The MacDowell Colony is about the greatest writing residency program in the United States. Founded in 1907 in Peterborough, New Hampshire where Edward MacDowell — the America’s first great composer — said he produced more and better music, the Colony has supported the creative work of more than 7,900 men and women of exceptional ability from around the world. Some famous people that the Colony has supported include James Baldwin, E.L Doctorow, Alice Walker, Gregory Pardlo, Jonathan Franzen, Michael Almereyda, Meredith Monk, Leslie Robertson, Alice Sebold, Thornton Wilder, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and Barbara Tuchman.
The Nigerian Nneka Lesley Arimah, author of the well-celebrated story collection, What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, has also attended the Residency in 2016. The Colony offers 32 studios to artists in seven discipline; that is, it supports: writers, visual artists, composers, filmmakers, playwrights, interdisciplinary artists, and architects. Each year, more than 300 artists come to Peterborough to work. Anyone may apply, and the Colony is noted for its support of both emerging and established artists.
The Fellowship lasts from two weeks to two months; accepted artists are given a studio, accommodations, and all meals. And there are no fees. There are also more than a $1000 stipend and a refund of cost of travel. I spoke with Uchenna Awoke, a fiction writer from Nigeria who has just returned from a five-week writing residency at the Colony. Uchenna has gone to the Colony to complete work on his fiction manuscript, The Liquid Eye of a Moon. His short fiction has appeared in Transition, and Elsewhere Lit. In this interview, he shares his experience at Peterborough and gives information about the process that took him to the MacDowell Colony.
INTERVIEWER
You just flew back to Nigeria from a five-week writing program at The MacDowell Colony, how did the program impact your writing?
AWOKE
I left the MacDowell Colony with a feeling that my writing was in its first bloom. The kinship there is unbelievably friendly, the environment incredibly natural; their connectedness magical. The ideas simply flowed. I arrived the Colony in the middle of winter. You know how it is when you arrive in a place you haven’t been before and it is very cold and the first thing you get is a big smile that’s like a warm spell. That’s a smile that resonates with everybody at the Colony. It’s a culture there; from David Macy, the Director of the MacDowell Colony, to the student helping out in the kitchen, to me, the artist-in-residence that had just arrived. That’s what I call great kinship, and that’s the great warmth you, the artist-in-residence enjoy when you are in your studio working or when you are having breakfast at the Colony Hall; a hall that is really a home. The same warmth stays with you as you are looking through the window at the blue expanse of the sky over the snowfield and the wood beyond, sometimes with a herd of white-tailed deer sunning themselves along the far tree line. These things work together –the friendly atmosphere, the view that is so beautiful it looks surreal, the magnificent meals, and a 24-hour access to the Savidge Library stocked with old and contemporary literature, written by some of the most powerful writers on earth who are themselves MacDowell Fellows. You have the opportunity to read Michael Chabon or Susan Choi and other great writers. Those are not books you easily find down here. That is what I call the magical connection; the connection that inspires the artist to go deeper and deeper in her work.
INTERVIEWER
What were the challenges you faced in the application process and travel to the Colony?
AWOKE
The first step was getting a work sample ready (usually a maximum of 25 pages). And then I wrote a project proposal explaining the plot of the novel and the stage I was in the work. This was the hard part because I had to squeeze it into a very small application field that sometimes may not accommodate more than 500 characters with spaces. Apart from this, I had to work on my writing till I got to a point where I felt that the work sample was ready; this was not easy, because, about 5% or even less of the avalanche of applications is accepted. You can see how tight it is to get in there. I also had to provide a recommender and this, Nandini Dhar, my publisher at Elsewhere Lit, did so well for me. I had a couple of months to wait (I submitted my application on April 14, 2017 and got the offer letter on June 7, 2017) in which period I had woken up every morning with the reality plucking at my mind. Having been accepted, there was the process of getting an American visa. That is a process! But a letter of support written by David Macy (the Director of the MacDowell Colony) himself helped me greatly.
INTERVIEWER
What are the opportunities available to creative workers in the Colony?
AWOKE
You have a whole studio to yourself; a clean and equipped studio. You have great meals. You have quiet. You are surrounded by an incredible colony of artists and staff; a lot of friendship. You have the opportunity of an open studio where you share your work with established artists. What else can a writer ask of? I think you have everything!
INTERVIEWER
What advice do you have for up-and-coming story tellers?
AWOKE
Keep writing. Have the courage to send your work out. Get turned down for as many times as should make you want to want to take a walk. But never quit. Be invigorated. Be aggressive. Read to train your imagination. Read those who are writing and getting it right. Write. Do it as if it is the only thing you have come into this world to do.
INTERVIEWER
You went to the MacDowell Colony to complete work on your fiction manuscript, what should we expect soon?
AWOKE
I went to the MacDowell Colony to complete work on my manuscript, The Liquid Eye of a Moon. I hope to get it published soon, but how soon, I can’t say immediately. I have just completed the book and my residency. While I am looking for an agent or a publisher at the moment, I am taking a break from writing to rest.
INTERVIEWER
What makes you to want to pick up a pen and write? And what is the best teaser about The Liquid Eye of a Moon?
AWOKE
It varies. I love stories, whether tales by moonlight or the ones read in books. A well written story inspires me. I could get inspired by a conversation. It could be culture or nature – things happening around me or things coming into sudden stunning views; those things are capable of making me begin or continue a story. And a teaser, yes. The Liquid Eye of a Moon began after I chanced upon a strange form of belief. Let’s say, expect a story about love and human tabooing.
INTERVIEWER
Thank you, Uchenna
AWOKE
Thank you too for this opportunity.
***
Ejiofor Ugwu conducted this interview for Satellite Times
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