International Space Station image of an aurora over Earth, 
with Mars and Venus shining bright behind the words Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination
About the Ad Astra Institute Ad Astra Institute Blogs Ad Astra Institute Workshops and Courses Donate to the Ad Astra Institute Ad Astra Institute Resources for Speculative Fiction Writers, Educators, and Fans

"Repeat Offenders"
Spec-Fic Writing Workshop
June 29 - July 12, 2025

also available in Ad Astra's Science Fiction Summer program:
Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop (June 15 - 18),
SF/F Novel Writing Workshops (June 15 - July 12),
& SF Summer Writing Retreat for alums (any span June 15 - July 12)

Return to the scene of the crime to reinforce lessons from previous workshops and reconnect with alums.
Since 2016.

Apply for summer 2025 starting in February

2024 Repeat Offenders

the 2024 Repeat Offenders cohort at a coffee shop
Alisha Ashley, Ian Martínez Cassmeyer, Philip Baringer, Patricia Crumpler, Camden Campe, Chris McKitterick.
Not pictured: Kristen Koopman, Chuck Von Nordheim, Rachelle Smith.

Instructors

"Repeat Offenders" Advanced Workshop

Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop

Writing Retreat for Alums

How to Apply

Housing

Costs

Scholarships

Donate

Diversity, Inclusivity, and Commitment to Equity

History

Transportation

Lawrence in the Summer

Related Writing Workshops and Resources


 

For 2025, Chris continues our two-week, residential "Repeat Offenders" advanced spec-fic writing workshop for alums of the Spec-Fic Writing Workshop - stay tuned for the announcement of this year's Special Guest Instructor! He also again offers a Writing Retreat for alums. First-time attendees of the Spec-Fic Writing Workshop are welcome to stay for Repeat Offenders or continue their stay for the Writing Retreat. Scholarships are available.

The Repeat Offenders Workshop is designed to serve alums at all levels: those who have just begun to publish, those who need the final bit of insight or skill to master the elements that create great stories editors want and readers love, and published authors who want to grow their writing or refresh their skills through an intensive workshop experience with a diverse, focused cohort of enthusiastic writers who have a similar workshop education.

We work with all flavors of speculative fiction including fantasy, hard SF, horror, magical realism, slipstream, speculative philosophy, and so on. Though the workshop is useful for writers of all lengths of fiction, for practical reasons we use short-form works to master the art and craft of creating great spec-fic.

McKitterick strives to put together a creative cohort that's diverse in genre, backgrounds, and experience, with an emphasis on developing a mutually supportive cohort adept at respectfully offering useful critiques and accepting feedback in the positive spirit they're offered to help everyone learn and grow not only as authors but as members of the spec-fic community.

We also offer short and extended online and hybrid offerings throughout the year, including our Science into Fiction writing workshop series.

Instructors

Christopher McKitterick
Workshop Leader

Ad Astra director Chris McKitterick leads the workshop, participating from when the application period opens through the end of the cycle and beyond, critiquing every story, giving short talks on the topics and writing, and checking up afterward to see how everyone's revisions and submission process is going.

Since the 1990s, he has taught science-fiction and creative-writing workshops, seminars, masterclasses, and full-semester courses at the University of Kansas and around the world. In 2018, he was one of three finalists for the H.O.P.E. (Honor for Outstanding Progressive Educator) Teaching Award, the most prestigious teaching award given at the University of Kansas.

He's led the intensive summer Spec-Fic Workshop since 2010, and co-taught it since 1995. In 2016 he founded the "Repeat Offenders" Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop (advanced workshop for returning alums), and founded the AdAstranaut SiF workshop series in 2022. and first took James Gunn's Science Fiction Writers Workshop in 1992, then served as guest instructor from 1995-2009, leading the redesigned Spec-Fic Workshop since 2010. in 2016 he founded the "Repeat Offenders" Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop (advanced workshop for returning alums), and the Ad Astra "Science into Fiction" workshop series in 2022.

Chris' short work has appeared in many publications. His "Ashes of Exploding Suns, Monuments to Dust" made the Tangent Recommended Reading List and won the AnLab Reader's Award for best novelette - his first major fiction-writing honor. He regularly publishes nonfiction, and a poem or two became lyrics for songs. His debut novel, Transcendence, is in its second edition. He recently finished a couple more novels, Empire Ship and the first book of The Galactic Adventures of Jack and Stella, and has several other projects on the burners.

En route to becoming an SF scholar, writer, and educator, Chris studied astrophysics, education, classics, and psychology. He's been taking professional writing and science workshops (and university courses) across the country since the 1980s. He earned his BA in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he ran two observatories and a planetarium and served as assistant instructor for physics and astronomy courses. He spent a year teaching K-12 in the Montana Badlands, then began formal SF writing and literature studies in 1992 with James Gunn at the University of Kansas, where he earned his MA in creative writing and continued post-graduate studies ever after. Then for nearly a decade he worked for gaming and tech companies in Seattle, spending summer vacations co-teaching the SF Workshop and SF Institute with Gunn. In 2002, KU recruited him to teach SF and writing full-time, where he developed many offerings. He never stops learning, including at The Schrödinger Sessions quantum physics workshop and the LaunchPad Astronomy Workshop.

Chris first launched Ad Astra as a University of Kansas Center (announcement) in 2021 after having directed James Gunn's original Center for the Study of Science Fiction with Gunn and Kij Johnson from 1995-2022, then expanded it into the non-profit Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination in 2023. In addition to doing all things Ad Astra, he rescues wild animals, gardens, and watches the sky. He and his beloved Lauren married in 2023, and they welcomed Baby McKitterick into the world in 2024. They live in LFK with a cat, three birds, and lots of other critters.

Read more about Chris here (formal bio), or here, or hang out with him online: Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Xitter | YouTube | Christopher-McKitterick.com

 

Special Guest Instructor
TBA

Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2025 Special Guest Instructor!


We continue Gunn's tradition of inviting special guest author-instructors to help provide diverse perspectives on what makes great spec-fic, and we've often enjoyed the writing advice and camaraderie of visiting authors and editors.

Stay tuned for the announcement of next year's Special Guest Instructor! For 2024, we were privileged to enjoy the expertise and insights of experimental particle physicist and science-fiction expert Phil Baringer.

Recent special-guest instructors have included Philip Baringer, Pat Cadigan, Bradley Denton, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and John Kessel. Previous special guests included Theodore Sturgeon, and Frederik Pohl served as special-guest instructor for nearly two decades, along with his wife Betty Anne Hull. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements!

Pat Cadigan dispensing wisdom
Special guest instructor Pat Cadigan dispensing wisdom.

Andy Duncan with his writing notebook
Special guest instructor Andy Duncan with his writing notebook.

"Repeat Offenders"
Advanced Writing Workshop
June 19 – July 12, 2025

Return to the scene of the crime to reinforce lessons from prior workshops and reconnect with alums. Since 2016.

This advanced (and less formal) residential, two-week workshop is exclusively for alums (aka "AdAstranauts" and "Young Gunns") of the Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop.

Repeat Offenders offers the opportunity to work with similarly trained writers - and special guest instructors - on whatever projects you have underway, or come to create new stories! Details are customized for each year's attendees, but we usually plan a mix of:

Details to come as we work out everyone's wishes. This is not only a time to further develop your writing, but also a great chance to get advice and feedback on ongoing, longer projects - and to meet up with your cohort again while meeting others who've studied here!

We normally meet every weekday afternoon, and usually begin with an informal get-together with Kij Johnson and Barbara Webb's Novel Architects Workshop attendees on Sunday evening beforehand at 6:00pm in the space where we'll get acquainted and plan for the coming weeks. And of course we'll have the usual night-time group movie watches, games, dinner, and so on! Simultaneous scheduling and adjacent meeting spaces with other workshops provide valuable opportunities to intermingle with the other groups in our building, and to discuss writing from different perspectives outside regular meeting times. Attendees also have many opportunities to socialize with one another, and many build life-long relationships.

Do you want nothing more than a Writing Retreat? That's cool - just let us know. You're welcome to participate in others' dev or crit sessions, and check-ins and professionalization discussions, plus the usual evening hangouts of course, and we're setting aside our room for morning Write Group (quiet writing time).

2023 RO Workshoppers in our workshop space
2023 Repeat Offenders
Phil Baringer, Patricia Crumpler, Kristen Koopman, Alisha Ashley, Chris McKitterick, Rachelle Smith.
Not Pictured: Chuck Von Nordheim.

2018 RO Workshoppers in our scholarship-hall lounge
2018 Repeat Offenders
Seated (left to right): Pat Cadigan, Patricia Crumpler, Kathy Kitts.
Standing: Anna Sherer, Kristen Koopman, Adam Cheney, Jean Asselin, Rebecca Dorf Landau, Rachelle Smith, Sarah Worrel, Chris McKitterick.
Not Pictured: M. Luke McDonell.

2017 RO Workshoppers in our scholarship-hall lounge
2017 Repeat Offenders
Front: Pat Cadigan.
Second row (left to right): Rachelle Smith, Sabrina Starnaman, Patricia Crumpler, Chris McKitterick.
Back: Jalyn Powell, M. Luke McDonell, Adam Cheney, Kristen Koopman, Kathy Kitts, Jean Asselin, Sarah Worrel.
Not pictured: James Gunn, Andy Duncan.

2016 RO Workshoppers in our scholarship-hall lounge
2016 Repeat Offenders
Front (left to right): Kristen Koopman, Jalyn Powell, Gregory Scheckler.
Back: Carolyn Kaberline, Jean Asselin, Kathy Kitts, Chris McKitterick, Rachelle Smith, Shawn Frasier.
Not pictured: Isaac Bell.

How to Apply

Apply starting in February

Enrollment is usually limited to 10 active participants (we allow more who wish to attend as a Writing Retreat, housing space permitting), so apply early!

By June 9, contact Chris McKitterick. We usually fill up as fast as (or faster than) the traditional workshop, so best to contact me ASAP. Please use this Google Form to help manage things.

To reserve a spot for this year's Repeat Offenders Writing Workshop:

If you are accepted, you'll be informed how to pay for tuition and housing. If you wish to participate but it's after the deadline, please contact Chris (spec.fic.workshop@gmail.com) to see if there's still room. Housing is the primary challenge for Repeat Offenders rather than cohort size, as we have greater freedom for scheduling critique, developmental, and discussion sessions, and lots of folks arrive only planning to find developmental support for new projects.

2016 Workshoppers in our scholarship-hall lounge
2016 Workshop cohort
Front (left to right): Sarah Worrel, Caitlin Rogers, Andy Duncan, Andrea Corbin, Christopher McLucas.
Back: M. Luke McDonell, Izzy Wasserstein, Gregory Scheckler, Shawn Frazier, Dylan Henderson, Laura Wilson Anderson, Chris McKitterick.
Not pictured: James Gunn.

Housing for the Workshops
and Writing Retreat

This year we plan to stay and work in the brand-new Stouffer Place Apartments on the University of Kansas campus, where we held the past two years' SF Summer program. It's a dorm-style structure divided into full-featured apartments within. We'll hold the workshops on the same floor of the building, so your commute is only a short walk down the hall.

Apartments in Stouffer Place come fully furnished, and we can order linens service (which Housing will wash each week), or you can bring your own. Shared living room furniture includes a couch, accent chairs, coffee table, end tables, entertainment stand, and bar stools. Shared full kitchens have a stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, and combined washer-dryer. Private bedroom furniture varies slightly by number of roommates. Housing costs are separate from tuition, because we sometimes host local attendees who do not need a room.

As a college town in summer, Lawrence also boasts a number of AirBnB-style places and hotels.

2017 Repeat Offenders in our scholarship-hall lounge
2017 Repeat Offenders cohort being silly
Front: Pat Cadigan, with Sabrina Starnaman and Patricia Crumpler behind.
Left to right: Jalyn Fiske, Rachelle Smith, M. Luke McDonell, Adam Cheney, Kristen Koopman, Kathy Kitts, Jean Asselin, Chris McKitterick, Sarah Worrel.
Not pictured: James Gunn, Andy Duncan.

If you'd like to help future attendees, please consider making a donation!

Costs

Several scholarships are available, so don't let cost be a barrier to applying - just let us know if you are interested in being considered for a scholarship (and how much you need) when you apply. We try to price our courses fairly, and those who can afford to pay full cost help subsidize those who cannot. We also seek donations to help offer more scholarships, so if you'd like to help someone attend our programs, consider donating!

Full-price costs to attend McKitterick's SF workshops or writing retreat for 2025:

Please complete your registration and make all payments before you begin, unless you make special arrangements. After you are accepted, we will send you payment instructions (the payment form includes donation options to help support other writers in financial need). We accept Zelle (use adastra.sf.institute@gmail.com to make a payment or scholarship donation), PayPal (which takes an additional 3.4% fee), or check. Please send checks to:

Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination
1809 Indiana St.
Lawrence, KS 66044

Meals, housing, and incidental costs rise the longer you stay, so plan appropriately.

Join the Ad Astra community and reach for the stars!

Scholarships

Generous supporters enable us to offer scholarships for those in need to attend our workshops and other courses. We are deeply grateful to our donors who help make our educational program available to worthy writers, educators, and scholars who might otherwise be unable to pursue their professional education - thank you!

A limited number of scholarships can range from $50-$1000, with occasional full-tuition scholarships. We especially encourage people from historically under-represented groups to apply. In order to be considered for a partial or full scholarship, you must request one when applying, and how much you might need in order to attend. As-listed costs for our workshops and other events are for those who can afford full price; those able to pay the full fees help support those who cannot.

SFWA Givers Grant Scholarship

Thanks to the SFWA Givers Grant, we have been able to offer several scholarships for writers to attend our workshops. SFWA Givers Fund Grants are intended to aid projects that align with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association's mission to promote, advance, and support science fiction and fantasy writing around the world. This fund is made possible with the generosity of donors from the speculative-fiction writing community and partnerships within the publishing landscape. If you'd like to donate to this endeavor or another SFWA charitable fund, you can do so here.

ConQuesT and KaCSFFS Scholarship

The Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS) has long supported our educational outreach programs, and we hold an annual fundraiser at their ConQuesT SF convention in Kansas City. If you'd like to help support Ad Astra, consider supporting our local fan organization and attend this fun event!

AdAstranaut Scholarship

Finally, thanks to individual donors and Ad Astra staff, repeat attendees can also earn scholarships for both our summer residential workshops, year-round Ad Astra Presents "Science into Fiction" short workshops, masterclasses, residential workshops, seminars, and more designed for speculative-fiction writers, educators, and fans, led by our staff and a variety of other SF authors, editors, scholars, professors, and experts to provide participants with deeper understanding of SF and the vast array of human expertise necessary to stay on top of the ever-accelerating change that shapes human civilization - and even what it means to be human.

We offer micro-scholarships for repeat attendees (of either the residential summer workshops, short Ad Astra workshops, or both): Repeat participants enjoy an additional $50 scholarship after their first full workshop and $100 scholarship after their second. To recieve this scholarship, be sure to mention you're an AdAstranaut or Young Gunn (a couple names alums call ourselves) in your application, and if you're requesting the $50 or $100 AdAstranaut scholarship. By making our offerings affordable to those who might not otherwise be able to attend, we hope to increase accessiblity for all while offering a broad, diverse set of writing instruction for AdAstranauts dedicated to growing their creative skills and STEM knowledge.

If you'd like to support further scholarships for our attendees, let us know! Our goal is to be able to offer our educational program to everyone, regardless of their financial status.

The Ad Astra Institute is a registered 501(c)3 educational, arts, and research nonprofit. If you wish to support our activities by making a charitable donation to help others attend the workshops who might otherwise not be able to, contact McKitterick (cmckit.sf@gmail.com). We accept Zelle (use adastra.sf.institute@gmail.com to make a direct donation), PayPal (which takes an additional fee), and checks; please send checks to:

Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination
1809 Indiana St.
Lawrence, KS 66044

We also partner with Farbeyond Books - a fantastic spec-fic bookstore - which donates at least 50% of all sales to Ad Astra, so if you have books you'd like to donate, let us know. Your donation is fully tax-deductible!

Thank you so much to our donors and supporters! You make all this possible.

Young Gunns of 2003 outside the dorm
The "Young Gunns" of 2003
Front row:
Kij Johnson, Jeannette Cheney, Betsy Boyce, Nolen Harsh, Terry Mackey, Adrian Simmons.
Middle row: Harold Agnew, Thomas Seay, Pat Buehler, Jennifer Schwabach, Cliff Johns, Kelly Green, Betty Hull.
Back row: Wolfgang Baur, David Kirtley, Rod Rogers, Frederik Pohl, Chuck Marsters, Larry Taylor, James Gunn.
Not pictured: Chris McKitterick (photographer)

Diversity, Inclusivity, and Commitment to Equity

edited frame from the 
Tank Girl comic that says, This story can be wonderful. We can be magnificent. We can turn this shit around.Everyone enjoys equal access to our offerings, and we actively encourage students and scholars from diverse backgrounds to study. We especially encourage people from historically under-represented groups to apply for our courses and scholarships. Many of our other courses are available to be taken in hybrid format (if space is available) to help enable those who might not be able to attend in person to participate, and we happily make accommodations to enable everyone to enjoy the fullest experience. We also make accomodations for those who cannot attend in person.

At Ad Astra, we also believe that earning a creative education should not depend on financial privilege, so we offer several scholarships to enable everyone to participate. If you wish to help support others to enroll, please consider donating to our scholarship fund (the Ad Astra Institute is a not-for-profit organization). Many of the most promising writers don't enjoy the same privilege as those who do, so we strive to level the playing field so everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, income, nationality or immigrant status, physical ability status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or marital, parental, and veteran status has equal opportunity to participate in our educational programs, and equal access to our activities. We want everyone to enjoy the same opportunity to become a professional speculative-fiction writer! We work to be a safe space for those who come to our events and educational programs. 

Click here to read our thoughts on diversity and inclusivity and our commitment to equity.

The Academic Achievement and Access Center (AAAC) coordinates accommodations and services for eligible KU students and those staying on campus. If you have a disability for which you wish to request accommodation and have not contacted the AAAC, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is (785)864-4064 (V/TTY). Also please contact us privately about your needs when working with us. 

Transportation:
In Lawrence and from the MCI Airport

By car, Lawrence is at the intersection of US 59 and I-70 (Kansas Turnpike). The west interchange is closer to campus. Lawrence can also be reached along the lovely Kansas Highway 10.

If you're driving, our housing facilities have nearby parking. McKitterick and Johnson usually leave a vehicle or two on-site for attendees to use while in town. Friends also often offer to give rides to and from the airport for less than the cost of a shuttle (especially when carpooling with others).

The nearest major airport is Kansas City International (MCI), about 50 miles from Lawrence. Transportation to Lawrence from Kansas City International (MCI - "M" is for "Mid-Continent") airport can be arranged through one of several airport transport services, including:

Notes:

 

Maps

University of Kansas map.

Kansas Union map.

Lawrence bus routes and maps.

Google Maps centered on the KU Kansas Union.

History

SFWA Science Fiction Grand Master James Gunn established the workshop in 1985 and led it (with appearances from many authors and editors) until 1995, when author and long-time co-instructor McKitterick began co-teaching; Kij Johnson also co-taught from 1995-2002, before branching off her own Novel Architects Workshop (the development of her and Barbara Webb's previous SF&F Novel Writing Workshop), which traditionally meets in the same space. At 87 years young, Gunn stepped down from teaching in 2010, handing off the workshop to his protegé McKitterick but still dropping in from time to time as our permanent special guest to offer words of writing wisdom (until his death at 97 in 2020) - 2023 marked the start of Jim's centenary year during the Repeat Offenders Workshop (July 12), when we celebrated his life.

From 1985-2019, we held the Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop exclusively as an intensive, two-week, residential program. The pandemic changed how we offered things, and between that and our move under the umbrella of the new Ad Astra Institute for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination means we've learned a ton of new ways to offer not only our traditional workshops but also an ongoing, year-round series of interdisciplinary bi-monthly workshops (series 5 is coming soon!), seminars, talks, masterclasses, write-ins, and much more led by a wide diversity of experts in many fields - plus of course the best spec-fic authors, editors, and educators - designed to help writers gain what we hope is the most well-rounded educational experience in SF offered anywhere! 

Recent guest instructors have included Philip Baringer, Pat Cadigan, Bradley Denton, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and John Kessel. Earlier guests included Betty Anne Hull, Theodore Sturgeon, and Frederik Pohl (who served as special-guest instructor for nearly two decades). Stay tuned for upcoming announcements!

James Gunn's 1992 SF Workshop - what first brought Ad Astra director McKitterick to Kansas.
Back row: Frederik Pohl, Chris McKitterick (my first year!), John Ordover, James Gunn.
Front row: Tom Crice, Dan Gollub, Rebecca Bates, Sheila Hartney, and...

Lawrence, KU, and Ad Astra in the Summer

For anyone who hasn't visited, Lawrence is a wonderful, lively, small city in the Kaw River valley, filled with art, events, and activities. Lawrence and the University of Kansas are about 30 miles west of Kansas City and 20 miles east of Topeka. Summers can be hot, but meeting and housing spaces are air-conditioned.

Among its many amenities, the University of Kansas contains a large science-fiction collection (including a number of single-author paper and manuscript collections, such as Theodore Sturgeon's) and other great reference collections; museums of natural history and art; and sports, theater, and lots more. Lawrence offers many excellent restaurants and shopping and recreational opportunities. Kansas City is less than an hour away. Nighttime opportunities include dinners, games, movies, live concerts, star-gazing sessions, and of course discussion about writing and more.


View of KU from the Ad Astra library.

The Ad Astra Institute holds a beautiful collection of speculative-fiction books and writing and science reference libraries, plus a great deal of SF historical paraphernalia - one of our attendees describes it as a "shrine to science fiction." For two years, our office and library lived on campus overlooking Potter Lake and KU's central park. We bring selected works and custom displays from this wonderful collection to many of our events. This is where we've held some of our writing workshops plus some write-ins and other events, as well as in KU scholarship and residential halls, the Lawrence Public Library, and elsewhere.


Part of the Ad Astra library and SF artifact collection.

The nearest major airport is Kansas City International (MCI), about 50 miles from Lawrence. Transportation to Lawrence from Kansas City International can be arranged through one of several airport shuttle services, or by arrangement through Ad Astra staff. By car, Lawrence is at the intersection of U.S. 59 and I-70 (Kansas Turnpike) or K-10. The I-70 West Lawrence interchange is closer to campus. Lawrence can also be reached along lovely Kansas Highway 10.

We request that attendees demonstrate vaccination status and stay away if feeling signs of illness - many of our events stream live via our YouTube and Discord channels, so you won't miss out even if sick. We want to help keep our AdAstranauts healthy!

Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop

Learn to write SF that sells. Using the short-story form, we help you master the elements that create great fiction.
Led by McKitterick since 1995, continuing James Gunn's tradition starting 1985.

Award-winning SF author, scholar, and educator Christopher McKitterick continues our residential, two-week workshop on speculative-fiction storytelling, and usually invites a Special Guest Instructor. The Ad Astra Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop is designed to serve writers at all levels: those who have just begun to publish, those who need the final bit of insight or skill to master the elements that create great stories editors want and readers love, and published authors who want to grow their writing or refresh their skills through an intensive workshop experience with a diverse, focused cohort of enthusiastic writers.

We work with all flavors of speculative fiction including fantasy, hard SF, horror, magical realism, slipstream, speculative philosophy, and so on. Though the workshop is useful for writers of all lengths of fiction, for practical reasons we use short-form works to master the art and craft of creating great spec-fic.

McKitterick strives to put together a creative cohort that's diverse in genre, backgrounds, and experience, with an emphasis on developing a mutually supportive cohort adept at respectfully offering useful critiques and accepting feedback in the positive spirit they're offered to help everyone learn and grow not only as authors but as members of the spec-fic community.

Full info
on the Spec-Fic Workshop page.

Writing Retreat for Alums

"I had no TV, no internet, and no other distractions. Just a hermit-like room with a view of the Kansas horizon.
I wrote 30,000 words in a week, and built momentum on my book that didn't fade until October.
When I needed human company (better yet, the company of other writers), I had lunch and dinner with the Workshop participants.
It was glorious."

- Wolfgang Baur

As in prior years (space allowing), we also offer a Writing Retreat for alums wanting to focus on their writing and reconnect with fellow AdAstranauts and Young Gunns. Alums of our writing workshops are welcome to co-habitate in the same building as those attending the Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop or "Repeat Offenders" Workshop for up to four weeks, coinciding with either or both of the formal workshops. There are no classes, though Retreat writers may choose to organize their own critiquing sessions or sit in on workshop sessions so you can enjoy the creative energy that develops around a workshop with the freedom and privacy to use your time as you wish. Attendees are free to write, revise, study, socialize, sightsee, and consult privately about their writing with other Retreat or Workshop attendees.

Full info
on the Writing Retreat page.

"Science into Fiction" Spec-Fic Writing Workshops:
  Series 1: "The Higgs Boson in This Particular Universe"
  Series 2: "Creativity and the Brain"
  Series 3: "Writing in (and about) the Age of Artificial Intelligence"
  Fall 2024 Series 4: "Six great stories and what makes them work: The science of SF writing"

Chris McKitterick's Spec-Fic Writing Workshop & Repeat Offenders Workshop

Kij Johnson & Barbara Webb's SF&F Novel Writing Workshops and Masterclasses

Speculative-fiction writing resources

Ad Astra Scholarships

Connect with Ad Astra

Ad Astra on Facebook Ad Astra on Tumblr Ad Astra on Xitter Ad Astra blog Ad Astra YouTube channel Sign up for the Ad Astra mailing list

We believe strongly in the free sharing of information, so you'll find a lot of content - including course syllabi and many materials from our classes - on this and related sites and social networks as educational outreach. Feel free to use this content for independent study, or to adapt it for your own educational and nonprofit purposes; just please credit us and link back to this website. We'd also love to hear from you if you use our materials!

This site is associated with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), AboutSF, and other organizations, and its contents are copyright 1992-present Christopher McKitterick except where noted, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: Feel free to use and adapt for non-profit purposes, with attribution. For publication or profit purposes, please contact McKitterick or other creators as noted.

This site does not use cookies and is free from tracking.

Creative Commons License
Works on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

updated 1/29/2025