Emerging Writer Residency
Most writers come to us via our Weeklong Writing Residency, but from time to time we like to award an Emerging Writer Residency to writers who have put years of hard work into their writing, and usually into a particular project, and have not yet broken through, giving them two weeks of writing time here with us, enough to make major progress on a project, all at an affordable price. Note to applicants: We can’t give full writing critiques in most cases, given the volume of submissions, but we will try to offer some honest, straightforward feedback. We’re looking for talented creative writers (fiction or creative nonfiction) with original ideas and a fresh style who up to now have been unpublished, at least in book form, with a minimal number of major writing credits. Even many fine writers with worthy projects will be rejected, since the point of the residency is to offer our support and encouragement to writing that particularly resonates with us. We need to fall in love at least a little bit with what we think the writer can become. We are looking for writers who plan on focusing on a single project during their time with us, and we also give preference to writers receptive to our larger emphasis on encouraging creativity through balance and health, since walking the trails through our redwoods and eating meals just collected from our gardens will make up an important part of any writer’s stay here.
Here are some of the key features of the residency:
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- residents stay in the Library House (pictured above), a rustic cabin looking out on a forest, with no electricity or plumbing; there is a restroom in the main house, about 100 yards away; or residents stay in the Pool House (pictured below), which has a loft sleeping area above and a queen-size bed below, along with bathroom and shower, plus a kitchenette – room for two residents at a time.
- residents agree to contribute one hour of work per day, during the week, gardening or watering or working on other projects of ours, and cooking one community meal per week
- residents take part in our Tuesday night OpenMic sessions, a great chance to read from your work and get warm feedback in an intimate, nonthreatening setting
- residents benefit from discussion/consultation with co-director Steve Kettmann, Publisher of Wellstone Books and the author or co-author of nine books, including six New York Times bestsellers (subject to Steve’s travel schedule)
- rate for two weeks – $550 – evening meals included five days a week
Apply any time by writing to Sarah@wellstoneredwoods.org. We focus on targeting people who we think we can help, so please send us a short letter (200 to 300 words) explaining your interest and describing the writing project you wish to pursue, telling us about any writing experience you’d like to highlight – and include a sample of the work in progress (around 1,000 words, preferably).
ABOUT THE WELLSTONE CENTER
Founded in 2012 by Sarah Ringler and Steve Kettmann, the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods was named to San Francisco Magazine‘s 2013 “Best of the Bay” issue for its weekend workshops. The Wellstone Center helps create the writers of tomorrow and helps free the writer living inside all of us. We do this by bringing people together in a tranquil and peaceful environment to provide them with new ideas and inspiration and also by publishing a select number of books through our Wellstone Books imprint.
TESTIMONIALS
I came to the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods to allow myself the mental space to tackle an intensely personal memoir. I left with a sense of relief and motivation, direction and confidence in myself as a writer. Over the course of my two-week Emerging Writer Residency, I read more than I had in months, wrote more than I had in years, and found a part of myself that had retreated long ago. Abundant in natural beauty and peacefulness, the Wellstone Center creates a safe place to lose yourself in written pages, and find yourself among the redwoods. The Wellstone Center is perfect for any writer looking for a quiet place to disconnect from the world and reconnect with their creative source.