Great idea! I love the suggestions about goal setting at breakfast and check-in, or discussion, at dinner. Having an experienced/knowledgeable advisor available would be a plus.
In terms of cost, I like the sliding scale model, where folks are given a range and self-identity what they can afford. Personally I'd be struggling to pay plane fare to get there and I think if it was intended to focus on structurally marginalized writers who are under-represented in the industry, taking costs like that or offering scholarships to assist with travel costs would be important. As well as inviting those who have the means to contribute more if they are able.
In terms of what would make it supportive, I like the idea of free time during the day with talks or feedback sessions in the evening. Personally, having a knowledgeable mentor there who you could sign up for consults with during the day would be invaluable. Also some kind of goal setting in the morning, either verbally at breakfast or a whiteboard that people could put their goals on and check in during dinner about what they did. Also snacks, lots of snacks :). And maybe breakfast and lunch being kind of buffet style, like you go grab food for the day rather than being communal, because relative solitude helps me and being social can take me out of the zone. But I like having evening check ins and a communal dinner to get to know each other and support each other.
Also follow up, like maybe there's a social media group or list serve that attendees can join after to cheer each other on and be there for each other and give support and advice
Owww! Maybe a yearly anthology with short pieces of nature writing or book proposal/book excerpts as an additional output. Or a commitment to visit and give advice/mentorship in upcoming years if you end up with a book contract/published book. Visits from past attendees could be virtual, lik a zoom panel one evening of previous attendees
Having all activities be optional. And spaces to write other than traditional desks. I need a comfy chair and I love writing outside
Alright, good ideas! Residencies are typically very low on the structured time but maybe we could offer these events as all optional, maybe making them coincide with meals to save time. Maybe goal-setting at breakfast.
With social media: I thought about doing that with this group but there are already so many online communities! Maybe I can invite the participants to join some of those. Maybe before/during/after we can have a casual group chat. Or the chat function with this Substack.
I love this idea so much, as a disabled writer who faces a lot of different systems of oppression that have impacted me in lots of different ways throughout my life. I like the interactions with nature theme, which means a lot of different things to me, including how so much of my writing is connected to place, or about uncovering our connections to place, and what happened there, in a journalistic sense of telling the story and documenting the truth. Also how nature always finds a way. Nature resists capitalism and colonialism and white supremacy. And so do we as writers. From a grants perspective, a focus on structurally marginalized writers would be strategic, but also just really helpful. Specific to nature writing in that region, I think of the contrast between the "white dude taming nature all alone with a homemade bear trap" tradition from that region, versus what structurally marginalized writers see in a place, how we work with (not against) our environments and draw from nature as a source of resilience. Also the traditional "manifest destiny, go conquer (colonize) all alone" thing I associate with that region, vs a decolonial, making space for collaboration and relationship ethic we would cultivate for the residency. A broadening of the genre and field, in every sense, from who would be included and the book proposals it would generate to how we approach nature and the collaboration and relationships we would generate with each other...... (I'm a grant writer, I'd be happy to talk more or collab on some of this)
Great idea! I love the suggestions about goal setting at breakfast and check-in, or discussion, at dinner. Having an experienced/knowledgeable advisor available would be a plus.
The small group sounds good.
In terms of cost, I like the sliding scale model, where folks are given a range and self-identity what they can afford. Personally I'd be struggling to pay plane fare to get there and I think if it was intended to focus on structurally marginalized writers who are under-represented in the industry, taking costs like that or offering scholarships to assist with travel costs would be important. As well as inviting those who have the means to contribute more if they are able.
In terms of what would make it supportive, I like the idea of free time during the day with talks or feedback sessions in the evening. Personally, having a knowledgeable mentor there who you could sign up for consults with during the day would be invaluable. Also some kind of goal setting in the morning, either verbally at breakfast or a whiteboard that people could put their goals on and check in during dinner about what they did. Also snacks, lots of snacks :). And maybe breakfast and lunch being kind of buffet style, like you go grab food for the day rather than being communal, because relative solitude helps me and being social can take me out of the zone. But I like having evening check ins and a communal dinner to get to know each other and support each other.
Also follow up, like maybe there's a social media group or list serve that attendees can join after to cheer each other on and be there for each other and give support and advice
Owww! Maybe a yearly anthology with short pieces of nature writing or book proposal/book excerpts as an additional output. Or a commitment to visit and give advice/mentorship in upcoming years if you end up with a book contract/published book. Visits from past attendees could be virtual, lik a zoom panel one evening of previous attendees
Having all activities be optional. And spaces to write other than traditional desks. I need a comfy chair and I love writing outside
Alright, good ideas! Residencies are typically very low on the structured time but maybe we could offer these events as all optional, maybe making them coincide with meals to save time. Maybe goal-setting at breakfast.
With social media: I thought about doing that with this group but there are already so many online communities! Maybe I can invite the participants to join some of those. Maybe before/during/after we can have a casual group chat. Or the chat function with this Substack.
I love this idea so much, as a disabled writer who faces a lot of different systems of oppression that have impacted me in lots of different ways throughout my life. I like the interactions with nature theme, which means a lot of different things to me, including how so much of my writing is connected to place, or about uncovering our connections to place, and what happened there, in a journalistic sense of telling the story and documenting the truth. Also how nature always finds a way. Nature resists capitalism and colonialism and white supremacy. And so do we as writers. From a grants perspective, a focus on structurally marginalized writers would be strategic, but also just really helpful. Specific to nature writing in that region, I think of the contrast between the "white dude taming nature all alone with a homemade bear trap" tradition from that region, versus what structurally marginalized writers see in a place, how we work with (not against) our environments and draw from nature as a source of resilience. Also the traditional "manifest destiny, go conquer (colonize) all alone" thing I associate with that region, vs a decolonial, making space for collaboration and relationship ethic we would cultivate for the residency. A broadening of the genre and field, in every sense, from who would be included and the book proposals it would generate to how we approach nature and the collaboration and relationships we would generate with each other...... (I'm a grant writer, I'd be happy to talk more or collab on some of this)
Thank you so much! I’d be happy to collaborate and/or talk more. Any chance you’ll make the meeting on July 24?