Artist Residency | 2020 | Bucheon Residency | Project

2020 Artist Residency

Since its designation as a UNESCO City of Literature, Bucheon has been committed to promoting the mobility of writers and fostering international literary collaboration. As part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network's shared commitment to creativity, cultural diversity, and the exchange of ideas, Bucheon launched its Writer-in-Residence Program in 2020, following the example of other UNESCO Cities of Literature that host residency programs for writers and artists from across the network and beyond.
The Bucheon Residency Program is offered annually, providing writers, translators, and cartoonists with the time and space to pursue their creative work while engaging with the city's literary and cultural community.
The program aims to strengthen international exchange and communication, support the mobility of literary artists, and provide a creative and inspiring environment in which residents can develop their work. It also offers opportunities for visiting writers to introduce their work to Korean readers through public programs, workshops, and literary events.
Each year, Bucheon welcomes artists connected to member cities of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network to participate in the residency and experience the city's vibrant literary and cultural landscape.
The inaugural residents in 2020 were Rory Waterman from Nottingham, United Kingdom, and Jeff Noh from Montreal, Canada.

Jeff Noh

<Jeff Noh>

Jeff Noh is a writer based in Montreal. Born in Seoul, he grew up in New Jersey, New York, and Southern Alberta. He is a Ph.D. candidate in English Literature at McGill University and teaches English literature and writing at Dawson College and Concordia University.
He is currently working on a novel titled Patrimony. An excerpt from the novel, “Jikji,” was published in the Summer 2019 issue of Carte Blanche and was later included in Best Canadian Stories 2020, published in Canada and the United States in Fall 2020.

Rory Waterman

<Rory Waterman>

Rory Waterman is a poet, critic, and editor. He lives in Nottingham, where he teaches English and leads the MA in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.
His third full-length poetry collection, Sweet Nothings, was published by Carcanet in May 2020. His previous collections include Tonight the Summer’s Over (Carcanet, 2013), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation that was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Prize in 2014, and Sarajevo Roses (Carcanet, 2017), which was shortlisted for the Ledbury Forte Prize in 2019.

About the Bucheon Residency

Jeff Noh

“As I explore Bucheon’s thriving literary scene and rich history, I am continually reminded that displacement does not preclude affiliation and even belonging. Indeed, it’s precisely Bucheon’s diasporic character-its status as a “city of outsiders”- that makes it an inspiring place to explore questions fundamentally Korean in nature. It’s been a great honor to do this work through the residency.”

Rory Waterman

“Long into the future, I know I will close my eyes and again see Bucheon turn into a sea of flashing neon and yellow sparkles under a sinking golden sun from the pagoda atop Wonmisan. I have fallen in love with your special, close-knit city, and my poetry and my life have been invigorated by its people, aspect and perspectives.”