Okay, so you've gone through four years of university, you've got a huge portfolio of writing you've done and you’re ready to move. Only problem is you’re not that ready for
the real world and grad school just isn't for you. Now what? You want to keep
writing, and reading other people’s work and have them read yours. Lucky for
you, there are options. A writer-in-residence program seems just what you need.
A
writer-in-residence program is a wonderful program where you can get away from
everything you are used to and be engulfed in this new world yet to be
explored. You get to meet new people, use new materials and dive into a new
community. It’s a time where you can reflect on your old and new work alone and
without distractions. Pretty much it’s like a cradle between school and the
real unforgiving world. It’s a place to get you prepared and learn some new
things too.
There are
lots of different kinds of writer-in-residence programs. Some of them are part
of other institutions and others are on their own. Some you have to apply and
some are invitation only. Some provide funding and others you have to fend for
yourself.
The Millay Colony for the Arts is in Austerlitz, New York about two and a half hours from New York City. It offers one month programs between November and April for writers, visual artist, and composers. During the program, artists enjoy their own room, studios and meals. Applications can be found on their website.
Maybe you
like to travel, and don’t want to be tied down to one certain city or area.
Well have no fear you can do that too!
Karen
Connelly is the author of nine best-selling books in non-fiction, fiction and
poetry. She travels around the world and writes of her experiences and the
places she has been. When she was 24 she was the youngest person to win the
Governor General’s Award for her book Touch
The Dragon, A Thai Journal. She also has travelled around many areas
teaching English, writing and doing workshops, sometimes only staying in one
place a few months at a time. She currently lives in Toronto, but also has a
house is Greece. Karen Connelly is one person that shows you can be a writer
and travel all over, often times each thing helping the other out. Follow her
blog here:
Thanks for posting, Caitlin.
ReplyDeleteFor some of us last-semester people, the topic you wrote about is here and now and real and sometimes ugly. Personally, I would rather be flogged to death than go to grad school, so it is always nice to see ways in which I can still be a writer without being an "Im-a-writer-in-grad-school" cliché.
Regarding Connelly, check out her first Thai memoir, "A Journey of a Thousand Lives," or something like that. It was a bit too girly for me, but if you are interested in a high school girl's experience in Thailand, it's the book for you.
Ro