Call for applications to Heaney-Miłosz Residency 2025
From Department of Foreign Affairs
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Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
The Heaney-Miłosz Residency, a writer-in-residence programme celebrating the friendship between Nobel Laureates Seamus Heaney and Czesław Miłosz, is now open for applications.
The Heaney-Miłosz Residency offers the chance for an emerging or mid-career writer, resident on the island of Ireland, to spend up to six weeks next year in the city of Krakow, Poland. Following a competitive selection process, the selected writer will stay in the former apartment of Polish poet and writer Czesław Miłosz.
First launched in 2022, the Residency is a partnership between the Estate of Seamus Heaney, the Krakow Festival Office (KBF), and the Irish Embassy in Poland. Further details on the application process can be found here: https://krakowcityofliterature.com/call-for-applications-seamus-heaney-czeslaw-milosz-writer-in-residence-programme/ (Deadline for application is Monday 21 October).
Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Micheál Martin TD, said:
“The Heaney-Milosz Residency honours the legacy of two Nobel Laureates, and is a powerful symbol of the ties between Irish and Polish literature, poetry and culture.
“Following a successful first Residency by the poet Alice Lyons in 2023, we hope that the 2025 Residency will be an equally valuable and enriching experience for an Irish writer.”
Catherine Heaney, of the Estate of Seamus Heaney, said:
“Poland - and the city of Krakow in particular - held an important place in my father’s affections and imagination, especially as the home of his friend and poetic mentor, Czesław Miłosz. The opportunity to celebrate their friendship and, at the same time, provide a writer with the creative space to pursue their own work, is something that Dad would have been extremely proud of.”
Carolina Pietyra, Director of KBF, the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme said:
“Krakow, a UNESCO city of literature since 2013, has long been a cultural and intellectual centre. We gain so much from its rich heritage. In 1994, Czesław Miłosz chose this place as his home for the last decade of his life. Now, we are happy to have turned his house into a creative and peaceful space for writers, in order to build bridges between the past and the present.”
Commencing in October 2025, the residency will provide a chosen writer with the space and time to develop their work in the beautiful surroundings of Krakow city.
During the residency period, the writer will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of events and meetings with representatives of the creative and literary community in Krakow. At the end of the residency, the writer will provide a written reflection on their experience in Krakow.
ENDS
Press Office
9 September 2024