I’m not sure when the list went public, but Clarion SD has posted the list of instructors for 2010.

• Delia Sherman
• George R. R. Martin
• Dale Bailey
• Samuel R. Delany
• Jeff VanderMeer
• Ann VanderMeer

You guessed it, I have not read any of them.  I suck.  I did recently buy Steampunk, a collection edited by the VanderMeers.  I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.  That’s got to count for something, doesn’t it?

So who are they?

Delia Sherman writes for both young and adult readers.  It appears I’ll have to do some research to get a goo feel for what unique contributions she might bring to the workshop, though her partnership with writer Ellen Kushner could turn into a double-team of instructors.  Both women write in the “fantasy of mnners” subgenre (a new one on me).

George R. R. Martin boasts a long career including a plethora of Hugo and Nebula awards, editing and production experience with The New Twilight Zone (1980s) and the CBS series Beauty and the Beast (which I recall my parents watching in the late 1980s).  His awards track record suggest he is a true arist in the medium of novellas.

Dale Bailey’s work seems to populate the biggest and best of anthologies (Year’s Best, Nebula Showcases, etc.)  I may well drive past his house every time I visit my parents (not quite, but I pass near his hometown of Hickory, NC) and he got his post-graduate degrees in my old hometown (Knoxville, TN).  Most of his work seems to be in the horror genre.

Samuel R. Delany has a unique perspective on life as a black, gay, dyslexic writer (a combination that inspired his Hugo-winning autobiography).  He has several Hugo wins and a stack of nominations (Hugo, Nebula, Locus, you name it).  He appears to have just a much success and notority as a literary critic as he does writing; now there’s a skill set that could benefit aspiring writers like me!

The VanderMeers are each successful in their own right.  Ann is fiction editor of Weird Tales magazine (for which she won a Hugo) and founder of Buzzcity Press.  Jeff won a World Fantasy Award and has been finalist for most of the other big awards.  I’d love to see the two of them imitate another Clarion married couple (Kate Wilhelm and Damon Knight) by teaming up the last two weeks.  I suspect that ay be the plan.

All in all, a good lineup.  How does it compare to Clarion West’s dancecard?  I’m not sure.  Both are good.  I’m eager to apply to each.  I better get writing!