It’s deadline time for applications for the May WCR Writing Fellowship. This is a writer’s dream, so spread the word – or apply now yourself.
Writing on the front page the Sunday Santa Cruz Sentinel, Wallace Baine might have gone a tad overboard in saying that for a writer the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods is “kind of like heaven” – but we enjoyed the thought.
“Put yourself, for a moment, in the shoes of Michael Weinreb, the most recent writer-in-residence at Wellstone,” Baine wrote. “During his month-long stay, he woke every morning in a serene and cozy cottage surrounded by books. From his small front porch, he could gaze west over the treeline at the glistening ocean in the distance. … He could also wander through the fragrant, redwood-thick acreage, lost in daydreamy contemplation or creative focus. In between, ideally, he would find a comfortable perch with his writing tools of choice, and write.”
For those of you who would like to apply for a future fellowship, applications for our next monthlong writing fellowship, this May, are due by March 23. We sponsor the writer’s living expenses during the month with us, including meals.
THE WCR FELLOWSHIP
We offer a setting of spectacular beauty sure to inspire any writer not only to find new directions to make progress with a writing project, but also a chance to pamper yourself with a break from many of the pointless distractions of day to day life. A visiting writing fellow can enjoy many hours of solitude, either in the Library House where she or he will be staying, or a walk out on our private trails through the redwoods or elsewhere on our 4.7 acres of beautiful land, four miles up from the Pacific Ocean near Santa Cruz, California. Or the visiting writing fellow can also enjoy joining the permanent residents of the WCR for our delicious common meals, prepared with fresh fruit and vegetables from our own organic gardens, eggs from our hens and milk from our goats. Twice a week we have morning yoga and on Tuesday night the visiting writer reads from his or her writing project at OpenMic night.
TESTIMONIAL
Former fellow Ann Krueger Spivack checked in with these thoughts from the Library House:
The strange thing is the house seems much bigger from inside than it does from the outside. This could be the way it’s set in a hollow, with the hillside running down from its deck. Or it could be the view – you look out over a forest of trees that leads straight to the ocean.
Or maybe it feels big because of all the words waiting here. Encouraging words from Anne Lamott, advising us to just sit down, hammer out that Shitty First Draft, don’t worry, just type. Words from Ann Packer, who asks whether we can take care of those who rely on us and take care of our creative selves at the same time. Words from Walt Whitman:
Facing west from California’s shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound.
That’s all of us, seeking what is yet unfound. Some do this on canvas, looking for the clear, true colors that mark our time here. Those of us who love the Library House put down words, and know they fall far from the mark. But still, we put down words.
When my fingers refuse to assemble what I need, when every letter I strike is wrong, when I’m afraid of looking foolish, of wasting time, of not being enough, then I imagine the words to come. Not from me. From the people who will stay here, who will love this view and this room built around books as much as I do. Although we write in solitude, none of us are here alone.
ABOUT THE WELLSTONE CENTER
Founded in 2012 by Sarah Ringler and Steve Kettmann, the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods was named to San Francisco Magazine‘s 2013 “Best of the Bay” issue for its weekend workshops. We are a small community looking to work together to inspire each other through close contact with nature and a commitment to using creativity to make a difference in our lives – and those of others. Writing fellows are invited to join us for meals and encouraged to cook for all of us on occasion.
The fellowship does not include transportation expenses to come to us, but we will pick you up at a local airport on the day of your arrival. Writing fellows will be encouraged to do some work in our gardens now and then, to experience firsthand a connection with nature, and to help with the preparation of meals.
Writing fellows will also be asked to contribute one essay on reading a book in the Library House, along the lines of this one, for our forthcoming collection from Wellstone Books, I Read It in the Library House, during the monthlong fellowshop, and to lead one weekend workshop at a date to be determined subsequent to the fellowship. (We will offer a stipend to defray travel expenses to return for the workshop weekend.)
To apply, please email a letter of roughly 500 words explaining your interest and why you believe you would be an asset to our community; as well as one sample of your writing, between 1,000 and 2,000 words long; and a resume listing your work experience and publications. Please let us know how you heard about us and the fellowship. Preference will be given to writers with at least one book published. Applicants are encouraged to read about our upcoming workshops at our homepage, and also to peruse some of Steve’s blogs, like this one, which help offer a sense of what we’re about.
Mail your application to fellowship@wellstoneredwoods.org or to 858 Amigo Road, Soquel, CA 95073 by 5 p.m. on March 23, 2015, to be considered for our May fellowship. The winner will be notified by April 1.