Residency Dates: February 21, 2016 - March 12, 2016
Application Deadline: September 20, 2015

David Shields is the Pabst Endowed Chair for Master Writers.

David Shields is the internationally bestselling author of sixteen books, including Reality Hunger (named one of the best books of 2010 by more than thirty publications), The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead (New York Times best seller), Black Planet (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), and I Think You’re Totally Wrong (published in January 2015 by Knopf; James Franco’s adaptation of the book into a film is premiering at Vancouver’s DOXA documentary film festival in April). He has four more books forthcoming over the next fifteen months: Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter (Hawthorne Books), That Thing You Do With Your Mouth (McSweeney’s), War Is Beautiful (powerHouse Books), and Other People (Knopf). The recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and two NEA fellowships, Shields has published essays and stories in the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, Esquire, Yale Review, Village Voice, Salon, Slate, McSweeney’s, and Believer. His work has been translated into twenty languages.

For more information please visit http://davidshields.com/ or http://blueflowerarts.com/artist/david-shields/

Residency Statement

I would like to use a book that I co-wrote and co-edited: Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter: In Praise of Brevity, which is being published in April. This book contains dozens of wonderful (and wonderfully short) prose pieces, along with numerous writing exercises. Associates will bring to meetings their short prose pieces, which we will read aloud and discuss. We’ll also discuss the short-short stories and mini-essays in the book.

Application requirements

1.     CV (.doc, .docx, .pdf)

2.     A letter of intent stating your interests and expectations for the residency. (.doc, .docx, .pdf)

3.     Applicants should submit 5-10 pages of prose. (doc, .docx, .pdf)

Residency Fee: $900

Includes a $100 administration fee, weekday meals and housing; does not include artist materials, transportation, or weekend meals.

Scholarships / Financial Assistance

Only accepted Associate Artists may apply for financial assistance. For details, please visit the master artist details page.

Application fee: $25 

Click here to Apply!

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