Chris McKitterick's
Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop
June 2026

Learn to write SF that sells. Using the short-story form, we help you master the elements that create great stories.
Since 1983.

Award-winning author and SF scholar Christopher McKitterick leads this annual two-week residential writing workshop, designed to help established writers grow their skills while nurturing the careers of those who have just begun to publish or who need the final bit of insight or skill to master the elements that create great stories readers love and editors want to buy.

McKitterick invites guest instructors-in-residence to expand the discussion and offer unique perspectives - stay tuned for this year's special guests! Recent guest instructors have included experimental particle physicist and author Philip Baringer, the inimitable 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.

Become part of a growing community: Chris (long-time director of James Gunn's original SF center, KU's Ad Astra Center, and the Ad Astra SF Institute) has led this workshop since 2010, previously serving as special guest instructor since 1995 in its previous incarnation as Gunn's SF Writers Workshop, one of the first of its kind starting in 1983. Many alums build personal and professional bonds with their cohort that last a lifetime!

Thanks to the SFWA Givers Grant and other supporters, full or partial tuition scholarships are always available.

Apply beginning in February. Click here for more details.

Kij Johnson and Barbara J Webb's
Novel Architects Summer Residential Workshop
June - July 2026

Award-winning author, KU Professor, and Ad Astra Institute Associate Director Kij Johnson leads this developmental workshop with popular author Barbara Webb for writers of short science fiction and fantasy - the original and longest-running speculative-fiction novel workshop.

This two-week event will be held in person in Lawrence, KS. The workshop will be small, with no more than six individuals admitted. Workshop hours are 1-4pm each afternoon, plus spontaneous (but not required) sessions at all hours.

The scope of the workshop will be determined by the attendees in the weeks before the workshop starts, but may include classic workshopping of completed stories, developmental discussions for early-stage stories and ideas, writing or reading assignments, discussions and talks, and more.

Apply beginning in February. Click here for more details.

Kij Johnson and Barbara J Webb's
Fantasy and Science Fiction Novel Master Class

Learn how to transform your book idea into a successful project.
Since 2005.

Are you working on - or thinking about - a science fiction or fantasy novel you want to write? Novel Architects Kij Johnson and Barbara J Webb can show you how to build it. Together, they have eighteen years' experience teaching writers how to plan and build SF/F novels, helping everyone from experienced professional novelists like R.F. Kuang and Tina Connolly to talented new writers just getting their start.

The Fantasy and Science Fiction Novel Master Class is a single intensive week online: fifteen hours of talks and discussion directed toward helping you design and detail your best novel. By the end of the class, you'll have been presented with the tools necessary to create a novel: the specific requirements of the form and genre as well as novel-focused discussions of character, worldbuilding and immersion strategies, plot and structure, and BB.

Apply now! Click here for more details.

Kij Johnson and Barbara J Webb's
Novel Writer's "Repeat Offenders" Workshop
June 2026

Return to the scene of the crime to reinforce the lessons from your workshop, and reconnect with other alums.
Since 2010.

This follow-up workshop to Kij and Barbara's annual two-week residential writing workshop is offered to alums of that program only. Develop in-progress work while re-connecting with your past cohort!

Apply beginning in February. Click here for more details.
 

Chris McKitterick's
"Repeat Offenders" Speculative-Fiction Writing Workshop
June - July 2026

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

This follow-up workshop to Chris' annual two-week residential Spec-Fic Writing Workshop is offered as an advanced workshop to alums of that program. As in the traditional workshop, guest instructors join us to expand the discussion and offer their unique perspectives - stay tuned for next year's special guest. Recent guest instructors have included Phil Baringer, Pat Cadigan, Bradley Denton, Andy Duncan, James Gunn, Kij Johnson, and John Kessel.

Repeat Offenders is an opportunity to work with friends and similarly trained writers on whatever projects everyone has underway. We alternate between critique sessions, project-development sessions, story-generation exercises, and more, with write groups, daily progress check-ins, and the usual evening socializing and writing. Bring an idea or work-in-progress that we'll collaboratively and intensively develop, maybe a couple of short pieces to critique, or just something you hope to work on or complete during your time here. Lots of attendees treat this time as an annual get-together to catch up with friends they've met through Science Fiction Summer.

Apply beginning late February. Click here for more details.

Speculative-Fiction Writing Retreat for Alums
June - July 2026

Immerse yourself in creative energy of the workshops and reconnect with alums.
Since 2002.

Want to immerse yourself in the creative energy of our residential writing workshops but don't have work ready to develop or critique? Alums are welcome to join us and spend time with old friends!

Apply beginning in February. Click here for more details.

"Science into Fiction" Workshops

Through STEM education and using the short-story form, we help you master the elements that create great, science-literate stories.
New program since 2022!

Science fiction writers and readers didn't put a man on the Moon all by themselves, they created a climate of opinion in which the goal of putting a man on the Moon became acceptable.

- Isaac Asimov

This year's SiF topic: "Writing Spec-Fic Humor"
(bringing fun to humorless times)
SiF #5: Fall 2026

The Ad Astra Institute's Science into Fiction writing workshop series brings SF creators together with experts to create work that changes the world, bringing together the "two cultures" - STEM and the arts - to prepare the audience for what's to come, building bridges between fields by showcasing cutting-edge science and tech research to help creatives engage with the forces shaping our world. This integrated program empowers participants through the full process of inspiration, development, writing, and critiquing to create a scientifically literate story in just two months.

These workshops are for all spec-fic writers, not just those creating hard science fiction. In our first three cycles, several authors wrote fantasy stories using the science our experts presented, because basing your worldbuilding on cutting-edge understanding of our universe is invaluable for building any world, realistic or fantastic!

Science into Fiction talks and Q&As steam live (as do developmental sessions, workshops, write-ins, and more for registered attendees), and some become available for later viewing on our YouTube channel (and listening, hopefully, on podcast), so if you aren't local or can't attend live, you can still fully participate.

For support, accountability, and solidarity, Ad Astra staff host regular write-ins, and our Discord channels offer tons more support, ideas, and community. You can also find the Ad Astra SF Institute on social media linked at the bottom of every page, and sign up for the mailing list if you don't want to miss news of upcoming events.

McKitterick hosts this event and leads the workshop and developmental sessions, so you'll get expert creative feedback - he's an award-winning writer and well-respected educator who's been leading successful writing workshops for 30 years, as well as a variety of spec-fic courses for students, pros, and educators. Most of his alums have gone on to publish, start magazines, teach, and more, and our growing creative community stays in touch year-round.

Each cycle includes a weekend developmental workshop, six weeks (or more) of discussions and writing support groups, and a weekend story-critique workshop spread across eight or so weeks. Some SiF workshops include in-depth studies of the topics, as well, with extended discussions. We offer at least two workshop cycles per year in the fall and spring.

We continue to invite experts, spec-fic authors, and other brilliant minds to share their insights and inspiration with our AdAstranauts, plus offer in-depth sets of readings and other materials to dive deeper into each topic. Where else can you get expert creative and scientific feedback on your fiction?

2026's SiF #5: "Writing Spec-Fic Humor" – apply starting Summer 2026!  
Click here for more info about the "Science into Fiction" series.
You can find syllabi for prior workshops below.

Inspiration for the prior cycles of the Science into Fiction Spec-Fic Writing Workshop series:

"The Higgs Boson in This Particular Universe: Facts, Speculation, and the Story of a Little Ripple with a Big Bang" (Fall 2022) by Dr. Phil Baringer, was the first of our ongoing series of "Science into Fiction" talks at the Lawrence Public Library, designed to inspire creatives with cutting-edge research to help come up with ideas, develop stories, and do in-depth worldbuilding in science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative-fiction works. Baringer even joined us for the story-development and writing-workshop sessions.

Inspiration for SiF #2 came from Dr. Barbara Kerr's talk, "Creativity and the Brain" (Winter 2022) with the video on the Ad Astra Institute's YouTube channel. We hosted an in-person and livestreaming Q&A and discussion right after the talk, a story-idea brainstorming and story-development session, and then another weekend speculative-fiction writing workshop where we critiqued stories inspired by ideas from the talk and subsequent brainstorming.

SiF #3 - "Writing in (& about) the Age of Artificial Intelligence" (Fall 2023)- drew inspiration from a wide range of readings, media, and weekly discussions and established our new syllabus-based format.

In SiF #4 SiF Workshop - "Six great stories and what makes them work: The science of SF writing" (Fall 2024) - we took a deep dive into what makes great speculative fiction. We read six wonderful short stories, discussed what works (and doesn't) about them, read lots of nonfiction about what goes into writing great SF, and then everyone developed, wrote, and critiqued a new story where participants applied their expanded understanding of the form.

For the Fall 2026 SiF #5, we'll delve into "Writing Spec-Fic Humor" - register starting in 2026.

Science, Technology, and Society:
Examining the Future Through a Science-Fiction Lens

Join award-winning SF author Chris McKitterick as we explore the future through reading and discussing nonfiction and extrapolative work. Since 2005.

Science and technology offer countless benefits to individuals and to societies while presenting new challenges. In this course we read, watch, and discuss nonfiction and science fiction to explore the past, present, and possible future effects of science and technology on society and humankind. The only thing certain about our future is that it will be different than today! Participants write weekly reading responses and a research paper or creative work as final project. Everyone helps lead at least one session discussion. Offered for professionalization, especially for AdAstranauts seeking to write accurately about things to come.

In-person until the pandemic, then via lively online discussions, and we hope to resume in-person and hybrid sessions next year.

Click here for more details and a version of the syllabus.

Intensive Institute on Science Fiction Literature:
The SF Short Story / The SF Novel
Coming soon!

Especially for educators: Become fluent in SF by studying some of the most-influential stories that shaped the genre. Since 1975.

These annual two-week intensive courses offered by McKitterick and other special guest instructors alternate between the SF short story and novel, and are intended to give teachers, scholars, writers, and readers a solid background in the development, state, and future of the literature. This intensive course is especially designed for educators and others who can get away for two weeks.

Click here for more details and recent syllabi for both versions.

Science Fiction Literature:
The SF Short Story / The SF Novel

Become fluent in SF by studying some of the most-influential stories that shaped the genre. Since 1975.

These fourteen-session courses offered by McKitterick alternate between the SF short story and novel, and are intended to give teachers, scholars, writers, and readers a solid background in the development, state, and future of the literature. This version of the course spreads out readings and discussions across several weekends to enable those unable to get away for two weeks straight to intensively study SF literature while working full-time or going to college.

Click here for more details and recent syllabi for both versions.

Science Fiction and
the Popular Media

Join award-winning SF author and scholar Chris McKitterick on a journey of exploration as we investigate how SF changes and evolves as it embraces (and is embraced by) various media forms. Since 2014.

Through readings, viewings, and other interactive experiences, this course examines science fiction across a range of media, including film, television, literature, comics, gaming, fanfic, and more. We will survey the genre's history, trace its development across multiple media as new generations of creatives have taken advantage of new tools to respond to changing social conditions, and discuss the effects that - through various media forms - SF has on today's expression of what it means to be human living through ever-accelerating change. Students write weekly responses as they read a diversity of materials, view films and other multimedia expressions, participate in discussions, explore their unique understanding and interpretation of the genre, and then create and share personal visions through a creative or multimedia final project. Offered for professionalization.

Last year McKitterick offered this course in person. If the pandemic is still raging, we'll meet online for lively discussions.

Click here for more details and a recent version of the syllabus.