On Friday, 4th September, at the opening of our Gladfest literature festival, we revealed our four Writers in Residence for 2016.
Rebecca Farmer, Natasha Pulley, Amy Liptrot and Susan Barker have all been appointed for this year's programme, and will spend their residency in Hawarden, North Wales. They each receive full board and lodging, travel expenses, and an honorarium of £100 per week.
Now into its fifth year, the prize was established by Gladstone’s Library in association with Damian Barr (salonniere and author of Maggie and Me) to explore and define liberal values in the twenty-first century.
This year’s submissions came in from around the world. To qualify for consideration, all applicants had to submit a book published in the last three years and a short piece on liberal values.
The four 2016 Writers in Residence each win a month’s residency at Gladstone’s Library, a creative community that is open to the public and is based in the world’s only residential library.
The Writers in Residence for 2016 are:
Rebecca Farmer
Natasha Pulley
Amy Liptrot
Susan Barker
During their stay, each writer will blog about their time here and lead a workshop and an evening talk. The evening talks of Rebecca Farmer and Natasha Pulley are part of our February Hearth micro-festival.
The 2016 scheme will be launched at an exclusive salon at London’s National Liberal Club on 12th October, where the four winners will read from their work, accompanied by previous Writers in Residence.
This year’s judging panel consisted of Strategy Director of Rufus Leonard and Trustee of Gladstone’s Library, Freddie Baveystock; novelist and Director of the National Academy of Writing, Richard Beard; Warden of Gladstone’s Library, Peter Francis; novelist and academic, Francesca Haig; novelist, Sarah Perry; and Director of Collections and Research at Gladstone’s Library and academic, Louisa Yates.
Previous winning authors include Naomi Alderman (The Liars’ Gospel), Stella Duffy (Theodora, The Purple Shroud), Rebecca Abrams (Touching Distance) and Vanessa Gebbie (The Coward’s Tale), and previous winning poets include Katrina Naomi, (The Girl With the Cactus Handshake, Hooligans), Judy Brown (Loudness) and Pascale Petit (Fauverie).
Tickets for all Writer in Residence events are onsale now and further details can be found in our What’s On calendar.
To register your interest for the salon at the National Liberalism Club, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].