The stars must have aligned. Someone in one of my online groups asked if anyone knew of a list of residencies that both 1) charge no application fees and 2) charge no fees for participation. And I had a free chunk of time once I finished a bunch of deadlines. And I thought that I’d go through my records and maybe come up with just such a list.
If you have comments/corrections/additions to share, please let me know.
And remember that I routinely feature current fee-free residency calls in both the monthly newsletter The Practicing Writer 2.0 and the weekly Markets and Jobs posts on Practicing Writing.
Many thanks,
Erika
Links last checked/updated: April 2026
- (The) A-Frame Residency (for Canadian citizens/permanent residents)
- AIR – Artist in Residence Lower Austria
- (Edward F.) Albee Foundation Residencies
- Anderson Center Deaf Artists Residency Program (every other year)
- Anderson Center Jerome Early Career Artist Residency Program (for those from Minnesota or the five boroughs of New York City)
- Andrews Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Reflections Residency
- Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center Community Arts Artist-in-Residence Program
- Arthurdale Writers Residency
- Artist-in-Residence Program at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
- Artist-in-Residence Program at White Buffalo Land Trust
- Atmosphere Press Playa Flamingo Writing Residency in Costa Rica
- Badlands National Park Artist-in-Residence Program
- Bandelier National Monument Artist-in-Residence Program (currently “on hold”)
- Bellagio Center Residency Program
- Berlin Prize Fellowships
- Berton House Writers’ Retreat (for Canadian citizens/permanent residents)
- Bethany Arts Community Residencies
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Artist-in-Residence Program
- Bundanon Residencies
- Caldera Artists in Residence Program
- Camargo Foundation Core Program
- Casa Uno Residency
- (James) Castle House Residencies
- Centre Culturel Irlandais Residencies (for writers who are Irish citizens “or normally resident in Ireland”)
- Chapman House Writing Residency
- Château de Lavigny International Writers’ Residence
- (La) Colmena de Montserrat “Golden Egg Writing Residency”
- Cove Park Awarded Residencies
- Cromarty Arts Trust “In-Kind” Funded Residencies
- Denali National Park and Reserve Artist-in-Residence Program
- Fondation Jan Michalski Residencies for Writers
- Foundation House Artist Residency
- (Celia and Wally) Gilbert Artist-in-Residence Program
- Gladstone Library Writer in Residence Programme (“currently paused”)
- Green Box Artist in Residence Program
- Haig-Brown House Writer-in-Residence (for Canadians)
- Hawthornden Castle Residencies
- Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum Writer-in-Residence program (link is for 2026 residency)
- Hugo Burge Foundation Residencies
- Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Artist-in-Residence Program
- Institute for Advanced Study at Central European University (IAS CEU) Artist in Residence Program
- Interface (“where science meets art”)
- Isle Royale National Park Artist-in-Residence Program
- Jalama Canyon Ranch Artist-in-Residence
- (Patricia) Kailis International Writing Fellowship
- (Steve) Kemp Writer’s Residency
- Künstler*dorf Schöppingen Residencies
- Lanesboro BIPOC Artist Residency Program (for residents of Minnesota only)
- Lanesboro Early Career Artist Residency Program (for residents of Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City)
- Lerman Trust/Soaring Gardens Artists’ Residency
- (Nancy) Ludmerer Fellowship for Flash Fiction and Nonfiction (at the Porches Retreat; offered ONE fee-free application day, for the first 20 applicants, in March 2025).
- Martin House Creative Residency Program
- Mass MoCA Full Fellowships
- (The) Mastheads Writers’ Residencies
- Millay House Rockland Writing Residency
- “Miss Sarah” Fellowships for Black Women Writers
- Moniack Mhor Awards and Residencies
- (Carolyn) Moore Writing Residency
- Mountain AIR Program at WVU Libraries
- New York Mills Arts Retreat
- North Carolina Writers Network (NCWN) Weymouth Fellowship (“for North Carolina residents and/or members of the NC Writers’ Network”)
- Oak Spring Garden Foundation Interdisciplinary Residencies (check also the Eliza Moore Fellowship for Artistic Excellence)
- Open Doors Poetry Fellowship (at the Porches Retreat, for “first time, new visitors with one published collection”)
- Outpost Residency (“for creative writers of color from the United States and Latin America”)
- Ox-Bow Residencies
- Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Architecture (PMRCAA) Residency Program
- (The) Residency at Casa Gràcia
- Saari Residence (Finland)
- (Constance) Saltonstall Foundation Residencies (New York State residents only)
- Sangam House
- Shoals Marine Laboratory Artist-in-Residence Program
- (Marguerite and Lamar) Smith Fellowship for Writers
- Spruceton Inn Artist Residency
- (Wallace) Stegner House Residency (the “grant” program provides one free residency for a Canadian author)
- STK (Stephen and Tabitha King) Foundation Residencies
- Stomping Ground Creative Residency Program
- Studio Faire Residency Fellowships
- Sunny Point Artist-in-Residence Program
- Surel’s Place
- Tallgrass Artist Residency
- Västra Götaland Residency Scholarships (Sweden)
- Westerly Library and Wilcox Park Artist-in-Residence Program
- Writers on the Reef Residency