Twitchell Lake

ACW Announces 2015 Anne La Bastille Writer Residency Program

Twitchell Lake

The Adirondack Center for Writing is thrilled to announce that once again we will host our Anne La Bastille Writer Residency, this year a two week residency, from October 10-24, 2015.

For the second year ACW will offer an extraordinary opportunity for writers, a two week writing residency at the stunning Twitchell Lake Lodge. This residency will offer quiet space to work on your writing, and allow you to share that space with other writers. Be inspired by the gorgeous setting and a community of talented writers. This year they are excited to lengthen the program from one week to a full two week residency.

This residency was generously provided by the estate of Anne LaBastille who wrote books likeWoodswoman and Beyond Black Bear Lake from her cabin on Twitchell Lake.

The point of this residency is to provide space, time, and an inspiring landscape for regional and outside writers to work on their writing projects, a chance to unplug and connect with other writers, and to tap into your creative self. To that end, there will be no internet or cell-phone at the residency, which is housed at this beautiful property on Twitchell Lake. Rooms are single occupancy with private baths, food will be provided.

There is space for six writers, half of the spaces will be reserved for regional authors, and the other spaces will be open to writers from all over the world. They accept writers in any genre.

Submission guidelines and applications will be accepted via the online submission form at www.adirondackcenterforwriting.org , between April 15 and May 18. Late applications will not be considered. All applicants will be notified of the status of their application by July 20.

Anne LaBastille was a beloved Adirondack author who inspired a generation of naturalists, especially young women, with books like Woodswoman and its sequels, Beyond Black Bear Lake, Assignment: Wildlife, and Women and the Wilderness.

Anne was a contributing writer to the Sierra Club and National Geographicamong many others. Her work brought the destructive effects of acid rain and pollution into the public consciousness. She became a licensed New York State Guide in the 1970s and offered backpacking and canoe trips throughout the Adirondacks. Until shortly before her death in 2011, she lived part time at her cabin on Twitchell Lake.

She gave wilderness workshops and lectures for over forty years and served on many conservation organizations in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, including 17 years on the Board of Commissioners of the Adirondack Park Agency.

Her estate generously provides for ACW’s annual Residency Program at Twitchell Lake, carrying on Anne’s belief that “…the cabin is the wellspring, the source, the hub of my existence. It gives me tranquility, a closeness of nature and wildlife, good health and fitness, a sense of security, the opportunity for resourcefulness, reflection and creative thinking…”

A fund is being created at The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties to support and build this annual esidency program. Contributions,are greatly appreciated; please contact ACW at 518-354-2161 or the Foundation at 315-735-8212 for details.