Jack Kerouac
The Kerouac Project Supports Writers Through Residency
And other programs that seek to enrich the greater Orlando community.
Moving On
After nearly twenty years of involvement, Geoff and I are stepping away from our leadership of the Kerouac Project. We began regularly attending events at the Kerouac House in 2003 and were soon involved helping in wherever way we could. Eventually, I ended up as a member of the board of directors where I served as the organization’s secretary and then to be president. Meanwhile, Geoff got involved helping with the residency program, and for the last eight years has served as residency director for the Kerouac Project, managing all aspects of the residency program. During this time the program has grown and become internationally recognized. While it has been challenging work at times, Geoff and I have both found contentment and a sense of personal fulfillment in our leadership roles at the Kerouac Project. However, we both feel that now is time for us to move on. There are other new challenges and interesting opportunities we want to explore together. As a result, at the end of November 2022, we will both no longer be leading the Kerouac Project.
We want to thank those of you who have supported us and the Kerouac Project over the years. We hope you will continue attending events at the Kerouac House.
Janna Benge
What’s happening at The Kerouac House
Current Resident Kerouac Writers
Fall
Jennifer Worley
Jennifer Worley is the author of Neon Girls: A Stripper’s Education in Protest and Power(HarperCollins, 2020), a memoir about her work as a peep-show dancer, union organizer, and instigator of the successful stripper takeover of San Francisco’s Lusty Lady Theater. For its exploration of sex, labor struggles, and feminism, Neon Girls was named an NPR…
Winter
Empty
There will be no writer-in-residence at the Kerouac House during the winter residency period.
Spring
Joy Baglio
Joy Baglio is a speculative-literary fiction writer living in Northampton, MA. Her short stories have appeared in journals such as The Missouri Review, Tin House, American Short Fiction, Conjunctions, The Iowa Review, Gulf Coast, TriQuarterly, and The Fairy Tale Review, among others, and she’s received scholarships, fellowships, and grants from The Elizabeth George Foundation, Yaddo,…
Summer
Dizz Tate
Dizz Tate is a fiction writer currently living in London, after growing up in Orlando. She has had short fiction published in The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, Dazed, and No Tokens Journal amongst others. She won the Bristol short story prize in 2018 and was long listed for the Sunday Times Short Story Award in…
Kerouac Project Residency Application
The Kerouac Project provides four residencies a year to writers of any stripe or age, living anywhere in the world. Each residency consists of approximately a three month stay in the cottage where Jack Kerouac wrote his novel Dharma Bums. Utilities and a food stipend of $1,000 are included. All you are required to do is work on your writing project and participate in three events while a resident—a Welcome Potluck dinner for you; a Final Reading of your work at the Kerouac House at the end of your residency; and give a public reading at Valencia College. Should you desire them, the Kerouac Project can also offer opportunities for you to participate in other readings around the community, lead workshops, and interact in other ways with the vibrant Central Florida literary community.
Due to the fact the 100-year-old Kerouac House needs to undergo repair and restoration, the house will be closed for our 2023–2024 residency year and perhaps longer. As a result, the Kerouac Project will not be accepting residency applications starting January 1, 2023.