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Don't hesitate to contact us:

Coordination team Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature
Dr. Andrea Edel, Phillip Koban, Claudia Kramatschek, Stefan Kaumkötter
Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Heidelberg
Haspelgasse 12
69117 Heidelberg
Telefon +49 6221 58-33000

View on Dilsberg (Photo: Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis)

Artist’s Residence Dilsberg

Writer in Residence Program

The call for proposals for the artist residency 2024 is closed

An application for the 2024 artist residency was possible until September 17, as indicated below. Applications received after this date can unfortunately no longer be considered.
We thank you for your interest!
The next call for applications for the biennial residency program is expected in summer 2025.

About the programm

View from the castle on the Commandant’s House. Photo: Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis

Work Grant awarded by the "Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis e.V." in cooperation with Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature for authors from UNESCO Cities of Literature
in the “Commandant’s House Dilsberg”, at Dilsberg Fortress, in Neckargemünd (approximately 14 km from Heidelberg).
The building served as the Commandant’s quarters of the Dilsberg garrison in the 17th century. The former Commandant’s House was acquired 1996 and renovated by the Rhein-Neckar-District. Since then the "Commandant’s House Dilsberg" has been a center for the promotion of art and culture: exhibitions, chamber music concerts, open-air concerts, readings, symposia and discussion rounds enrich the cultural life of the region. Here, art, music, and literature grant holders find a creative work sphere.
The duration of the biennial scholarship is 3 months with residence obligation in the Commandant’s House Dilsberg.

Living room (Photo: Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis)
  • Candidates have the possibility to apply as team of two artists (grant holder and co-fellow) as 2 sleeping rooms are available (individual application is necessary).
  • The co-recipient should also have his/her own artistic expertise, which has not necessarily to be in the literary field (could be translation for instance, but also such as music, visual arts, performing arts, film, etc.).
  • Both artistic personalities have to demonstrate an artistic or interdisciplinary cooperation and should be personally well acquainted to each other. While the grant holder has to, it is not essential that the co-grantee is coming from a UNESCO City of Literature.
  • The co-grantee will be provided with the same financial resources as the grant holder.
  • The artists in residence share a kitchenette and a bathroom in the fully furnished apartment.
  • The apartment is unfortunately not accessible for disabled persons.

Benefits

Total value max. € 3,750 per person:

  • Subsistence allowance of € 1,350 per person (€ 15 per day)
  • Monthly allowance/pocket money of € 750 per person

Additional benefits

  • Travel allowance (international flights, economy class) of up to € 1,000
  • Public transportation ticket for the Rhine-Neckar public transport network (VRN) limited to the duration of the stay

Application requirements

Kitchenette (Photo: Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis)
  • Registered residence in a UNESCO City of literature (main grant holder)
  • Publication of at least one book (prose, essay, narration, poetry, etc.) by an official/independent publisher (main grant holder)
  • Good to very good knowledge of German and/or English language.
  • Willingness to participate in local literary life (Dilsberg or Heidelberg) e.g. talks with protagonist of the regional literary scene arranged by the grant donors.

How to apply

Please fill out completely the application form(s).

Optionally you can add:

  • Excerpt from one of your books (1500 – 3000 words) in German or English
  • Letter of recommendation

Please send in your application by e-mail until 17 September 2023 to
unesco.creative.city@heidelberg.de

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by e-mail or also by phone:
+49 6221 5833061  or
+49 6221 5833064

Selection Panel

The artist(s) are selected by the Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature office and the Board of Trustees of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis Cultural Foundation.

Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Signet City of Literature Heidelberg

Downloadable forms

Former Residency (Spring 2020/2022)

Judith Rossell, writer in residence 2020/22, on the Old Bridge in Heidelberg.

The Australian children's book author and illustrator Judith Rossell was the literature fellow of the Rhine-Neckar Cultural Foundation and the UNESCO City of Literature Heidelberg in 2020/2022. On 1 February 2020 she took up the three-month writer-in-residence at the Dilsberg Commandant's House. Due to the Covid-19-pandely she had to interrupt her residency and returned in spring 2022.

Author´s website: https://judithrossell.com/


Former Residency (Spring 2018)

Pippa Goldschmidt from Edinburgh has been the stipendiat in 2018, here on Heidelberg´s market square.

The author and PhD astrophysicist Pippa Goldschmidt from Edinburgh was the first joint literature fellow of the Kulturstiftung Rhein-Neckar-Kreis e.V. and Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature. On February 1, 2018, she had begun a three-month residency at Kommandantenhaus Dilsberg. 

Author´s website: https://www.pippagoldschmidt.co.uk/