19 Feb OPEN CALL – PEN Català’s literary residency for young, emerging European writers

BE (P)ART. GROW WITH ARTS

PEN Català’s literary residency for young, emerging European writers

Our partner organization, PEN Català, in collaboration with the Ramon Llull Institute and with the support of the European Union, is opening a call for young, emerging writers who wish to take part in a literary residency at Faberllull in Olot, Catalonia. We are looking for writing that casts a critical gaze on society, glimpses scenarios for our collective future, and reflects on and experiments with themes such as climate change, gender, technology, migration, democracy, and freedom of expression, among others.

The objective of the call is to offer a space for work, inspiration, and exchange. The residency will be organised in two formats. A collective format will prioritize exchange among the group of residents, where meetings will be held with different professionals in the sector who will serve as inspiration and offer mentorship. Another segment will allow each resident to develop his or her literary project individually.

One of the outcomes of the residency will be a publication that will include translations of excerpts from the work of the participating authors into English and French. This publication will be disseminated among European publishers with the aim of encouraging their translation and publication in other languages. In addition, those selected will participate in a tour of contacts with translators and publishers to present themselves and their work.

Who can apply?

– Writers under the age of 35 in Catalan, Flemish, Galician, Hungarian, and Serbo-Croatian.

– Writers must also have nationality or residency in one of the member countries of the European project Be(P)art: Belgium, Hungary, Serbia and Spain.

– Candidates must have at least one work published by a publishing company. Self-publication does not count.

– The language of communication during the residency will be English, so adequate proficiency must be accredited.

Basis for evaluation:

–           The literary quality of your work

–           Relevance of themes explored, and innovation in language

–           Response achieved by the publication of your work

–           Ability to attract a young audience

–           A good knowledge of the English language

Documents to submit:

– A letter of application in English, French, Catalan or Spanish (with a brief overview of your professional career and motives for applying)

– CV that includes publications and knowledge of English (maximum 3 pages)

– Brief description of the project you are currently working on

– An extract of published work, of no more than one page, in the original language.

– Literary reviews published about the work (optional)

– Letter(s) of recommendation (optional)

What is included?

–           A stay of 7 nights at the Faberllull residence in Olot, with accommodation and full board

–           Round trip travel

–           Travel insurance (if applicable)

–           Translation into English, French and Catalan of an excerpt of your work

–           Contacts with publishers and translators

–           Meetings with professionals in the sector

What does the candidacy involve?

–           Complete availability during the days of the residence

–           Availability one or two days after the residence to participate in a tour of contacts with publishers and translators.

–           Transfer of rights to translate and publish an excerpt of your work for non-commercial purposes

When will the residency take place?

–           From October 1 to 8, 2021 (those selected must be available for one or two days after the residency to participate in a tour of contacts with publishers and translators).

Where will the residency take place?

–           At the Faberllull residence in Olot, Catalonia.

What is the deadline for applying?

–           You may apply until May 31, 2021. The application should be sent to: pen@pencatala.cat indicating in the subject line, ‘Literary residency application’/google forms

How will the selection be made?

The applications will be evaluated by a commission with representation from the Be(P)art project partners and the participating institutions and entities. One candidate in each language will be selected, except in the case of Catalan, for which there will be two.

Communication of results

–           Results will be made public on June 30 (*the organisation reserves the right to extend this period in case of a large number of applications)