The Caetani Cultural Centre is once again partnering with Kalamalka Press and Okanagan College to offer a redesigned writer-in-residence program.
This collaboration is intended to serve as a conduit between regional and national literary cultures by welcoming authors of any genre from across Canada to the North Okanagan to live, write and commune.
The residency includes four weeks of accommodation and studio space at the Caetani Cultural Centre, the former home to artist Sveva Caetani and her family, with the possibility of an extended stay, as well as a $1,000 honorarium.
Writers are responsible for their own transportation, food, and supplies.
Last year’s residency at the Caeteni house was occupied by Toronto poet-author Moez Surani, who says he arrived in the North Okanagan expecting gorgeous mountains and keen students, but was impressed by some other unexpected flourishes.
Those included: “The comedic sound of horse chestnuts falling on daydreaming cars; the casual sublime of the Enderby cliffs; the open hearts of the many writers living in the valley; the stories I heard in my favourite Vernon bar; the extravagance of Caravan Farm Theatre’s Halloween party; the visiting artist from Saskatchewan who knelt for a week in the front yard rearranging those fallen chestnuts into a more human pattern; and, through it all, day and night, the courteous ghost of Sveva Caetani, my taciturn and moody companion, who roamed the Caetani house and helped with my negligence by gently shutting cupboard doors I absentmindedly left open behind me.”
For more than 10 years, Kalamalka Press and Okanagan College have operated a writer-in-residence program in coordination with the Mackie Lake House Society. This program brought to the region numerous talented poets, essayists, and novelists, including Dennis Cooley, Robert Kroetsch, Mona Fertig, Brenda Schmidt, Gary Geddes, Peter Midgley, Leona Theis, Terry Jordan and Kathleen Brown.
Several of these authors have published notable creative and critical works that were composed or conceived during their Mackie Lake House residencies.
In 2015, the program was moved to the more centrally-located Caetani Cultural Centre, in part, to accommodate longer tenancies for visiting writers.
Writers in residence are encouraged to participate in or facilitate a community event or two, such as a reading, visits to creative writing classes, or a public writing workshop. The Caetani Cultural Centre and Kalamalka Press will help facilitate these events.
“As a relatively new program, the Caetani centre is interested in feedback and constructive criticism, and requests that the participant submit an exit survey upon completion of their project. Writers in residence are also invited to contribute a book or text to the Caetani Cultural Centre’s community library,” said Gabrielle Strong, program and events coordinator at the Caetani centre.
This year’s residency is scheduled for October and is open to emerging and established writers in any genre: poetry, fiction, playwriting, new media, nonfiction, hybrid works, etc. Applications should be emailed no later than March 25. Note that dates are tentative and may change or be flexible.
Applications can be submitted online at www.caetani.ca and those interested are asked to provide an introductory cover letter, a literary curriculum vitae, and a brief proposal of work to be completed during the residency.
