that so many friends of Clarion volunteered to help. Now that we have official tax-exempt status, we will seek new funding sources and continue to improve the workshop."

Also this week, the board named the slate of instructors for the 2006 Clarion. The workshop will run from June 26 to August 4 will be taught by Samuel R. Delaney, Gardner Dozois, Nancy Kress, Joe and Gay Haldeman and, for the traditional anchor team, Kelly Link and Holly Black. The workshop will be returning to Owen Hall where it was held from 1990-2003.

Now in its thirty-ninth year, the Clarion Workshop is the one of the most highly regarded writing workshops in the county. Participants are selected from applicants who have the potential for highly successful writing careers and who submit writing samples with an application.

The application deadline for the 2006 workshop is April 1, 2006. Application information is available online at www.msu.edu/~clarion or by email, clarion@msu.edu, or by writing to the Clarion Workshop, 112 Olds Hall, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI 48824-1047.

(End of press release)

I'm so glad to see the workshop remain at Michigan State. Not only will that ensure Lister Matheson's participation (and Tess, too, if she's still involved), but it also means that dozens of stories about a hapless guy named "Owen Hall" will continue to be written there... Later!