Farm & Write

Here's an interesting residency that offers a scholarship for a writer interested in writing about farming to spend a couple of weeks working and writing on a farm:

"Noepe Center for the Literary Arts in partnership with The Farm Institute at Katama Farm is offering a special two-week residency scholarship between September 16-October 31st, 2015. Application is open to writers of any genre interested in learning and writing about the intersection of agriculture and community on Martha’s Vineyard. Applicants need not have previously written about agriculture nor do they need a farming background, merely demonstrate a desire and curiosity to explore the intersection between farming and writing. The scholarship provides two-weeks residency at Noepe as well a living stipend of $200.00 per week.

The Farm Institute is 15-year-old educational nonprofit dedicated to connecting people of all ages and circumstances with agriculture through the diverse operations of a working farm. Located on the 180-acre historic Katama Farm (a quick walk, bike ride or bus ride from Noepe Center) The Farm Institute hosts over 1000 children and youth at farm camp every summer, year-round programs through the Island schools, learning events for adults and also opens the farm to some 2500 people visitors from all over the country and world who stop by.

At the Farm Institute the working farm is the curriculum. Katama Farm is one of the largest farms on the Martha’s Vineyard and, with its beautiful grassland environment, it is one of the largest livestock producers as well. With some 60 head of cattle, 65 breeding ewes, chickens, pigs and an occasional goat, The Farm Institute plays an important role in the renewed interest in agriculture and local food on the Island. At one time, Martha’s Vineyard produced all its own food. Today, only 3% of food purchases are Island-grown products. There is much to think and write about in these facts.

The staff at the Farm Institute is passionate about food and the business, science and magic of the agriculture that produces it. With the hectic summer over, fall is a time not just for harvest, but to assess and share ideas. The farm welcomes the opportunity to include a writer in that process.

Requirements of Noepe on the Farm Resident

CHORE RESPONSIBILITIES: The Noepe Farm resident will be part of either the morning or afternoon chore team at the Farm Institute five days per week. Chores equal work, the backbone of the farm: feeding and watering animals, gathering and packaging eggs, weeding or harvesting in the garden, cleaning out the greenhouse, mucking livestock space, moving animals, moving fence. Morning chores in the fall are usually from 8 to 10, afternoon chores from 3 to 5. No prior skills are needed. An experienced staff person will always be on the team and chore assignments may vary from day to day.

In addition to chore time, the Noepe resident is welcome to take part in any other activities or even work at the farm, schedule meetings with staff, read about the farm history, or just watch what goes on.

WRITING RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Noepe Farm resident will make use of his or her writing time to explore issues around agriculture, food production, ethics, sustainability and the past, present and future of farming. The farm staff will be happy to provide ideas for additional resources and experiences on these topics.

READING RESPONSIBILITIES
Toward the end of the residency, the participant will do a reading based on the farm experience. The reading will be open to the public, and invitations will go out to other writers, farmers and supporters of Noepe and The Farm Institute."

I don't see a deadline but I imagine it will be sooner rather than later. For more information and to apply online, go to the information/application page here.

On Retreat

A writing retreat is like a working vacation: the ideal version is to take a trip or sneak off to some quiet spot where one can work without distractions. Most writers love them; as a rookie pro I was a bit bewildered by the whole concept. Go somewhere to write? Why do you have to leave home? Then I was invited on my first retreat with another author and spent two days at the beach doing nothing but writing and talking about writing and swapping chapters and reading and doing more writing. We only left our hotels rooms to sit by the pool and sun ourselves while we proofed pages and discussed story issues. I have to admit, it was a little like spending 48 hours in writer heaven.

The idea of going on a writing retreat to some vacation-type spot is wonderful, too but the cost of transportation, lodging, meals and so forth can make it an expensive proposition. Fortunately there are other, less costly ways for writers to take a retreat, like a free writer's residency. This is when some writing or arts organization provides you with lodging and sometimes other amenities so you can write. Generally you have to apply for a residency, and if you get it also cover the cost of travel and personal expenses, but the free accommodations and no-distractions environment may be worth it (and if you're interested in finding a residency, check out the online database of opportunities at Poets & Writers magazine here.

An even cheaper type of writing retreat is the virtual version. Get together with a writing buddy and set a goal for a day, and update each other on your progress via an Internet connection (Skype, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) If you have a favorite chat room you can have a word war (challenge each other to write as much as possible in a short amount of time and post your counts as you work in the chat room.) If you'd rather go solo, visit an online typewriter site to do some distraction-free work (Big Huge Labs has one here) or try out one of the document creation/editing/storage sites like Google Docs or Zoho which offer free personal accounts.

I take mini-retreats all the time and never leave my house -- my back porch happens to be a quiet, comfortable spot for me to edit pages, and when I'm working out there the family knows to give me some space. Once a year my guy goes on vacation with the kids and leaves me home alone, too; that becomes my week to having a working vacation and write whenever and wherever I like. If you can work out something like that with your family I definitely recommend it.

In April and July this year the wonderful folks over at National Novel Writing Month are holding two Camp NaNoWriMo online writing retreats, during which you can choose to write 50K or set your own writing goal from 10K to 999.9K, share a virtual "cabin" with other writers based on your preset preferences as to genre, age, word-count goal, and desired activity level, and work on the project of your choice (novel, script, short story, epic poem -- you decide.) These retreats are free to participants; if you have a log in from NaNoWriMo you can use that to sign up and join in.

Remember that a writing retreat isn't just a thing you do, it's also a state of mind. You choose to spend x-amount of time to focused entirely on the work. If you can't do that at home, find a place congenial to you where you can. That can be a bookstore cafe, the quiet room at your local library or a picnic table at the park. Pack a lunch, grab your laptop and head out (and if you're going to an outdoor location, check the weather forecast first.) If you have a friend with a spare bedroom, you might ask if you borrow it for a day. Test drive different places and see where you're most productive, too.

Writing Residencies

The Cabin at Shotpouch Creek has a two-week residency to take place between August 16th to September 13th in the Oregon Coast Range along the Pacific Ocean for two poets, fiction or creative nonfiction writers who'd like to work together on a collaborative project. Open to writers whose work "takes inspiration from the natural world." Residents are provided with a $250.00 stipend. Submit 3 sets of up to 10 pages of poetry or 15 pages of prose, a one-page project description, and a CV. No application fee, deadline May 1st.

Also from Oregon state, The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest has one-week residencies in the Oregon Cascades to poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers in March, April or May. Open to writers whose work "reflects a keen awareness of the natural world." Residents are provided with a three-room apartment that includes kitchen facilities, access to the forest research site, and a $250.00 stipend. Submit 3 sets of up to 10 pages of poetry or 15 pages of prose, a one-page project description, and a CV. No application fee, deadline May 1st.

The Kerouac Project of Orlando has three four-month residencies for writers at the historic home of author Jack Kerouac in Orlando, Florida. Includes room and board; open to poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers. Residents have to do some community outreach and give a public reading. Submit 2 copies of up to 10 pages of poetry or prose, a statement of intent and a resume. No application fee, deadline April 30th.

The MacDowell Colony has residencies of up to two months on a 450-acre estate near Mt. Monadnock in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Residents are provided with room and board, and travel expenses and personal expense grants are available based on need. For residencies between October 1st and January 31st, submit six to ten poems, 25 pages of fiction, or two to three essays as well as a description of the proposed project. (This one has an application fee of $20.00, but they offer to help out with travel and personal expenses for those who need it, so I thought it was worth listing.) Deadline April 15th.

The New York Mills Regional Cultural Center has two to four week residencies in New York Mills, Minnesota, from July through December available for poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers. 51% of all residencies are awarded to writers from Minnesota or the five burroughs of NYC. Two-week residencies include a grant of $750.00; four-week residencies include a grant of $1500.00. Both offer living and studio space. Submit 5 copies of 12 pages of poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction, two letters of recommendation, a brief biography and a community outreach project . No application fee, deadline April 1st.

All of the above residency listings were found in the March/April 2009 issue of Poets & Writers magazine.