John Broderick Residency 2024 - Westmeath Culture

A partnership between Westmeath County Council and Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

JOHN BRODERICK WRITER’S RESIDENCY 2024

INTRODUCTION

John Broderick was born in Connaught Street, Athlone in 1924. He had 12 novels published, his best known being The Pilgrimage (1961). His bestseller was An Apology for Roses (1973), which sold 30,000 copies in the first week of its publication in 1973.

Alongside his career as a writer, Broderick was an avid supporter of the visual arts and music. Following his death, be bequeathed his estate to the Arts Council for “the benefit and advancement of the Arts in Athlone”. In partnership with Westmeath Arts Office, a residency series to be located in Athlone has been developed for 2024-2026.

The John Broderick Writers Residency Series is designed to honour John Broderick. The series will, on an annual basis provide support to a selected writer while increasing the awareness of John Broderick, his works, and his engagement and generosity to the people of Athlone.

2024 is the centenary of John Broderick’s birth.

The residency is devised in partnership between the Arts Council and the Westmeath Arts Office.

€16,500 will be granted to a selected professional writer for a 10-week period beginning in September 2024. As additional accommodation stipend of €1,200 will be made available where accommodation in Athone is necessary.

NEW: An additional award of €7,000 will be announced for an emerging writer as part of the John Broderick series - at a later date.

WHO CAN APPLY

The John Broderick Residency is open to professional writers in all genres. Writers must be over 18 years of age and resident on the island of Ireland. We particularly invite applications from writers of fiction. Writers must demonstrate an ability to mentor emerging writers, young people and those interested in developing their writing skills.

We are committed to taking positive measures to promote equality of opportunity for all those living in Ireland, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race, socioeconomic status or membership of the Traveller Community. We welcome applications that are representative of the diversity of Irish society, including but not limited to any of the characteristics outlined above.

Applicants should have a good knowledge of John Broderick’s works.

RESIDENCY DETAILS

The Residency will be located in Athlone on a part-time basis (10 weeks at 20 hours per week) which will allow time both for the writer’s own work in addition to engagement and interaction with the general public, community groups, schools and more specifically with people interested in writing themselves.
2024 is the centenary of John Broderick’s birth. There will be activities taking place on 30 July 2024, including the announcement of the 2024 John Broderick recipient. It is important that the selected writer attends this event in person.
As part of this Residency, the successful applicant will be asked to stimulate greater awareness of the works of John Broderick, the art of creative writing, as well as encouraging more opportunities for people to engage with the work of writers. This will require a good knowledge of social media, direct contact making and meaningful community engagement.
Athlone Library contains a selection of Broderick’s collection of books, gramophone records, discs and tapes as well as artworks bequeathed by Broderick to the library.
An existing platform is available to ensure an online presence of the work of the Broderick residencies is maintained, from documentation to promotion and potentially through online forums.
The writer will have a room available to them at Athlone Library, for their own writing hours, which can be pre-booked.
Cross-disciplinary or cross-sectoral collaborations as part of the residency are welcomed and encouraged as part of the residency.
There is potential support available for guest artists / writers within the residency.
Westmeath County Arts Office will provide a fee of €16,500 (inclusive of travel) for a 10-week period. The payment schedule will be: 50% on commencement, 25% halfway through, 25% on completion of the residency.
An accommodation stipend of up to €1,200 will be made available to the selected writer if they choose to book accommodation overnight in Athlone. In order to avail of this, writers should notify the Westmeath Arts Office of their intent to use the accommodation stipend within a reasonable time frame.
It should be noted that this is a part-time residency, which will require flexibility around contact.
The details of the writer in residence programme will be agreed in consultation with the appointed writer. The programme will be supervised by the Westmeath Arts Services Coordinator.

ACCESSIBILITY

We do our best to accommodate people with disabilities who want to submit an application or who have difficulties in accessing our online application form. We will tailor support to individual requests. For help submitting your application, please contact laura.mccormack@westmeathcoco.ie

In addition to the residency stipend, the Arts Council and Westmeath Arts Office will consider access costs specifically relating to the managing of work by artists with disabilities. If you wish to apply for additional funding on this basis, you will be asked to outline what these costs are as part of your application.

TIMELINE

Applications open 20^th March
Deadline 17^th April
Selection panel will meet on 25^th April
Interviews will take place 7^th – 8th May
The successful candidate will be contacted by mid-May
The 2024 John Broderick Writer-in-Residence will be announced at a launch event on 30^th July 2024.
The 10-week residency will begin in September 2024 to coincide with the school term.

HOW TO APPLY

Writers can apply via our online submission form.

You will be asked to provide the following:

A typed proposal outlining artistic ideas and approaches (two pages); this should include an outline of the benefits of the residency to her/his stage of development as a writer and detailed suggestions for public/schools/community engagement to include a breakdown of proposed time used between own work and public engagement. Attention should be paid to how diverse and underrepresented communities and groups will be engaged.
A typed curriculum vitae (maximum 3 pages) with two named referees, one of which should include someone who has previously worked with you on community engagement opportunities.
Samples of previous work such as publications and published articles.
A description and examples of previous public engagement work.

Please ensure that all submitted materials are clearly marked with the writer’s name.

Deadline for applications: 17 April at 5pm.

Please note that late applications will not be accepted.

SELECTION PROCESS

Applications will be reviewed by an independent selection panel for eligibility, strength of proposal, suitability to the residency, and the range and quality of writing samples provided.
Applicants will be short-listed on the basis of their submissions
Short-listed applicants will be invited for interview.
Westmeath Arts Office and the Arts Council reserve the right not to appoint if the applications received are deemed to be unsuitable. In this instance the right is reserved to pursue a different procurement / selection process.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Artistic merit of the proposal (20%)
Familiarity with the work of John Broderick (10%)
Quality of previous work (20%)
Relevance and suitability of the proposal (30%)
Track record in public engagement activities including any related online activities (20%)

In advance of the Residency the following will be agreed with the successful applicant

Goals, roles and responsibilities between the Writer in Residence and the Arts Office
Agreed programme of work with appropriate flexibility and responsiveness
Areas of administrative support
A timetable that balances time for the writer’s own work and other residency commitments as agreed.
Ongoing review and evaluation; regularity of meetings

FURTHER INFORMATION

Child Protection

In accordance with the national Child Protection Guidelines Children First, the selected candidate will be required to follow child protection procedures as specified by Westmeath County Council. The successful candidate will be required to undergo Garda Vetting.

Insurance

The Writer in residence agrees to keep the Council fully indemnified against all claims howsoever arising and howsoever caused in respect of any damage, loss or injury of any kind or nature, whether arising directly or indirectly from the provision of the residency and to provide evidence of Public Liability insurance which indemnifies Westmeath County Council with a limit of indemnity of €6.5 million.

It is the responsibility of the Writer in Residence to ensure that other person(s) not employed by Westmeath County Council but employed by the Writer in Residence to assist them with the residency have adequate Public Liability (€6.5 million) and if appropriate, Employer’s Liability (€13 million) cover which indemnify both Westmeath County Council and the writer.

Freedom of Information

The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997-2003 apply to Westmeath County Council. Applicants should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or sensitive and should not be disclosed to a request for information under the aforementioned Act. Applicants should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive.

Prompt Payment

Under the Prompt Payments Accounts Act, the Local Authority is obliged to pay within 15 days, upon receipt of a valid invoice.

Further information is available from:

Laura McCormack, Westmeath Arts Office laura.mccormack@westmeathcoco.ie or katie.lowry@artscouncil.ie