Visegrád Irodalmi Ösztöndíjas Program

The Visegrad Literary Residency Program, established 2012 by the International Visegrad Fund, consists of a series of residency stays and literary events addressed to writers of fiction and non-fiction, poets, essayists, critics as well as literary translators, publicists and journalists from the Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).

It is based on a partnership of 4 Host Institutions, one in each V4 country: Institut umeni (Arts Institute) in Prague, Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum (Petőfi Literary Museum) in Budapest, Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza (Villa Decius Association) in Krakow and Literarné informačné centrum (Centre for Information on Literature) in Bratislava.

The Program will provide opportunities to host from and in all V4 member states and to support work and mobility of talented Literary Residents, to create a platform for information exchange and to support development and promotion of the V4 literature in Central Europe.

The Villa Decius Association acts as the Coordinator of the Program.

The 2014 edition of the Program will enable 32 Literary Residents to carry their literary projects in 4 Host Institutions in one of the given periods: 1st May – 12th June 2014 (Compact Spring Edition) or 1st September – 30th November 2014 (Regular Autumn Edition).

Each of the Host Institutions will be responsible for organizing two stays of two groups of 4 Literary Residents each (one from the Czech Republic, one from Hungary, one from Poland and one from Slovakia), who will be working on their individual literary projects, and also participate together in literary event(s) organized in the hosting city by the Host Institution.

The recruitment process of 32 grantees of the Program (8 from the Czech Republic, 8 from Hungary, 8 from Poland and 8 Slovakia) will be based on individual applications submitted via an online application form, which will be opened on the website of the Villa Decius Association.

The residences will be assigned to applicants by the Selection Panel on the basis of proportional and equal involvement of Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak residents and Host Institutions.

Who can apply for a scholarship?

• writers of fiction and non-fiction, poets and literary translators with at least one book publication (min. 18 years old)
• essayists, critics, publicists and journalists with at least 3 publications in quality newspapers, magazines or electronic media (min. 18 years old)

 How to apply for a scholarship?

1.       structured CV

2.       description of the literary plans for the residency

3.       list of publications

4.       motivation letter

• each applicant may attach other documents, recommendations etc. (in English) which she/he finds important for evaluating her/his application

Criteria of selection:

• professional approach towards literary work documented by previous work
• quality and credibility of residency plans presented in the application form
• good reputation and clear record in cooperation with the International Visegrad Fund
• willingness to participate in public meetings organized by the Host Institution
• willingness to collaborate with other literary residents supported under this Program and with the Host Institution as agreed with this Institution in order to secure the V4 added value of the Program
• willingness to be present at the Host Institution and their accommodation capacities during the residency period for the purpose of implementing the Residency Project
• V4 focus of the residency plans

 Access to the Program:

1. Applicants must be citizens of one of the Visegrad Group states, i.e.: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland or Slovakia.
2. Applicants’ previous projects supported by the International Visegrad Fund shall be finished and closed in the time of applying.
3. Applicants shall be granted a Literary Residency within this Program only once in each V4 member state.
4. Applicants must cover the costs of health insurance for the period of the Literary Residency by themselves.

Deadline for application: 28th February 2014 (midnight)

Results announced by IVF and Villa Decius Association: 10th April 2014

• Call for pro­pos­als
• Contract sam­ple

Technical problems with online application / visegradapplicationform@gmail.com