A Schedule Of Rest

Spoonquill intends to take what would be a very packed long weekend and space out the sessions and experiences to accommodate ample rest and time to process.

The Spoonquill cohort for Spring 2027 runs between March 9th and June 1st on selected Tuesdays at 10 AM Pacific. There are 10 sessions total including the intro and wrap-up sessions:

Each session is 90 minutes, with 15-20 minutes of rest scheduled in. The last Tuesday of each month has no programming, and residents are encouraged to take this week as restfully as possible.

Each month includes a writing session and two guest-taught sessions on writing or publishing.

Guest Curriculum

We are lucky to have some amazing guests locked in for our 2027 sessions! Topics may be subject to change and will get more specific as we move into next year, but here's who is coming to speak with us in the Spring:

Ada Palmer on Writing and Balance
A woman with very long dark blonde honey-colored hair stands in front of a stained glass window showing stars and planets. She wears rimless glasses and a brown and orange Viking tunic coat over a purple shirt. Her right arm is extended, supporting her with a cane.
Novelist and historian, author of the acclaimed Terra Ignota science fiction series, beginning with "Too Like the Lightning", and the forthcoming Norse myth novel "And Loki in His Prison" (June 2027, Tor Books). Chronically ill chronic pain sufferer, Associate Professor of History at the University of Chicago, activist, podcaster ("Beforecast", "Ex Urbe Ad Astra", "A Brief History of Saving the World"), singer, composer (Filk, Sassafrass). Researcher studying European, Renaissance, and Enlightenment history, radical thought, and censorship, also anime & manga.
DongWon Song on The Publishing Industry
DongWon Song is an agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency representing science fiction and fantasy for adults, young adult, and middle grade readers as well as select non-fiction. They were formerly an editor at Orbit, a product manager for an ebook startup, and has taught at institutions including Portland State University and New York University. They have a newsletter about the business at publishingishard.com and are a host of the podcast Writing Excuses.
Jen Coster on Process Improvements
Jen Coster is an erstwhile MD turned professional storyteller. She writes speculative fiction, video games, and has worked as a process consultant for multiple award-winning speculative fiction authors. She is passionate about narrative structure, the Oxford comma, and investigating the why's of the stories we tell.
Sarah Gailey on Writing and The Body
Sarah Gailey, a white person with auburn hair that is long on top and shaved on the sides, looking up with their hands behind their head. Dappled sun and shadow falls across their face, chest, and arms.
Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award and British Fantasy Award winning, bestselling author of speculative fiction, short stories, and essays. Their nonfiction has been published by dozens of venues internationally. Their fiction has been translated around the world. They have written comics for Marvel, EC, and BOOM! Studios, including multiple original series. They are the editor and publisher of Stone Soup and Love Letters: Reasons To Be Alive. You can find links to their work at sarahgailey.com.
Zhui Ning Chang on Demystifying Editing
A Chinese person sits on a wooden chair against a brown background, looking to the left. They are wearing a black top and beige trousers.
Zhui Ning Chang is a Malaysian editor, writer, and researcher based in London, UK. They have 10 years of experience as a freelance editor, working for traditional Big Five publishers as well as independent authors, game designers, and educational institutions. Presently, Zhui Ning is the editor-in-chief at khōréō magazine, where they acquire and edit cutting-edge speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers. They co-edited the anthologies Best of Malaysian Short Fiction in English and Latin American Plays in Translation, and assistant edited SFWA’s Publishing Taught Me essay series. Zhui Ning has also been an Advisor on Bloomsbury’s Lit in Colour scheme and a UK delegate for the British Council and National Centre for Writing’s International Literature Exchange programme. Zhui Ning recently completed a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London, focusing on critical analysis of decoloniality and the publishing economy in Southeast Asian speculative fiction.

Your Cohort Of Writers

Spoonquill aims to bring together a small group of peers with similar goals and struggles for thoughtful gatherings and discussions. In addition to the guest sessions, there are writing sessions scheduled each month, where we do a mini-workshop on some aspect of craft and discuss our work. Between sessions, the Discord is open for drop-in dialogues with your cohort.