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[bookish101]

I am in the middle of a PhD. program in English.  My doctoral research in not in creative writing, but rather in an academic field, contemporary American fiction.  I have an idea for a novel project that would draw on what I'm learning from studying contemporary fiction, and would also build upon a story I wrote for my MA thesis, which was half creative half theoretical.  I would be interested in developing this project within the context of a postdoc, but I'm not sure how common they are for creative writing, and thus if my idea would even be feasible.  My initial searches on creative writing postdocs haven't turned up much, I've only come across one so far which was teaching focused.

In any event, I am thinking that I could probably draw up a fairly interesting proposal based on a combination of the academic and creative work I've done so far.  From what I understand about postdocs in general, this is what departments are looking for, that is, some new project that is significantly linked to previous research.  I am wondering if this is a possibility for a creative writing project though.  Do you think I can just draft up a proposal and begin shopping it around?  Would this be worthwhile?  Does it work this way?  Any advice or comments would be appreciated. 

[artsy_122]

Have you looked into residencies or retreats?  There are a lot of these for writers and artists.  They aren't quite the same as a post doc - but many are prestigious and would be another really good option.  Some are affiliated with universities - but a lot aren't. 

[jonesey]

The Wallace Stegner Fellowship isn't a post-doc, but it's a along the lines of what you're looking for.  Other schools have similar programs (Louisville comes to mind, as does Gettysburg). 

[mignon]

U of Wisconsin has what is essentially a CW postdoc. 

[august_leo]

The University of Iowa also has a writer's workshop. That program might be like what you want.

[jonesey]

The University of Iowa also has a writer's workshop. That program might be like what you want.

But that's an MFA program, not a post-doc.

[bookish101]

Yes Artsy 122 I have looked into retreats and residencies, and its something that does interest me.  However, since I am doing an academic PhD I feel that a postdoc may fit better with my profile...But those residencies could also be interesting to look at.

Thanks Mignon, Jonesy, and Leo for your suggestions.  Both the Wisconsin and Stegner fellowships sound interesting.  The Iowa degree, in spite of its prestige, is not really relevant for me as I already have an MA in English. 

I'm based in Canada, and that one postdoc I came across was at UBC...just wondering if anyone knows of any of these kinds of postdocs or fellowships outside North America?