Applications open for Bucheon City of Literature Residency

Bucheon City of Literature’s annual residency programme offers 2 writers, poets, translators, and graphic novelists the opportunity to spend seven weeks in Bucheon, working on a manuscript. The successful resident will spend most of their time working on their own project, with some time allocated to participating in local activities which will be personalised by the Bucheon City of Literature residential officer. This residency will suit someone who is excited by and understands the value of cultural exchange.

The residency is open to all writers, translators and graphic novelists who live in UNESCO Creative Cities, and have at least one published work, which can be in any genre (fiction, poetry, translation, comics etc). Special consideration will be given to those who make work or have lived experience of diaspora, and those who are comic and graphic novel artists.

Applicants must speak either Korean or English, and have an interest in Korean literature and culture. During the residency, the resident will be expected to produce a four-page essay or comic strip about living in Bucheon, Korea, or Korean culture, and attend at least one local literature event.

A City of Literature since 2017, Bucheon is a beautiful city famous for the Bucheon City Book Festival, and its incredible network of 128 libraries, including 13 city libraries, 21 small public libraries, 70 small private libraries that are run by citizens, 18 miniature libraries built in places like markets and offices, 2 smart libraries which are operated automatically in subway stations, and 4 university libraries that are open to the public too.