The first time I ever heard about a “residency” for writers was in college. I nodded along with the other students even though I had no ide...
The first time I ever heard about a “residency” for writers was in college. I nodded along with the other students even though I had no idea what the instructor was talking about. I think the word immediately struck me as intimate: residency is that place where you live – your home – but the word also confused me because it has a long term, if not permanent, feel to it. More than 20 years later, I see a similar mixed reaction from others whenever the subject of a residency comes up – and it comes up a lot for me because residencies have been a part of my professional life for the past 15 years.
So what is a writers’ residency programme? How does it work, practically, and what does a writer get out of it? It’s a simple question with a complex answer, and the Covid-19 pandemic makes it even more difficult to answer.
The Art Omi residency
In 2005, I was hired as the director of the writers’ residency programme at Art Omi, a non-profit based in the Hudson Valley, two hours north of New York City. The organisation has a 300-acre campus that includes a sculpture park, art gallery and café....
