Viable Paradise is an annual one-week residential writing workshop

Writing Workshop

Writing Workshop is a method of writing instruction developed by Lucy Calkins and educators involved in the Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University in New York City, New York. . This method of instruction focuses on the goal of fostering lifelong writers...

 held each autumn on the island of Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....

 in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. It is focused on speculative fiction

Speculative fiction

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...

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The workshop began in 1997, as part of a science fiction convention presented by the Martha's Vineyard Science Fiction Association. After 1998, the convention was discontinued, but the workshop continued.

Present and past instructors include: Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Patrick James Nielsen Hayden , is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner , and is an editor and the Manager of Science Fiction at Tor Books...

, Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and teacher. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books. She has also worked for Federated Media Publishing, where in 2007 she revived the comment section for the blog Boing Boing...

, James D. Macdonald

James D. Macdonald

James D. Macdonald is an American author and critic who lives in New Hampshire with his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr. Debra Doyle. He works in several genres, concentrating on fantasy, but also writing science fiction, and mystery and media tie-ins.-Biography:Macdonald was born in 1954, and...

, Debra Doyle

Debra Doyle

Dr. Debra Doyle is an American author writing in multiple related genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Many of her stories are co-written with her husband, James D. Macdonald...

, Steven Gould

Steven Gould

Steven Charles Gould is an American science fiction author and teacher. He has written eight novels and is best known for his 1992 novel Jumper, which was made into a film and released in 2008. He is married to science fiction writer Laura J...

, Laura J. Mixon

Laura J. Mixon

Laura J. Mixon is a chemical and environmental engineer better known as a science fiction writer. She writes about the impact of technology and environmental changes on personal identity and social structures. Her work has been the focus of academic studies on the intersection of technology,...

, Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans...

, Elizabeth Moon

Elizabeth Moon

Elizabeth Moon is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novel The Speed of Dark won the 2003 Nebula Award.-Biography:...

, Maureen McHugh, James Patrick Kelly

James Patrick Kelly

James Patrick Kelly is an American science fiction author who began publishing in the 1970s and remains to this day an important figure in the science fiction field....

, Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear

Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author. Writing under the name Elizabeth Bear, she works primarily in the genre of speculative fiction, and was a winner of the 2005 John W...

, Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow

Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...

, John Scalzi

John Scalzi

John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written...

, Sherwood Smith

Sherwood Smith

Sherwood Smith writes fantasy and science fiction for young adult as well as adults. She has participated in and organized writing groups for many years.Smith's works include the YA novel Crown Duel...

, and Jay Lake

Jay Lake

Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is a science fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 he was a quarterly first place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction. He lives in Portland, Oregon and currently works as a product manager...

.

Past students include authors N. K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin

N. K. Jemisin is an American speculative fiction writer and blogger. Her 2010 debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award, the 2011 Hugo Award, and is nominated for the World Fantasy Award and was ranked #5 on Amazon's "editors' pick" list of the year's best...

, Sandra McDonald

Sandra McDonald

Sandra McDonald is an American science fiction and fantasy author.She is a graduate of Ithaca College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine. She also spent eight years as an officer in the United States Navy, during which time she lived...

, Paul Melko

Paul Melko

Paul Melko is an American science fiction writer whose work has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Asimov's Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and Live Without a Net....

, David Moles, Greg Van Eekhout

Greg van Eekhout

Greg van Eekhout is a science fiction and fantasy writer. He grew up in Los Angeles and attended UCLA, where he received a Bachelor's in English. He earned a Master's in Educational Media and Computers at Arizona State, and worked for a time at ASU designing multimedia. He currently lives in San...

, and Margaret Ronald; and podcast editors and authors Steve Eley

Steve Eley

Steve Eley is an American speculative fiction author and former podcaster. He edited and produced Escape Pod, a science fiction podcast, and produced Pseudopod, a horror podcast, and PodCastle, a fantasy fiction podcast that debuted on April 1, 2008...

 and Mur Lafferty

Mur Lafferty

Mur Lafferty is an American podcaster and writer based in Durham, North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. She is the editor and host of Escape Pod since 2010, when she took over from Steve Eley...

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External links

Viable Paradise Official Website

What Is Viable Paradise

List of former V.P. students