Each summer during Term One, the Student Body offers residency in the valley to a writer of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry. The Writer-in-Residence is given an apartment and meals in the Boarding House (with the community) for the seven weeks of Term One. In exchange, the Writer-in-Residence should mingle with students and talk with them about his or her work. The writer will also give two talks: (1) an initial talk at the start of the term on his or her experience as a writer and his or her proposed writing project; and (2) a reading at the end of the term from whatever writing he or she has been able to produce.
The Writer-in-Residence receives no salary, stipend, travel allowance, or honorarium, nor does he or she receive health insurance—just an apartment, solitude, a beautiful desert valley, a community of interested students, and meals. He or she is expected to be on campus at least five days a week (weekend hikes and getaways are of course OK).
Our hope is that the residency will be mutually beneficial to the writer and Deep Springs—the Writer-in-Residence has seven weeks of silence and solitude to concentrate on his or her work, and Deep Springs students can learn from and be inspired by the presence of a working writer.
Though there is currently no Artist-in-Residence program at Deep Springs, we welcome inquiries from musicians, composers, and visual artists and are open to the possibility of offering them a residency analogous to the above.
Procedures for Writer-in-Residence Candidates:
The application deadline is January 31st, 2008. An application should include:
- A one-page description of your proposed writing project
- A very short writing sample
- A curriculum vitae
- Send applications to:
The Writer-In-Residence Search
Curriculum Committee
Deep Springs College
HC 72 Box 45001
Deep Springs, California
via Dyer, Nevada 89010
or electronically to curcom@deepsprings.edu.
Applications for a residency also may be submited electronically.
The Hiring Process
The Committee first reviews all applications and determines which candidates interest it most. It conducts telephone interviews with those candidates.
In February, we will read applications from potential Writers-in-Residence. We will make a decision before the end of the month.
The Curriculum Committee plans to have all contracts for the 2008-‘09 academic year signed by March 1, 2008.
