Spring Fling x Wigtown Book Festival Writer-in-Residence 2015

From Wigtown Book Festival

SUMMARY

Wigtown Book Festival and visual art and craft event Spring Fling are seeking to appoint a writer-in-residence at Spring Fling (May 2015). The writer appointed will also be expected to take part in Wigtown Book Festival 2015. 

This will be the first year that Wigtown Book Festival has worked with Spring Fling to offer an opportunity for a writer-in-residence at the May open-studios events. This new initiative - supported by the Dumfries & Galloway Regional Commissioning Fund - follows a successful joint artist-in-residence scheme run by the two organisations since 2009. 

The new residency is intended to deepen the creative relationship between the two organisations and to appeal to audiences of both events.

THE RESIDENCY

We are seeking to appoint a writer-in-residence for Spring Fling 2015 (23 – 25 May). The resident will be expected to attend all three days of Spring Fling and also to visit the region for a minimum of three days for research purposes before the event (during the period February to April 2015). The successful candidate will also be required to attend the 2015 Wigtown Book Festival ( 25 September – 4 October) to talk about their residency and present the new work created. We strongly recommend that applicants familiarise themselves with both Spring Fling and Wigtown Book Festival through their websites before applying. 

Applications are invited from writers with a track record working in any medium, eg fiction, creative non-fiction, theatre, poetry. 

Dumfries & Galloway is a large rural region and Spring Fling takes place across the whole region. It is expected that the work created during the residency will be inspired by the event, its setting, participants and audience. Themes for this year's event include travel round the region and food and drink. 

The Poet is In at this years Book Festival. Wagtongues. Image: Colin Tennant

Public engagement - which includes engagement with the artists and makers taking part in Spring Fling - is strongly encouraged. Importantly, candidates are also urged to propose original ways to present their work to as wide an audience as possible. 

We welcome proposals from writers using social media and digital media as part of their work. The successful candidate will be expected to use social media to promote their residency, for example through blogging, twitter, Facebook.

The above guidelines are not intended to be proscriptive. Applicants will be granted substantial leeway to shape the residency and to interpret it imaginatively. Above all, we are looking for originality and a demonstration of creative excellence.

The resident writer will be supported by Spring Fling director (Leah Black) & Wigtown Book Festival manager (Anne Barclay). As Spring Fling staff will be dispersed across the region during the event weekend, the writer must be prepared to work independently. 

THE FEE

The successful applicant will receive a fee of £2,000, to include any travel costs both during Spring Fling 2015 and Wigtown Book Festival 2015. 

Accommodation will be provided free of charge during both Spring Fling and Wigtown Book Festival. This residency will involve travelling to various venues across the region where public transport links are not regular therefore we would expect the resident writer to have their own car.  Although we will try to provide transport for those who do not drive or do not have their own car, we cannot guarantee this. 

The writer will be given a free pass to Wigtown Book Festival events, according to availability and by prior arrangement with Wigtown Book Festival. 

Spring Fling and Wigtown Book Festival will promote this residency as a central part of their activities in 2015.

HOW TO APPLY

If you would like to apply for this residency, we would request the following:

· Three example of your work of not more than 500 words each.

· A statement about your work to date (not more than 400 words) plus a bibliography and, where relevant, web links to published work not included in the application.

· An up-to-date CV.

· Up to 500 words (maximum) about how you would approach your residency, what you would propose to produce by the end of the 12-day residency and details of any relevant experience you have in accomplishing this.

Applications must be received by 5pm on Monday 8^th December. They will be reviewed by a panel, including the Spring Fling director and the Wigtown Book Festival director, as well as external panellists.

Shortlisted candidates will be notified by Friday 12^th December and will be expected to attend a brief interview on Thursday 18^th December in Dumfries, for which expenses will be paid, providing these are reasonable and agreed in advance. In exceptional circumstances, interviews may be conducted by video-conferencing (eg Skype, Facebook). 

Full details available on the Book Festival website here