2026 Camden Festival Residency

The Camden Festival of Poetry is pleased to announce the selection of the first Camden Festival Writer-in-Residence: Glenis Redmond, a poet and teaching artist from South Carolina. Applications were considered by a committee of jurors who unanimously chose Redmond for this inaugural honor. The residency includes a month-long stay at the Millay House in Rockland to work on a project during May.

Redmond will read poems during the Festival opening on Tuesday night, May 12th at the Camden Public Library, and offer a workshop during the Festival on Saturday morning May 16th. Redmond’s project proposal “It’s Written in the Name” is a poetic and curatorial exploration of Fountain Inn Colored High School in South Carolina—a Rosenwald School. Both of her parents, Johnny and Jeanette Redmond, attended and graduated from the school in 1954. Through tribute poetry, persona poems, African American poetic forms, and her own invented Afro-Carolina Quilt Stitch, she plans to document and amplify the cultural, civic, and educational legacy of this institution.

In her proposal she states: “In today’s climate—when African American history is being contested or erased—It’s Written in the Name stands as testimony, reclamation, and counter-memory. It models how poetry can function as both art and archive, restoring dignity and depth to lives nearly erased from the official record.”

Her workshop entitled “Tight Lines, Woven Lineage: Lucille Clifton’s Compression & Redmond’s Afro-Carolina Quilt Stitch”will be one of 5 workshops offered on Saturday morning, May 16th at the First Congregational Church in Camden.

Camden Festival Writer-in-Residence Info

DETAILS:

  • Applicants must be U.S. citizens, 21 years or older, not a resident of the state of Maine, and not enrolled in an educational program at the time of the residency.

  • The residency will take place in the month of May 2027 and is open to poets only. 

  • Submissions will open September 15, 2026 and close on November 30, 2026. Winner will be notified no later than January 15, 2027.

  • Acceptance will be made by the Camden Festival Residency Selection committee.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • Applicants to submit 10-12 pages of poetry. Works may be previously published or in process. 

  • Applicants to submit a proposal for a 2-hour workshop that they would be leading at the 2027 Camden Festival.

  • Applicants must submit a short statement about the poetry project they plan to work on and why they want this residency.

  • Applicants must submit their resume in a PDF format. 

Your accommodations include one-half of the “double house” (birthplace of Edna St. Vincent Millay) located at 198 Broadway in Rockland, Maine, a city that combines an historically significant working waterfront with a flourishing art scene. The duplex, built in 1891, provides a living/dining room, fully equipped kitchen, two bedrooms, a study, one and a half baths, WiFi, and off-street parking. A bicycle is available for your use. Food is not included but there are grocery and specialty stores nearby. If you aren’t driving here, we do recommend that you plan to rent a car to explore the area, pick up groceries, etc.