Writers' Residency At Linden Place

SUPPORTING RHODE ISLAND WRITERS IN THE CREATION OF VIBRANT NEW WORKS

The world has changed a lot since the late 1800’s when Theodora Colt reclaimed and rebranded her childhood home “Linden Place.” Where her father had once hosted slave traders and corrupt politicians, Theodora gathered abolitionist writers here in literary salons that included the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Greenleaf Whittier.

Now, we want you to be part of our literary lineage by bringing a creative point of view to our history. The Linden Place Writers’ Residency is a no-cost, daytime only residency program that gives creative writers the tools to discover, engage, examine, and interpret Linden Place’s people, events, setting, and artifacts through a contemporary lens.

LINDEN PLACE AS CREATIVE MUSE

Linden Place is a nonprofit museum with a potent place in American history. Built in 1810 by slave trader George DeWolf, the house serves as a place of education and catalyst for discussion about the transatlantic slave trade and Northern complicity in the same. Occupants and guests of the house have included Presidents, enslaved Africans, famous writers, servants, freed slaves, business magnates, Hollywood actors, abolitionists, and philanthropists. The museum’s collection includes paintings, sculptures, furniture, and rare items, such as a horse-drawn coach from the 1820’s. The house has notable architectural details and sits on 1.8 acres of land that are part of the Wampanoag/Pokanoket ancestral homelands.

The stories of those who lived and worked here speak to issues of enslavement, colonialism, early industry, class divides, philanthropy, and the agency of women. In all, it is fertile ground for creative writers to re-interpret, re-examine, and expound on history through contemporary viewpoints.

Could you imagine Linden Place as the backdrop of a LGBTQ+ historic romance? Could you envision a superhero narrative with a freed African as the central figure? Could you see a Young Adult novel where the teen protagonist discovers a portal to the past through one of the museum’s paintings? Could you pen a classic mystery where Ethel Barrymore, one of our former occupants and most popular actresses of her day, goes missing while visiting here? Could you write a narrative essay about your life that draws parallels to the lives of the widowed women who’ve resided here? Could you create an anti-racist rock opera that sheds light on the DeWolf slave traders? Could you conceive of a screenplay with a pivotal scene taking place in our gardens?

These ideas represent the kind of varied, thought-provoking, contemporary works that we aim to foster through the writers’ residency. We believe the work that comes out of the program will be a gateway for an expanded understanding and re-examination of our complex history.

RESIDENCY OVERVIEW

The Linden Place Writers’ Residency (LPWR) is a free, month-long, daytime-only residency for creative writers wishing to interpret the museum's complicated history through a creative lens.

Three esteemed judges will select approximately 8 writers to join us for the residency month of April. Each writer receives:

• A free audio tour
• On-site workspace through the month of April
• Research support from museum professionals
• A $100 travel stipend (for writers outside of Bristol)
• ½ hour one-on-one consult with sensitivity reader Renee Harleston of Writing Diversely
• Press and publicity
• An audience to hear works in progress
• 50% off accommodations at the Bradford-Dimond-Norris House B&B next door for the month of April

 our 2025 judges

LISSETTE ACOSTA CORNIEL writes about gender-based violence, free and enslaved black women, and resistance in colonial Hispaniola. She has presented her research internationally and throughout the United States and is the editor of Transatlantic Bondage: Slavery and Freedom in Spain, Santo Domingo, and Puerto Rico, SUNY Press. She is a contributor to the New York City Department of Education Hidden Voices: Stories of the Global African Diaspora, Vol. 1 and 2. She is working on her book manuscript about gender-based violence, femicide, and women’s autonomy in colonial Santo Domingo.

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STEVE EDWARDS is the author of Breaking into the Backcountry, a memoir about his seven months as the caretaker of a remote Oregon homestead. His personal essays have appeared in The Sun, Orion, Literary Hub, and Longreads. His latest work, an essay about the intersection of writing, mental health, and neurodiversity, was recently published in The Yale Review. He teaches writing at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts.. 

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ROSARIA MUNDA grew up in rural North Carolina, studied political theory at Princeton, and lives with her family in Florida. She is the author of The Aurelian Cycle trilogy (Fireborne, Flamefall, and Furysong) and the forthcoming Confessions of a Junior Spy (Feiwel & Friends, 2025). Booklist called her debut work “a near-perfect work of high fantasy.” 

 WHO CAN APPLY TO THE RESIDENCY?

LPWR is open to all levels of creative writer including beginner, mid-career, hobbyist, or seasoned writers, who will create a new work while they are in residence. They must be at least 18 years old and meet one of the following criteria: Have Rhode Island as a primary residence at least 9 months of the year or live along the Massachusetts border within 25 miles of Linden Place. College students (18+) who can be present for the public reading event on June 11th are welcome to apply.

Former writers’ in residence must wait 3 years to apply to the program again.

WHAT MEDIUMS DO YOU ACCEPT?

For application writing samples and proposed works while in residence we accept fiction (all genres), narrative non-fiction, poetry, screenplays, and plays.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE WRITERS WHEN IN RESIDENCE?

Writers will be expected to start a new writing project while in residence and work on site at Linden Place for a minimum of 8 hours during the month of April, with no more than 4 visits. Writers are also required to attend the reading of their works in progress and community discussion in early/mid-June. 

WHO ARE THE JUDGES, AND HOW ARE THEY EVALUATING THE SUBMISSIONS?

Every judging panel includes a mix of professional creative writers and experts in early Black history. Past judges include Octavia McBride-Ahebee, Seth Rockman, Chaya Bhuvaneswar, Padma Venkatraman, Jennifer Lighty, Adam McNeil, Daisy Abreu, Robert Isenberg, Eirene Tran Donahue, and Marco McWilliams. There are two rounds of judging. Individual submissions are first judged on social impact of the statement of intent, creativity, and merit of the writing sample. For the second and final round of judging, evaluators are looking at all previously stated criteria as well as curating a collective group of writers who represent diversity in as many areas as possible. We do not employ a blind judging process. You can read why in this article.

2024 WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE
Our 2024 residents started projects that included a historical fiction novel told from the point of view of Rhode Island's Black and Indigenous community in the 1800’s, fiction that focussed on Theodora DeWolf Colt and the house's servants, narrative nonfiction exploring the meaning of the house's building materials, interconnected short stories centering a variety of the town's characters on the 4th of July, a play centering Russell Colt on the eve of his divorce from esteemed actress Ethel Barrymore, a short story about Ethel Barrymore reflecting on life as a woman in the public eye, and an essay reflecting on Rhode Island’s prominent role in the slave trade.

Pictured L to R: Samanthe Sheffer, Kate Hanley, Alice Cross, Elizabeth Reinhardt, Nada Samih-Rotondo; Not pictured: Celine Keating, Caitlin Howle

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

The residency is open to writers of all genres of fiction and narrative non-fiction, poets, screenwriters, and playwrights 18 and older who primarily reside in Rhode Island or live within 25 miles of Linden Place. Beginner, mid-career, hobbyist, and established writers are welcome to apply.

Writers will primarily be judged on the merit of their writing and Statement of Intent. However, we will also look at individuals within the context of the larger whole in order to ensure our 8 residents represent a diversity of viewpoints, life experiences, and genres.

In addition to the residency application, writers must submit one of the following for consideration: 5 consecutive pages of fiction or narrative nonfiction, or 7-10 pages of poetry, or 10-15 consecutive pages of a screenplay or play.

Applications are due on January 30th 2025 by 8:00 pM EST. We highly recommend you download and read this Linden Place factsheet before applying.

PROGRAM TIMELINE & Deadlines

December 2nd  – Applications open

January 30^th – Applications due by 8:00 p.m. ET

March 7^th – Residents announced

March 23rd - Museum walk-through and group orientation 

April – Residency at Linden Place

April 17^th – Progress report due

May – Writers continue work from home

June 2nd – Residents submit works-in-progress for excerpt selection

June 11th – Community reading and discussion of works in progress

FEES AND STIPENDS

This is a no-cost residency. All writers will receive a $100 stipend to cover travel and related expenses.

The $17 residency application fee helps cover the project administrator’s stipend and judges’ honorariums. There is an additional $3 processing fee if using a credit card. If you’d like to avoid a processing fee, you may pay by check or cash. To do so please contact us at info@lindenplace.org. Applicants with financial hardship for whom the fee is a barrier are asked to email us at writersresidency@lindenplace.org for fee reduction or waiver.

In line with our mission to serve the community, the reading and discussion event will be free of charge.

COVID-19

Linden Place tracks the status of Covid via government guidance. If the residency is impacted, writers will be notified. 

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Linden Place Writers’ Residency is committed to fostering accessibility in all aspects of the program in order to ensure that all writers in our community have the accommodations and support necessary for a successful writing experience. At present, Linden Place’s self-guided tour is available in both audio and text formats for anyone with visual or hearing impairment. We have wheelchair-accessible bathrooms and our museum’s first floor is accessible via wheelchair ramp. Tours and research related to the 2nd floor will be done via video livestream with the program administrator. Quiet spaces are available for people with anxiety or overstimulation issues. For the community reading event, accommodations can be made for anyone with disabilities that may impede or prevent public speaking, such as anxiety disorders or speech language impairment. Our goal is to remove all barriers to entry and participation in the program.  

QUESTIONS?

2025 LINDEN PLACE WRITERS’ RESIDENCY APPLICATION - open to submissions through 1/30/25 at 8pm est.

To apply for the Linden Place Writers’ Residency please complete both steps. Both must be complete in order for your application to be considered. If you have any questions, please contact Leigh at writersresidency@lindenplace.org.

STEP 1: Pay application fee HERE. 

STEP 2: Fill out personal information and upload your documents HERE.