A new University of Pennsylvania writers residency program will offer an undergraduate from Penn’s writing community the time and space to hone his or her craft in the Pacific Northwest for a week during spring break.

Established by the Kelly Writers House at Penn and novelist, essayist and Penn alum Buzz Bissinger and his wife, Lisa Smith, the Clearman Cottage Writer’s Residency will be offered annually at Bissinger and Smith’s five-acre waterfront guest cottage in Washington state.

Bissinger is the author of numerous books, including Friday Night Lights and A Prayer for the City, and was a 2014 Kelly Writers House Fellow.  

“When Buzz visited as a Fellow last spring,” said Writers House Faculty Director Al Filreis, “he demonstrated once again what an intensely generous mentor of young writers he is. Now he and Lisa are taking the next generous step, and we are very grateful to them.”

The resident will work on a significant writing project, a novel, short stories, literary nonfiction, journalism, play, memoir, screenplay, song lyrics, etc., in the cottage’s idyllic setting on the Long Beach Peninsula in the southwest corner of Washington. Bissinger and Smith, who is a writer and producer, will be available for informal discussions of the creative process.

Located minutes from the Pacific Ocean, the cottage has a kitchen, room to write, Wi-Fi connection and other amenities. As part of the residency, domestic round-trip airfare, ground transportation, lodging and a stipend for meals will also provided.

The residency is open to currently matriculated Penn undergraduates. Information about the application process is available at http://writing.upenn.edu/wh/involved/awards/clearmanresidency/index.php.

The inaugural Clearman Cottage Writer’s Residency will take place March 7-15, 2015.