Recruiting: New Writer-In-Residence Sought

Following two successful residences with writers Jan Carson and Alice Ash, Open Book is looking for a new Writer in Residence as part of their Unbound project. 

The residency will run from June – December 2021 and include seven texts (one a month, 500-1000 words in length), to be included in our Unbound  newsletter, as well as a single community engagement session in a format to be agreed. The fee for the Writer in Residence post is £850. 

 

Applicants should familiarise themselves with our previous Unbound newsletters and the work of our previous writers-in-lockdown. Details here https://openbookreading.com/unbound/

 

The contributions will be read by recipients of Unbound, may be used as materials for our shared reading and shared reading+creative writing groups and may form the subject of a monthly podcast recorded by Claire Urquhart and Marjorie Lotfi. The newsletter has the purpose of connecting with our subscribers at a time when we’re not able to meet in person. Readers have described it as a “cave to escape into” and an “oasis”, so we are generally not looking for dark or otherwise troubling work. 

 

These issues of Unbound will each centre on a theme, determined by new writing selected for each issue. Open Book will provide these broad themes to the Writer in Residence so that the contributions can tie into these themes wherever possible.

Applications for this post are sought by 5pm on Friday 26 March. The successful applicant will be notified on Thursday 1 April with the first contribution due on 1 May 2021.

 

How to apply

 

Please send a short email noting the kind of writing you’d like to produce for the seven contributions, plus a short sample of your writing (approx 500 words) to miriam@openbookreading.com. The successful applicant will be notified by email by 5pm on Thursday 1 April.

Terms and conditions

 

  • Applicants may be interviewed on Zoom in the week beginning 29th March. 
  • Successful applicants will be notified by email. Open Book will also announce the winners through their social media channels and website and as such will require consent to release winners names. 
  • While copyright will be retained by the writer, Open Book will require a copyright licence to reproduce the pieces including but not limited to use them in the Open Book Unbound  newsletter, with our online and in person groups, and in podcasts produced by Open Book for two calendar years from publication. 
  • Payment will be made in two tranches, 50% on receipt of the first contribution, and an invoice, by Open Book with the final 50% on delivery of the final piece (with an invoice).

Supported by Baillie Gifford