Getting paid for what you love is a big bonus and residencies for writers aim to do just that, to cultivate your writing, to give you space but also for you to give back through workshops, mentoring and classes. There are a broad number right across the country – we’ve come up with a few here to get you thinking.
Most residencies are open to published writers, and the more experience you’ve had working with the public and giving workshops the better. Education and Training Boards (ETBs) recruit Writers in Residence at various times for schools under their remit, so check your local arts office for details of residencies in your area. Also look at Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools scheme which part funds registered writers for school visits.
Sarah Griffin, author of the critically acclaimed Other Words For Smoke and Spare and Found Parts, explains her experience:
‘Between 2017-18, I was writer in residence at Maynooth University, then, in the summer of 2018 until the end of this month, I have been the writer in residence in the DLR Lexicon. The experience of applying for these roles is on one hand quite difficult: quantifying your worth as a writer into letters, application forms, CVs is truly mortifying at times, but ultimately, a real exercise in vision and focus. Why do you do what you do? What can you offer, as an artist and a practitioner and a facilitator to an institution? These are big questions to be asked, but in my experience, ones that focus the parts of you that require focus. During my time at the Lexicon, I have grown more as an artist and professional than during any period of my working life.
County Council, Institutional & Festival Residencies for Writers in Ireland:
Áras Éanna, Innis Oírr – No deadline given
Artist In Residence- Civic Theatre, Tallaght – No deadline given
dlrLexIcon / DLRCOCO Writer in Residence Annual Residency, deadline end of April.
Dromineer-Nenagh Literary Festival Writer in Residence
Heinrich Böll Cottage, Dugort Achill – Annual deadline at end of September.
2019 John McGahern Award for Literature
The John McGahern Joint Writer In Residency, St Patrick’s College and Dublin City University – No deadline given.
MAKE Residency, Tyrone Guthrie Centre – Annual deadline of December for the following year.
Writer / Screenwriter in Residence – Maynooth Univeristy Department of English – Deadline early May.
Meath County Council Call for Writer-in-Residence
Artist In Residence- Civic Theatre, Tallaght – No deadline given
Tyrone Guthrie Centre – Applications considered on an ongoing basis.
Tyrone Guthrie Centre International Residency Exchanges – Exchange programmes organized annually for Australia, Germany and the USA. Annual deadline of 30th September.
UCD School of English, Drama & Film – A writer-in-residence is appointed for the second semester by the university in conjunction with the Arts Council
Visiting Writer Fellow, Oscar Wilde Centre, Trinity College Dublin – Spring application.
When applying, take your time to complete the application form properly – and give yourself plenty of time to get it delivered. Some organisations want it in triplicate in hard copy and you can’t deliver that at midnight on the day of the deadline, so read the terms and conditions and submission procedure carefully.
Some residencies will look for creative ideas that you might have for your time with the institution of organisation, think about who their target users are – what ages are they, what might their needs be? An anthology isn’t the solution to everything, consider setting up a blog that can continue after you have left, or how you could create a reader’s day or drop in clinic. Be creative!
On all applications you will need to detail your experience, outline your writing CV. You can get help online with that from services like Craft Resumes online services but take time over it – do they need a short bio that gives an overview of your accomplishments or the full detail of where you went to school? All authors should spend time crafting their bio, for their blog, Amazon author page, social media etc. readers like to know a bit about the authors background and it’s vital for festival and event programmers to get an idea about who you are before they approach you.
