About Us

Turkey City, the storied Austin workshop, now has a diversity mission. Diversity is vital to speculative fiction. A genre centered on exploration and encountering the Other must include voices and visions from writers, readers, and thinkers of all kinds. For this reason, the Turkey City Writing Workshops actively seeks to include students, faculty, and volunteers from a variety of backgrounds including, but not limited to: race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age and ability.

Our Mission

is to nurture diverse and innovative voices in speculative fiction by providing sponsored seats for writers of color to regional workshops, and to bring diverse teachers and mentors to serve as faculty.

The ArmadilloCon Writing Workshop

TCWW began sponsoring writers of color at the annual ArmadilloCon Writers Workshop in 2017 to amplify new and diverse voices in the speculative fiction genre. This is our third year offering a limited number of sponsored seats to writers of color at the ArmadilloCon Writing Workshop. 

Turkey City Writers' Workshop
for established writers.

contact TCWW to learn more

Sponsorships
​for new and intermediate writers

apply for a sponsorship!

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You Can Help!

Our program is volunteer-run, so we need the assistance of people like you. With your donation, you will help elevate voices and increase the range of speculative fiction. No amount is too small! Combined with the efforts of other forward-thinking individuals, we can all make a difference together.

WHO WE ARE

​We are writers, editors, educators,
students, and bibliophiles.

Board of Directors
Chris Brown
J.J. Litke
Nicky Drayden
Rebecca Schwarz​
Stina Leicht
Sukyi McMahon

The History of Turkey City

​Founding members of the group included Lisa Tuttle, Howard Waldrop, Steven Utley, and Tom Reamy.

The workshop was first held in Grand Prairie, Texas, but soon shifted to Austin when most of the writers involved moved there during the mid-1970s. 

Bruce Sterling was one of the youngest members of the workshop when he joined it in 1974. Harlan Ellison "discovered" Sterling at Turkey City and arranged for the publication of his first novel. 

Other writers who have attended Turkey City include Ted Chiang, Stina Leicht, Rebecca Schwarz, Chris Brown, Nicky Drayden, Paul Di Filippo, Cory Doctorow, Andy Duncan, George Alec Effinger, Mark Finn, Steven Gould, Eileen Gunn, Leigh Kennedy, John Kessel, Rick Klaw, Raph Koster, George R. R. Martin, Maureen McHugh, Paul O. Miles, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Chad Oliver, Lawrence Person, Jessica Reisman, Chris Roberson, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Lewis Shiner, Lou Antonelli, John Shirley, Jeff VanderMeer, Don Webb, Martha Wells, and Connie Willis.

READY. SET. WRITE!

Resources 

Turkey City Lexicon - This manual is intended to focus on the special needs of the science fiction workshop. Having an accurate and descriptive critical term for a common SF problem makes it easier to recognize and discuss. This guide is intended to save workshop participants from having to "reinvent the wheel" at every session.

DROP US A LINE

Get in touch for more information ​
about ​Turkey City Writers Workshop