English PEN and PEN Ukraine open applications for new project, ‘Stories of Resilience’

English PEN and PEN Ukraine have opened applications for a writer currently resident in Ukraine to participate in a new research and writing project across Ukraine and London in 2024, titled ‘Stories of Resilience’. The project is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme, designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.

About the project

The successful applicant, who can be a writer practising in any form (journalism, novels, poetry, children’s books etc.) will be expected to first undertake a period of research and development in Ukraine, collating the stories of people from different regions who use the written or spoken word as a form of resilience and cultural preservation. This could include other writers but also academics, translators, librarians, and people running creative initiatives within their community.

The writer will then be invited to undertake a month-long residency in London, where they will draw on their collated material to produce a text-based piece with support from a mentor working in or with a similar form. The end piece will meaningfully and creatively highlight both the stories of specific individuals and communities across Ukraine, but also the wider phenomenon of using art and culture as a means of personal and collective resilience and resistance. Our hope is that it will give an insight into the varied and nuanced stories that make up life in Ukraine at this moment in time. The final piece will be printed as a pamphlet, to be distributed across Ukraine and in digital form in the UK.

As literature and free expression organisations, English PEN and PEN Ukraine are invested in art’s potential to both document and act as a form of resilience and cultural preservation. This application of creative literary practice, be it fiction writing, reportage, translation, or other forms of storytelling, are particularly significant to Ukraine during a time when its people, land, culture, and language are under attack.

We are looking to work with a writer to capture and share the many ways in which both artists and communities use traditional and contemporary literary forms as a means of decolonising narrative and maintaining a country’s emotional resilience and identity during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

How to apply

Online applications to participate in this project will open at 12:00 PM (Kyiv time) and 10:00 AM (London time) on Thursday 21 December 2023 and close at 23:59 PM in both time zones on Wednesday 31 January 2024.

To apply, please click here: https://bit.ly/3vacDAY Please note, the online application form is in English and only applications made in English will be considered.

Further information for applicants

Criteria for the writer in residence

• Must be able to demonstrate that they are the author of at least two published pieces of work. These can be full-length books or contributions to anthologies, online magazines, newspapers etc. Does not need to have yet been published
• Must currently be a resident of Ukraine.
• Must be a minimum age of 18 years on 1 March 2024.
• Must be able and available to carry out a period of research and development in Ukraine between 1 March and 31 May 2024.
• Must be able and available to undertake an in-person residency in London, UK, over a continuous 30-day period between 1 June and 30 July 2024. This includes having an applicable valid visa and passport or the ability to apply for and receive one within the time frame necessary to travel to the UK for the start of the residency. English PEN is able to support the cost of applying for a visa.
• Must be able to speak and comprehend English at a minimum of B2 Upper Intermediate level (further information here). Please note, the commission to be produced at the end of the residency does not need to be written in English as we can arrange for it to be translated.
• Access to the resources required to undertake the research and development (eg a computer, internet access etc.)
• We are not able to accommodate dependents during the residency in London. If you have any dependents, you will need to arrange the necessary support/care for them should your application be successful.

What we will provide

• 3 online consultations with the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins during the research and development period.
• 2 in-person consultations with a UK-based mentor from a relevant creative background (eg a poet, a journalist, a creative non-fiction writer) during the residency.
• Accommodation in London.
• Per diem at £43/day for 30 days.
• Cover of travel costs within London of up to £300 over 30 days.
• London Library membership for period of residency.
• Support and availability throughout the project period from English PEN and PEN Ukraine.
• Invitation to events organised by English PEN and our partners during residency period.
• Where appropriate, support with setting up meetings with relevant people from our network.

Brief for research and development (R&D) and commission

We are looking to work with a writer currently resident in Ukraine, to produce a text-based piece that creatively documents and celebrates stories of individuals and communities using the written or spoken word as a form of resilience and resistance in the face of Russian invasion.

The successful applicant will be expected to first undertake a three-month period of research and development in Ukraine, collating the stories of people from different regions using creative practices involving the written or spoken word as a form of free expression, resilience, or cultural preservation. This could include, but is not limited to, novelists, poets, playwrights, journalists, academics, translators, musicians, bloggers, librarians, activists, or people engaging members of their community in activities involving the written or spoken word. We are particularly interested in the stories of those working to protect the use of and accessibility to the Ukrainian language. Those interviewed do not need to be professional or published writers; we are keen to see a diversity of stories and voices, including those of organisations or individuals running grassroots or community projects aimed at uniting communities, supporting people’s mental health etc. These conversations will be facilitated through in-person or virtual interviews (e.g., via video call or telephone).

The R&D will be supported by three online consultations with the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins.

During a month-long residency in London, the successful applicant will use the material gathered across Ukraine to create a text-based piece to be shared in Ukraine and the UK.

We welcome applications from writers using a variety of forms and practices. Please make clear in your application what form your final piece would take: for example, it could be a collection of poems, a creative non-fiction prose piece, a journalistic account with verbatim interviews etc.

The end piece will meaningfully and creatively highlight both the stories of specific individuals and communities across Ukraine, but also the wider phenomenon of using art and culture as a means of personal and collective resilience and resistance. Our hope is that it will give an insight into the varied and nuanced lives that make up life in Ukraine at this moment in time.

About organizers

PEN Ukraine is a cultural and human rights NGO uniting Ukrainian intellectuals – writers, journalists, scholars, publishers, translators, human rights defenders, culture managers. With 160 members, it is a co-founder of the Vasyl Stus Prize, the Yuri Shevelov Prize, and the George Gongadze Prize. Since February 24, 2022, we have been working to support the Ukrainian literary community, inform foreign audiences about the impact of Russian aggression on Ukrainian culture, document the experiences of Ukrainians during wartime, and restore cultural life in Ukraine. After the full-fledged war started, besides Unbreakable Libraries, we launched such projects as Literary Volunteering Trips to liberated and frontline territories, Here-and-Now. Stories of Journalists at the War, Charity Intellectual Evenings, photo exhibition The War Is Not Over Yet dedicated to media workers who have been killed, wounded, taken captive or persecuted since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, etc.

English PEN is one of the world's oldest human rights organisations, championing the freedom to write and read. We are the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers’ association with 130 centres in more than 90 countries. With the support of our members – a community of readers, writers and activists – we protect freedom of expression whenever it is under attack, support writers facing persecution around the world, and celebrate contemporary international writing with literary prizes, grants, events, and our online magazine PEN Transmissions.