Upcoming Opportunities
The Barcelona Institute of Culture, within the framework of the Barcelona, UNESCO City of Literature programme, has opened the call for the 2026 international writing residencies at Vil·la Joana. The initiative aims to promote literary creation and foster exchange with other centres and creators from around the world.
The residencies, aimed at writers and translators from outside Catalonia and of any nationality, offer stays in a privileged environment: Vil·la Joana, in Vallvidrera, one of the sites of the Museu d’Història de Barcelona and the place where the poet Jacint Verdaguer spent his final years. The 2026 edition includes eight residency periods, with a maximum of three residents per session, who will have accommodation, workspaces, and a programme of activities to connect with the city’s literary network.
Eligible applicants include authors of fiction, poetry, playwriting, comics, literary journalism, and audiovisual scripts, as well as translators with at least one published or premiered work. The projects must have an explicit link to Barcelona, which will be assessed alongside the applicant’s career and the literary quality of the proposal.
Selection will be carried out by a committee made up of three sector experts and a representative of the Institute of Culture. Applications must be submitted through the Barcelona City of Literature website by 16 January 2026, together with the required documentation.
Selected residents must take part in the scheduled activities and submit a final work report. If the work is eventually published, it must be credited as having been written during the residency.
The hosting of writers at Vil·la Joana will once again help strengthen exchange agreements with other Cities of Literature for Catalan authors.
All information is available in the International Literary Residency section of the Barcelona UNESCO City of Literature website.
Ongoing Opportunities
Barcelona
Faber, Residència d’Arts, Ciències i Humanitats de Catalunya a Olot
Faber offers working stays and exchanges for creative people, researchers and professionals in different areas, for scientists, writers, researchers, writers, artists, humanists, musicians, etc. Our residents have the best working conditions and an environment to accompany their projects. In Faber, there are eight spacious rooms, designed to provide comfortable working conditions. There are also several common areas where the residents will be able to exchange their experiences with each other, with the public and with institutions. The Residency is a space open to people from all over the world. Faber will take care of the residents’ stay, providing accommodation, half-board (breakfast and dinner) and a fully-equipped kitchen in case the residents would like to prepare their own lunch. Faber does not cover any travel costs. There is no per diem.
The Faber Residency is open to all disciplines related to arts, sciences, and humanities. It is offered six times per year, for four-week periods. Faber organizes several thematic residencies throughout the year where professionals from the Arts, Sciences or Humanities can come to spend a few days working on their projects and sharing experiences with the rest of the residents. During the stay, the residents collaborate in activities directed to students, professionals or public in general; activities in accordance with a project that will take into account previous demands and needs. Check the website for dates.
Organized by Ajuntament d’Olot (Olot City Hall) and Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government)
Jiwar Creació i Societat
Jiwar has a special interest in receiving non-occidental writers and artists, as well as artists in danger or requesting political asylum because of dangerous situations in their countries of origin. Live and work in a comfortable space. Artists need to provide their own economical resources or grants, which Jiwar can help to obtain by writing letters of support or welcoming. During the stay of the artist, Jiwar offers to accompany the creative process and is able to organize once a month presentation of the work in progress. No meals or per diem are included.
Organized by Mireia Estrada Gelabert
Reykjavik
The Writers’ Residence in Gunnarshús
Open to visiting writers or translators, this program offers a flat in Gunnarshús – the Writers’ House in Reykjavík rented for a minimal fee, for a period of 1-8 weeks.
Organized by Writers’ Union of Iceland
The Writers Residence in Gröndalshús
Gröndalshús is the charming former home of writer, illustrator and scholar Benedikt Gröndal (1826-1907). This writer’s home in the heart of the old town in Reykjavík has been renovated and opened as a cultural house and residency in 2017, run by the Reykjavík City of Literature.
The ground floor houses a residency flat for visiting writers, artists, scholars and translators of Icelandic literature who want to work in Reykjavik. It can be rented for a period of 2 – 8 weeks. The fee is 42.000 ISK pr. week which is well under the market prize of lodging in Reykjavík. The flat is fully furnished, with free wifi and is situated in the heart of the city within walking distance from all major cultural institutions, restaurants and other attractions. An additional charge of ISK 3.500 pr. week is charged for each additional guest.
For availability and further information, please write to bokmenntaborgin@reykjavik.is.
Iceland Writers Retreat
The Iceland Writers Retreat is an annual opportunity for writers to participate in a series of workshops and panels led by an esteemed team of international writers. Between intimate workshops and lectures they’ll offer the chance to tour the spectacular Golden Circle, sit in the cozy cafes of Reykjavik, soak in geothermal hot springs, listen to new Icelandic music, meet contemporary Icelandic writers, and learn about the country’s rich literary tradition. Dedicated blocks of time throughout the retreat allow participants to focus on their writing.
Dunedin
The Robert Burns Fellowship
The Fellowship provides an office in the English Department and not less than the minimum salary of a full-time university lecturer, for one year. It is open to writers of poetry, drama, fiction, biography, autobiography, essays or literary criticism who are normally resident in New Zealand, and who, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, have established by their published work, or otherwise, that their writing would benefit from their holding the Fellowship.
Application open March-June
Organized by Division of Humanities, University of Otago
The University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence
Remuneration of $28,000 is jointly funded by the University and Creative New Zealand and includes an office in the College. The 6-month residency is offered in association with the Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Trust which provides rent-free accommodation to writers in the historic Titan Street cottage bequeathed by the late playwright Robert Lord. The Residency is open to established children’s writers who are normally resident in New Zealand.
Organized by Division of Humanities, University of Otago
The University Book Shop and Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Trust Summer Writer in Residence
The Residency is offered in association with the Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Trust which provides rent-free accommodation to writers in the historic Titan Street cottage bequeathed by the late playwright Robert Lord. The 6-week residency offers a stipend, and an office and administration base at the University Book Shop. The recipient will be an emerging writer in any genre who, in the opinion of the University Book Shop Summer Writer in Residence Advisory Group, has established, by their published work or otherwise, that their writing would benefit from the Residency.
Organized by The University Book Shop and Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Trust
The Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency
The Caselberg Trust, Dunedin, New Zealand, invites writers, composers, visual and performing artists to complete their creative projects in a harbourside cottage, situated on the Otago Peninsula, a well known haven of creativity and inspiration for many artists. Residencies can be funded or self-funded/sponsored.
The Caselberg Trust’s ‘Creative Connections’ Residency support projects that reach out and make links across a variety of creative media, professional disciplines, and communities relevant to the planned project. Applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to engage in a creative project and processes, to collaborate effectively with creative media, and with communities relevant to their identified project. The residency is 3 months.
Organized by The Caselberg Trust
Krakow
Visegrad Fund
The Fund is an international donor organization, established in 2000 by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries—Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to promote regional cooperation in the Visegrad region (V4) as well as between the V4 region and other countries, especially in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership regions. The Fund does so by awarding €8 million through grants, scholarships and artist residencies provided annually by equal contributions of all the V4 countries. Other donor countries (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States) have provided another €10 million through various grant schemes run by the Fund since 2012.
Edinburgh
Fellowships Programme for International Visitors
The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) was established in 1969 to promote interdisciplinary research in the arts, humanities and social sciences. It provides an international, interdisciplinary and autonomous space for discussion and debate. Since its foundation more than 1000 scholars from 66 countries have held Institute fellowships; and up to 28 Fellows are in residence at any one time. Housed in a secluded 18th-century courtyard overlooking the Meadows, the Institute is adjacent to most centres of University activity.
Organized by The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH)
Obidos
Obidos Literary Residency Program
The Obidos Literary Residency Program allows each author to stay between two weeks and up to two months. The Municipality provides a space for accommodation and the creation of the candidate project. The involvement of the author-resident in the community is increased, although the main objective of his/her stay is writing.
The objective is to welcome authors from all over the world, allowing them to immerse themselves in an environment of refuge, suitable for relaxing and creating works, as well as contact, in a privileged way, with Óbidos, its history, and identity. Proposals will be selected according to their cultural interest, consistency with the candidate’s path, and feasibility of the project. Applications are accepted all year.
