ABOUT THE LANNAN FOUNDATION RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Some nights, in the small Texan town of Marfa, it is possible to observe a strange and still not fully explained phenomenon in the sky: lights of different colors and shapes moving in different directions. Some thousands of people make the pilgrimage every year to Marfa hoping to see the so-called Marfa Lights

I was in Marfa From 1. June to 15. July 2005 and I, too, tried to catch sight of the Marfa Lights from an observation post some few miles outside town. The night was dark and the sky clear, but I saw no strange luminous movements at all.

Fortunately, during my days in Marfa I saw other lights of a different nature in one of my own, very personal skies: the sky of literature. These lights were four houses built with the sole purpose of providing the most comfortable working conditions possible, so that writers from all over world can live there and work undisturbed.

Everything is provided in these very elegant and comfortable houses owned by The Lannan Foundation. When you make coffee…do you prefer filter, espresso, or would you rather mill your own beans? All three machines are to be found in the kitchen. If it is hot you can choose between air-conditioning or fans. What about privacy? Well, you can invite friends at any time for dinner or for a party. Your partner can also visit you if this is necessary for your inspiration or concentration. Any questions or problems to solve? The Lannan people in Marfa are always ready to assist you. I could go on for a long time describing the many facilities designed to ensure your comfort.

Furthermore the use of the houses, the return plane tickets and a rental car during the entire residency period are all absolutely free of charge for the invited writers. And a stipend calculated on a daily basis will prevent you from overburdening your personal economy.

Apart from a one page report about your work during the residency, you will not be asked anything in return. You will not even be asked – as is the case with the majority of art benefactors – to acknowledge the Lannan Foundation in your book. And be assured: these lines are written absolutely on my own initiative.

These houses are bright lights in an otherwise dark sky. Because, strange though it may seem, in many cultural institutions related to literary production there exist certain old fashioned, sometimes reactionary, conceptions regarding the needs and working conditions of a writer. Probably the worst is the association of creative writing with ascetic, uncomfortable poverty. Comfort corrupts the production of good literature. Or: writing is not really work, it may even be a source of joy or some kind of pleasure, and it must under no circumstances be rewarded with the least of comforts. This misconception is widespread within both private and state owned residency programs. These benefactors seem to feel a holy obligation to offer no more than a small room with a bed, a chair and a table and, all too often, a shared bath and restroom at the end of a long corridor. Yes… the working place of a writer must look like a prison cell or a monastery cave.

An illustrative anecdote: A poet friend of mine told me of her stay during the winter in one of Europe’s most-used residency centers. The cold at night was so extreme that she had to keep her laptop on her lap as a kind of heater – the only heater available. The nights were very long and cold while she wrote poems. Sometimes the writers came out of their rooms and took walks along the corridor, just to move and warm their bodies. This grotesque situation has been going on for some years and nobody in the administration section of this popular residency center seems willing to go to the bother of raising money for installing some kind of winter heating. In summary: writers are usually offered working and living conditions that other professionals, for instance business or sports professionals, would never be made to suffer.

Living and working for 6 weeks in one of the Marfa houses has been a refreshing experience. I have never before seen such a profound respect for the process of creating literature, or such a determined commitment to providing the best possible working conditions for a writer. There is no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of the residency programs of the world need to change their attitude… and could learn a lot from the Lannan Residency Program.

Rubén Palma

Author of The Trail We Leave

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