HUB-BUB and Hub City Writers Project Announce Residency Partnership

Spartanburg, SC – Feb 4th, 2019 - HUB-BUB, a division of Chapman Cultural Center, and the Hub City Writers Project announce a partnership to bring their Artists-in-Residence and Writer-in-Residence programs together in 2019. The partnership will allow for more collaboration between resident writers and artists during their time in Spartanburg. Both programs recruit emerging writers and artists from a national pool of applicants to live and create in Spartanburg for an extended period of time and ask that selected residents provide 15 – 20 hours each week of service through community engagement projects.

Although originally formed as a partnership, the two programs have operated independently since 2013. The decision to bring the programs back together was made to allow residents to engage the Spartanburg community in a concerted and interdisciplinary effort.

About the partnership, Anne Waters, Executive Director of the Hub City Writers Project, said: "We are thrilled to be partnering with HUB-BUB and the Chapman Cultural Center. The HCWP Writer-in-Residence program has a long legacy of supporting writers like Akwaeke Emezi and Kali Fajardo-Anstine who have gone on to publish with major New York publishers. This collaboration will assure that future Writers-in-Residence have a thorough introduction to Spartanburg and peers with whom to share their experience."

Jennifer Evins, President and CEO of Chapman Cultural Center, said: “Partnering with Hub City Writers Project allows us the opportunity to shared resources and leverage the strengths of both programs for the benefit of the artists and our community.”

Currently, HUB-BUB brings two visual artists to Spartanburg through the Artists-in-Residence program for an 11-month residency from September to July. The artists are housed in downtown apartments and have a studio space at the Chapman Cultural Center’s Creative Placemaking Studio. The Hub City Writers Project currently houses their writer-in-residence in the Writer’s House on Spring St. They will be expanding their program from three 15-week residencies to one 9-month residency from September through May and include a summer publishing internship.

Eric Kocher, Director of HUB-BUB and Creative Placemaking at the Chapman Cultural Center and former Writer-in-Residence with Hub City, has been managing the Artists-in-Residence Program for HUB-BUB since 2014. “My residency experience in 2011 – 2012 was defined, more than anything else, by collaborations with the other artists-in-residence. I couldn’t be happier that these two wonderful programs will be reunited and that future residents will have the same opportunities I did to work together on community engagement projects.” Kocher will be overseeing both programs moving forward.

About the Program

The Writers House offers one residency per year in an historic cottage in downtown Spartanburg, S.C. The program is open to emerging writers in the United States who have completed a college degree (BA, BFA, MA, MFA, PhD) in creative writing within the past five years or are pursuing a graduate degree (MFA, MA, or PhD) in writing. Residents receive lodging, utilities, and a stipend; they are responsible for their own transportation and meals. Our residencies include a community service component of 15 and offer a stipend of $800 a month.

The program is targeted at early-career writers, preferably without a published book. In addition to uninterrupted writing time, the residencies offer opportunities for service at Hub City Press and Bookshop, for presentation of workshops or readings, and for literary projects of your own in Spartanburg, where there is a vibrant literary community. The ideal candidate is self-motivated, outgoing, interested in multiple aspects of the literary field, and has a desire to engage with the Spartanburg community. We accept applications from writers in the following categories: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screen- and playwriting.

We also offer a summer internship in publishing. Click here to learn more.