FEBRUARY 20 – MARCH 11, 2012
Residency # 144
Application Deadline: October 21, 2011

ELIZABETH HAND, noir fiction

Terrence Rafferty of the New York Times said of Elizabeth Hand, “This writer’s Promethean project, her fire-stealing strategy, has always been, as Mary Shelley’s was, art itself — the act of creation and all its frightful ambiguities.”  Hand is the author of twelve multiple-award-winning novels and three collections of short fiction for adults, young adults, and children, spanning genres from mainstream fiction, psychological suspense, urban fantasy and science fiction, to supernatural horror and historical fiction, as well as being co-creator of DC Comics’ groundbreaking post-punk, post-feminist series Anima.  She is a longtime critic and reviewer who has written for numerous publications, including the Washington Post, Salon, Village Voice, Down East, and Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, among many others.  Her novels are regularly named Notable Books by both the New York Times and the Washington Post.  She has two books forthcoming in 2012: Radiant Days, a YA novel about the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and Available Dark, sequel to Shirley Jackson Award winner Generation Loss.

She is on the faculty at the Stonecoast Creative Writing MFA Program at the University of Southern Maine, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and conventions in the U.S., Europe, and the UK.  She has two adult children, and divides her time between the coast of Maine and North London.
For more information on Elizabeth Hand, please visit www.elizabethhand.com

Application Requirements
Applicants should submit 10 - 20 pages of a novel or short story, along with a one-page statement of goals/personal experience. 

Residency Statement
I’m looking for writers whose work blurs the boundaries between genres, and who don’t think that the terms “literary” and “popular” are mutually exclusive when it comes to great fiction.  I will be working on a novel in the mornings, and will meet with writers as a group each afternoon for 2-3 hours, when we’ll engage in an intensive workshop/discussion of new stories and novels-in-progress as well as writing exercises.  I will be available for one-on-one conferences and discussions with students in the late afternoon every day, after our workshop session.

FULL Scholarships to attend FREE are available for painters and sculptors (through The Joan Mitchell Foundation) and composers (through The Sally Mead Hands Foundation) for ALL accepted artists who submit ACA Financial Aid forms upon acceptance. Limited additional Financial Aid is available for writers through The Pabst Charitable Foundation for the Arts and the Atlantic Center for the Arts Advance an Artist Program.