Congratulations to Bejan Matur and Sema Kaygusuz!

Thank you for your interest! We received much higher number of applications than expected and these were of an exceptionally high quality. As a result, we've decided to offer the residency to two writers instead of one. Bejan Matur and Sema Kaygusuz will join the programme in two six-week stints between 1 September – 30 November 2012.

Residency Date: 8 September 2012 – 30 November 2012
Residency Location: Norwich, United Kingdom

Aims:

			to spend time writing/translating and focusing on her/his own work
			to engage with local writers, publishers, educational contacts and cultural institutions as an ambassador for UK/Turkish literature
			to correspond with the writer in the other partner’s country (via blog) to document the exchange and to compare experiences
			to take part in events over the course of the residency
			to publicise the residency and exchange through articles and publications where possible

Residency Details
We hope that the Writer in Residence from Turkey will first and foremost find a place to write during their residency. We aim to provide a supportive community around the writer with a range of options for activities and socialising, but are also aware that time to write, travel and reflect in peace are key elements of the residency.

The writer will be based at the University of East Anglia, on a campus two miles from the city of Norwich. The writer will have a flat and access to the university library and all its services for the duration of his or her stay. The writer will also be part of the wider community of writers on campus and we hope to be able to organise social and professional events with the staff and students at the UEA too.

The writer will also be engaged with WCN based in the city centre. We will be available five days a week for the writer to call in, use our facilities and keep in touch about how things are going. We will also aim to organise a set of readings in Norwich and around the country for the writer. We will introduce the writer to our partners across a range of projects and ensure that activities in Norwich, London and further afield are lined up for the writer to suit his or her needs.

The fee will be £4,500 for three months (£2,250 for each author for 6 weeks) plus £500 travel costs within the UK. Accommodation details can be found at
http://www.uea.ac.uk/accommodation/visitor-accommodation

British Council (http://literature.britishcouncil.org) is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide.

Our global arts team works with the best of British creative talent to develop innovative, high-quality events and collaborations that link thousands of artists and cultural institutions around the world, drawing them into a closer relationship with the UK.

A key part of the British Council’s global arts team is the literature department. The Literature department works with hundreds of writers and literature partners in the UK and collaborates with our offices overseas to engage with the equivalent constituencies globally.

Together we broker relationships and create activities which link thousands of artists and cultural institutions around the world, drawing them into a closer relationship with the UK.

We work with writers, publishers, producers, translators and other sector professionals across literature, publishing and education. With them we develop innovative, high-quality programmes and collaborations that provide opportunities for cultural exchange with the UK; this might be through festivals, book fairs, conferences or in the classroom, to name just a few.

Writers’ Centre Norwich (www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk) is a literature development agency that exists to explore the artistic and social power of creative writing and reading through pioneering and collaborative projects with writers and other partners.

We believe that literature, creative writing and creative reading are powerful art forms that can open doors to new worlds, entertain, challenge, educate, inspire and transform. We aim to explore the ways in which writing and reading can offer our audiences opportunities to discover authors, events, books and stories that can change their lives.

We work regionally, nationally and internationally with a many partners on innovative and exciting projects that range from exciting new ways to teach poetry in schools, through the development of online platforms for new writing to the hosting of international events with some of the world’s best writers.

WCN has developed important partnerships in order to make clear and valuable links between regional, national and international opportunities for writers, readers and audiences. We have established ourselves as key members of the International Cities of Refuge Network and aspirant members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network through our bid to be England’s first UNESCO City of Literature.

WCN is currently working on the development of an International Centre for Writing and has recently been awarded £3m Arts Council Capital funding towards this. Linked to the city’s bid to become UNESCO City of Literature, this centre will advance Norwich’s reputation for creative writing internationally and provide professional and talent development opportunities for emerging and established writers and engagement opportunities for readers and audiences. This work builds on the national literature development leadership of Writers’ Centre Norwich and the expertise of the British Centre for Literary Translation and the University of East Anglia’s world renowned MA in Creative Writing.

WCN has a strong core programme of activities and has achieved much in recent years. We curate and deliver an annual international forum for writers, held in Norwich, to discuss and debate the art and craft of literature and creative writing. We have hosted double Booker Prize winner and Nobel Laureate JM Coetzee twice, as well as Ian McEwan, CK Williams, Mourid Barghouti, Marina Warner, Yang Lian and many others.

In 2007 WCN made Norwich the UK’s first International City of Refuge. We’ve since developed a powerful year round programme with schools and libraries using writers to explore freedom of expression and intercultural dialogue.

Norwich as a City of Literature
Norwich has a long literary history:  from the first battlefield dispatch (1075) to the first woman published in English (Julian of Norwich – C15th), the first recognisable novel (C16th), the first blank verse (C16th), the first printed plan of an English city (C16th), the first published parliamentary debates (Luke Hansard – C18th), the largest concentration of published dissenters, revolutionaries and social reformers (C18th /19th ) including Tom Paine and the 30 million bestseller, Anna Sewell; the first provincial library (1608), first municipality to adopt the Library Act (1850), first provincial newspaper (1701), first British MA in creative writing (the first student of the first MA was Ian McEwan (1971)), the UK’s first City of Refuge (2006) for persecuted writers and a founding member of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) and to cap it all, the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library (C21st) has the highest number of visitors and users in the UK – by far.

And that’s to leave out an extraordinary roll-call of great writers, publishers, printers and innovators – as many today as in the past – where literature really has been a force for positive change.

For further information please contact us: arts.info@britishcouncil.org.tr