Each year the park will choose either a poet or a prose writer for the residency. The 2012 Writer-in-Residence is poet Alice B. Fogel.

It was the desire of Mrs. Lilian Sandburg, when her family's North Carolina home became a unit of the National Park Service in 1968, that Connemara continue to be a place of inspiration for future generations of writers. With the support of the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara her idea was first implemented in 2010.

This program offers writers an opportunity to live and work at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. The three-week residency commences during March. Housing is offered in an historic cottage near the Sandburg Home, with a studio and stipend provided.  

As part of the program, writers will participate in three public programs, the first a welcome reception in their honor which includes a brief presentation describing their work. The second will be an outreach program to an audience of the writer's choice.  Writers will also attend the Student Poetry Contest reception honoring young writers in the region.  Writers will also donate one original piece of their work to the park's permanent museum collection, copyrights will remain with the writer.

This program is made possible through support from the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara.

For more information, contact the Education Coordinator at 828-693-4178.