International Literary Residency in Ulyanovsk

Open to writers and artists from the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network

Ulyanovsk UNESCO City of Literature announces the International Literary Residency open call for writers and artists from the UNESCO Literary Cities Network. The program was opened in 2019, the poet Andrej Hochevar from Ljubljana (Slovenia) and the poet David Howard from Dunedin (New Zealand) were the first guests of the residency. Ulyanovsk is a city with a great literary history, located on the banks of the widest Volga River. You'll work in the homeland of the great Russian writer Ivan Goncharov (author of the famous novel "Oblomov"), the poet Nikolay Yazykov, the historian and writer Nikolay Karamzin, etc.

Invited to apply are writers, poets, translators, playwrights, screenwriters, etc., and artists of all genres and illustrators, film directors, film makers, visualization artists, photographers, implementing literary projects.

The residency offers:

• One-month accommodation in the city center (residents are required to take care of medical insurance and are responsible for their meals and household; additional guests cannot be hosted).
• A scholarship (€1,000).
• The residency covers expenses on accommodation, participation in public events and the organization of the final event with the resident (at the end of the month);
• An opportunity to get engaged in the cultural scene of Ulyanovsk.

Criteria:

• Interest in Russian culture and literature.
• High/average level of spoken English.
• At least one officially published book - fiction or non-fiction (or screenplay, script or translation from Russian into another language), for artists and other applicants – at least one completed literary project.
• For writers – residents will be asked to write a text (work of fiction or non-fiction) that will feature the City of Ulyanovsk (min. 15 000 characters with spaces) and will be used in a future for publishing and promotional purposes (residents will be asked to permit printing, reproduction, translation of this short text to the City of Ulyanovsk Administration).
• For artists and other applicants – residents will be asked to create artwork related to literature and Ulyanovsk (the artwork will be used in a future for promotional purposes, residents will be asked to permit printing, reproduction, demonstration of this work to the City of Ulyanovsk Administration).
• Willingness to present the results of the work at the end of the month at the public event in Ulyanovsk (text/poems about Ulyanovsk (or artwork) and results of the resident's literary project).
• Willingness to take part in the literary life of Ulyanovsk, including events, meetings, promotional interviews and engagements, festivals, etc. (unless agreed otherwise, there is no additional honorarium for these activities).
• Work on the literary project.

 Deadline for applying is April 30, 2020. You will need the following documents:

• Application form (please log in to your Google Account to fill in the form)
• For writers, poets, translators – extracts from their published texts (in English or Russian) or a fragment of a translation (from Russian into another language); no more than two pages.
• For artists and other applicants – examples of their art projects related to literature.
• Biography/CV.
• Recommendation letter.

Please attach all required documents to your application form.