Julian Forrester

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Julian Forrester, the Programme Producer at Cove Park. This means I look for artists who will benefit from the residencies Cove Park offers each year. I also look for the money that this requires!

Cove Park has been running residencies for ten years now, for artists from Scotland and abroad, from all disciplines and from all career stages. They are designed to allow creative people the time, space and freedom to make new work and to find new ways of working.

What do you do for writers?

We offer four writers residencies here each year which are funded by the Scottish Arts Council. One is specifically for an international writer and lasts three months. Alongside this, we have three six-week opportunities exclusively for Scottish writers working in any creative medium. We are interested in providing them firstly with the conditions in which to write freely without any expectation of an outcome and secondly with an environment in which they will be inspired and influenced by other writers and, as important, by those working in other art forms.

That sounds fantastic, what kind of writing/writers are you looking for?

We are looking of course for talented people and do also consider quite carefully how much we think a writer will get from the programme: we are not a retreat and thus do not suit some people. We hope for a balance among the three writers: ideally a poet, a novelist and a playwright, each at a different career stage. But it will not be that simple: we are very open and hope for the unexpected!

What do you like most about working at Cove Park?

Giving people an opportunity that’s very hard to find elsewhere.

What’s the best piece of advice you have been given and why?

Enjoy the journey as the destination may disappoint.

What are you reading at the moment?

The last Rebus, Exit Music. I will miss the old toad.

Links:

www.covepark.org