Category Archives: residencies

Emerging Writers Residency Prize

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Check out this annoucement (and residency opportunity) for the Madeleine P. Plonsker Emerging Writer’s Residency Prize:

The Madeleine P. Plonsker Emerging Writer’s Residency Prize is awarded to an author under forty years old with no major book publication. This year the winner was selected by guest judge and poet Jennifer Moxley from a field of six finalists chosen by the editors of Lake Forest College Press / &NOW Books. Lake Forest College is pleased to recognize José Perez Beduya as the winner of the Madeleine P. Plonsker Emerging Writer’s Residency Prize, now in its third year. He will be in residence on the campus of Lake Forest College from February 1 to March 31, 2011, where he will work to complete his winning manuscript, Throng. He will receive $10,000 and, upon editorial approval, the finished book will be published by the &NOW Books imprint of Lake Forest College Press, with distribution by Northwestern University Press. He will also take part in the Lake Forest Literary Festival and offer a series of public presentations while in residence at the College.

Emerging writers interested in applying for the 2012 residency—in prose or mixed cross-genre—should send a curriculum vita, no more than 30 pages of a manuscript in progress with a  separate cover page, and a one-page statement of plans for completion to: Plonsker Residency, Department of English, Lake Forest College, Box A16, 555 N. Sheridan Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045. The author’s name should appear only on the cover page of the manuscript sample. Submissions must be postmarked by April 1, 2011 for consideration by editors Robert Archambeau, Davis Schneiderman, and Joshua Corey. The guest judge will be announced in the coming months. Please send direct inquiries to andnow@lakeforest.edu with the subject line: Plonsker Prize.

Join SLS in Kenya this December

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The 2009 Summer Literary Seminars-Kenya program (Nairobi-Lamu; December 13-28) is currently accepting applications. Visit the program’s website — www.sumlitsem.org/kenya — for all the details.

Individuals who were offered SLS Literary Contest merit fellowships in the past — between 2005-2009 – can apply them to this year’s program. Former SLS participants are eligible for a partial tuition waiver.

The SLS-Kenya program presents participants with a chance to work with some of the most interesting North-American and East-African writers and see the endlessly complex and fascinating country of Kenya “from within,” in close contact with the local literary and artistic community.  SLS-Kenya is developed in close cooperation with the local writers, artists and scholars.

SLS-Writing Kenya will feature talks, lectures, discussions, guided tours presented, both in Nairobi and on the island of Lamu, by a number of East Africa’s, leading writers, poets, artists, literary scholars, editors, musicians and filmmakers of the new generation.

Direct questions to keith@sumlitsem.org or mike@sumlitsem.org.

Blue Mountain Center Water Residency

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Blue Mountain Center is welcoming applications to apply to a special Water Residency session (June 19-July 5, 2009).

The fundamental notion that fresh water is beautiful, precious, and irreplaceable—and the fact that its quantity, purity, and accessibility are profoundly threatened around the world—has spurred Blue Mountain Center to create a special two-week residency about water.

BMC invites activists who are working on water issues, and writers and artists from all media who are interested in exploring water as a subject, character, theme, or clear inspiration—to apply. BMC supports a Commons approach to water, which asserts that water is an element, not a commodity, and cannot be owned.

Fifteen people will be admitted to the session. Residents will work on individual projects as they do during the regular season; but they will also be encouraged to share their perspectives, ideas, and approaches with one another regarding this topic. Please go to http://www.bluemountaincenter.org for basic information about BMC’s Residency Programs.  This session and its applications are distinct from the regular residency program.

To apply, simply submit an application postmarked by April 20, 2009 to:

Ben Strader
Blue Mountain Center
PO Box 109
Blue Mountain Lake, NY 12812-0109

or email: ben@bluemountaincenter.org

Applications should include:

  • a brief description (3 pages) of what you plan to work on at BMC and your history with the issue
  • a list of two references who are familiar with your work
  • Writers should send a short (up to 10 pages) writing sample
  • Artists should send 5 jpeg images on a CD

There is no application fee or cost for the program.  Acceptance notification for the Water Residency will be sent via email by May 7, 2009