More and more writers are finding opportunities as writers in residence, yet planning and preparation are vital to make residencies work. Emma Hewett offers a guide to setting out a writer?s residency.
Writers in residence are employed to spend a particular period of time with an organisation. Gone are the days when they would be confined to a university, museum or arts centre. Residencies take place everywhere, from banks to supermarkets, tattoo parlours to oil rigs, community centres to Kew Gardens and can last for weeks, months and even, on occasions, a year. Residencies can result in workshops for members of staff and culminate in the publication of work, performances and readings.
The goal of a residency should aim to open up both the writer and those at the host organisation to new creative perspectives. The writer should be able to benefit from the opportunity of having a subsidised period in which to write. Staff at host organisations not immediately known for their creativity, such as prisons and banks, can benefit from the insight into the creative process of the writer in residence. Equally, the writer can draw inspiration from the lives and the ideas of staff. Here at Spread the Word, we are proud to have Karen McCarthy as our first writer in residence. Karen has enjoyed success as a writer editing two anthologies of poetry, ?Bittersweet? (Women?s Press, 1998) and ?Kin? (Serpent?s Tail, 2004), as well as writing for a number of other publications and radio. In celebration of our tenth anniversary, Karen will be resident at Spread the Word?s office for the duration of our Autumn/Winter season of literature events and will be working on a book of poetry. Karen will also run writers? surgeries, talks, a writers? club, and will be writing an online blog.
Great expectations
Superficially, it can seem relatively easy to appoint a writer to work within a particular space, and organisations can be tempted to create residencies when and where they see fit. However, it cannot be overstated that time should be taken for meticulous planning as the programming and facilitation of a residency can be challenging. Writers often complain of working within a space they consider to be disengaging and find themselves quite isolated in their residencies. Equally, the host organisation wants a writer in residence that they can benefit from. Without prior planning, the key principles of a residency can be lost. What does each party, the writer and the host, want to gain from this relationship? Is a particular writer right for a particular organisation? Beyond their personal commitments to writing, will a writer in residence dedicate a negotiated number of hours to working with staff at the host organisation? Some of these questions will seem obvious but they are often overlooked. It is also worth the proposed writer visiting the location before they are due to start to know what they can expect from their time there.
The objective of a residency should be clearly defined and constantly addressed and evaluated. Baden Prince, a writer and poet, performer and educational consultant is currently on a six-month residency at the London Borough of Havering Library Service. His work involves the organisation of workshops and setting up writing groups, and he has been charged with the recruitment of 30 people between the ages of 13 to 35 to contribute towards an anthology that will be launched in December. For Baden the residency has been more than he expected, the demands placed on him to meet the needs of the 12 libraries in the borough have been intense. He notes, ?Residencies are good for several reasons. They carry prestige. A residency says that an organisation takes you seriously and values your work. It also guarantees regular income and, thirdly, it is a challenge ? as an artist we should always look to challenge ourselves and broaden our horizons. I am beginning to enjoy the residency now but it was a little daunting at first. I was not familiar with the Borough of Havering and I didn?t understand the residency?s brief. It raised a number of questions. Given the extent of the brief, the amount of time I have available on the residency each week has not been taken into account. As a writer I am a resource: this resource is not enough to meet demand. Every school or library in the borough would have me in the following week if they could. I have had to be quite careful in managing demand. The additional resources put into the project have been limited and this has led me to call on people who owe me favours to come in and give workshops at rates that would barely cover their expenses.?
Money
The extent of a residency?s budget is a good example of the importance of proper planning but other issues such as the writer?s materials and equipment should also be taken into account. What will the writer need? Access to a computer and Internet? A phone? A quiet room for reading? Will they be producing a final written piece or performance? Will the piece or performance require a publicity budget? What expenses need to be accounted for? How are members of staff going to be kept up to date with the project? ?It?s important that the host organisation and the writer get together to plan a residency,? says Baden. ?My post was advertised, I applied and was appointed. The residency was planned but not with a writer?s input. The best thing would be to sit down, consider the budget and the objectives and see what we could do with what we?ve got.?
A residency should be a collaborative effort. It cannot be overstated how important it is that both parties complement each other, and great care should be taken to select a writer who meets an organisation?s needs.
Emma Hewett is Director of Spread the Word Literature Development Agency. t: 020 7735 3111; w: http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk
Arts Council England has published a practical guide for writers and organisations on writers in residence, written by Melissa Armitage and available from Spread the Word.