Banff Centre’s Application, Student Registration and Payment Systems, including the Student Portal, will be unavailable from 4pm Tuesday Nov. 5th to 12 noon Wednesday Nov. 6th due to planned maintenance. Any questions please contact admissions@banffcentre.ca.
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Winter Writers Faculty Danez Smith and Omar El Akkad
This 12-day self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of everyday life. Delve deep into your creative project and take advantage of the artistic community of your peers around you. This program provides opportunities for consultations with exceptional mentors Danez Smith and Omar El Akkad and professional guest Samantha Haywood (Transatlantic Agency), and optional group sessions that allow writers to explore literary tools, aspects, and devices that you may find useful in your practice.
This 12-day residency provides thematic teaching from faculty members and professional guests, Q&A sessions, public events, and one-on-one workshopping. Mentors will discuss ideas, experiences, and obstacles that participants may be encountering with their writing across genre.
We welcome writers of all ages (18+), backgrounds, and all gender identities and expressions. Writers in all creative genres are invited to apply. The program is designed for emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project in any genre.
Please note: This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English.
This program is not open to applicants who have taken part in a Banff Centre residency in the last year, nor to current faculty members of any other Banff Centre programming.
Danez Smith is the author of three collections including Homie and Don’t Call Us Dead. For their work, Danez was won the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and have been a finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award. Danez’s poetry and prose has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, Best American Poetry and on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Danez is a member of the Dark Noise Collective. Former co-host of the Webby nominated podcast VS (Versus), they live in Minneapolis near their people. Their fourth collection of poems, Bluff, is forthcoming in August 2024.
Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Guernica, GQ and many other newspapers and magazines. His debut novel, American War, is an international bestseller and has been translated into thirteen languages. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and has been nominated for more than ten other awards. It was listed as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, NPR, Esquire and was selected by the BBC as one of 100 novels that changed our world. His second novel, What Strange Paradise, won the Giller Prize, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award, and the Oregon Book Award for fiction.
Samantha Haywood is President of the Transatlantic Agency. She has extensive experience selling authors in North America for publication and TV/film representation. She launched her client list with Transatlantic Agency in 2004 after working in the international rights departments of Random House of Canada Ltd and WCA Ltd. Samantha represents a diverse and vibrant client list of novelists, memoirists, investigative journalists, graphic novelists, cookbook authors and thought leaders. Samantha represents international rights for the renowned publisher, Drawn & Quarterly. She is also a founding member and former President of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.
Your program fee includes a single bedroom on the Banff Centre campus for the duration of your program.
Get connected with other artists on campus and focus on your projects in a creative environment while we take care of the day-to-day essentials.
Using a credit-based system to dine on campus, our flexible meal plans allow you to select meals according to your own needs during your stay. Banff Centre can respond to most dietary requests.
The Full Flex meal plan is equivalent to $70 credit per day, equivalent to breakfast, lunch and dinner at our Buffet service.
Each participant will be allocated a small studio as a private writing space.
Your program fee includes free access to the swimming pool, climbing gym and fitness suite as well as discounted rates for classes at the Sally Borden Fitness and Recreation Centre.
Enjoy special artist rates for ticketed performances or complimentary access to events.
Enrich your experience and get to know other artists on campus by taking advantage of the activities and support provided by our Participant Resources team.
The Paul D. Fleck Library and Archives are delighted to support Banff Centre Participants, Artists, and Faculty with access to collections, including program-relevant books, scores, artists’ books, recordings, periodicals, and an object library.
This program offers opportunities to showcase your work-in-progress.
Application fee: $65 for individuals or groups ($35 for applicants who identify as Indigenous).
Application fees are non-refundable.
*Scholarship of 100% is available and will be applied to cover tuition, and 50% is available to offset meals and accommodation costs.
Scholarship of 100% is available to Canadian Indigenous participants and will be applied to cover tuition, meals and accommodation costs.
If you would like to be considered, please complete the Financial Aid section when uploading your supporting materials.
Banff Centre will issue official tax receipts for eligible tuition fees and financial assistance and awards as required by the Income Tax Act. You will receive a T2202 (Tuition and Enrolment Certificate) for eligible tuition fees paid and a T4A (Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income) for applicable financial assistance and awards.
Help fund your experience at Banff Centre. View a compiled list of national and international opportunities here.
Learn more about the steps to Complete Your Application.
A resume or C.V. describing publication history as well as academic, professional, and other relevant experience including previous enrolment in writing residencies.
A one-page cover letter explaining why you are interested in this program and what you hope to achieve by attending it.
A description of the project you hope to work on during the program (maximum one page).
Please provide an excerpt from your work in progress (maximum 10 pages).
Adjudication is based on artistic merit, the potential impact of the program on artists’ practice and careers, project feasibility and the capacity of Banff Centre to help realize the project, and the project’s fit with Banff Centre’s values and strategic directions as described in its strategic plan. Banff Centre respects the need for artists to plan ahead for their visit; applicants will be notified as soon as adjudication is complete.
Banff Centre welcomes domestic and international applicants for this program. Please note, Banff Centre programs do not meet Canadian Student Visa eligibility requirements, you must obtain a Visitor Visa to enter Canada. Accepted individuals are responsible for identifying and complying with the immigration requirements to enter Canada as a visitor from their country of origin. Current wait times to receive a visa are much longer than normal, so applicants who require a Visitor Visa should check the current expected processing times prior to applying.
This program is not open to current faculty members of any other Banff Centre programming.
Applicants must be ages 18+ at the time of the program start date.
All programs, faculty, dates, fees, and offers of financial assistance are subject to change. Program fee is subject to applicable taxes. Non-refundable fees and deposits will be retained upon cancellation. Any other fees are refunded at the discretion of the Banff Centre. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
For questions on preparing your application, please contact Admissions:
