Space is still available in four summer writing residencies offered by the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild (CVWG) in June and July.
The CVWG is partnering with Cirenaica, an arts-focused retreat facility near Fall Creek, in a new program that will offer six such residency opportunities this summer. Two of the six are already full, but space is still available for a June 3-6 poetry residency and for three July residencies.
Each residency will be overseen by a writer-in-residence, with mornings spent writing in shared work spaces. This will be followed by afternoon workshops, lectures and conferences with the writer-in-residence. An evening campfire will provide opportunities for networking.
Max Garland, former poet laureate for the state of Wisconsin, will lead the June poetry residency. The three July residencies are:
— “Writing for Radio” with Erika Janik, producer of Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Life” program (July 7-10);
— Poetry, with current Wisconsin Poet Laureate Kimberly Blaeser July 14-17); and
— Nonfiction, with award-winning nonfiction writer John Hildebrand (July 21-24).
The other two workshops, both of which are already filled, are the Fiction and Memoir residencies in June.
Each residency will include guest visits from local writers, and preparation for the public reading scheduled on the final night of each session. The residencies will provide opportunities to work under the close supervision of professional, award-winning writers and producers, according to B. J. Hollars, founder and director of the CVWG and the leader of the Memoir residency.
The goal is to balance creation with instruction, providing both flexibility and structure. This is an effort to benefit writers of all backgrounds,Hollars said.
“I’m thrilled to serve as a writer-in-residence because it allows me the chance to help others achieve their writing dreams, thereby strengthening our literary community,” he said.
“It’s so easy for the world to get in the way of our art,” he added. “Cirenaica’s a chance for us to get away from the static, the noise, and commit ourselves fully to our craft.”
Applications are encouraged from writers with all levels of experience and from any geographic location.
Cirenaica, a word from a Uruguayan fisherman’s language, translates as “siren of the sea.” It is located on 43 acres of hills, forests and farmland, and writers enrolled in the residencies may either stay there overnight or commute to it daily.
The CVWG was formed this past February. Its goal, according to Hollars, is to help unify writers in this area and especially “to serve as a bridge between the student community and the larger Chippewa Valley community.”
More information about the residencies and the application process is available via the CVWG website (http://www.cvwritersguild.org/) or via email at chippewavalleywritersguild@gmail.com.