CALLIOPE NICHOLAS IS THE Co-Director and Manager of Residency Programs at Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts. Located in New York’s Hudson Valley, specifically in Austerlitz, New York, Millay Arts is on the grounds of the home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of the world’s greatest writers and one of the first women to win the Pulitzer Prize. I want the writers listening to know more about this wonderful place, so listen in and read along as we discuss all about how and why to apply to a writing residency, and so much more.

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Marion: Welcome.

Calliope:  Thank you for having me, Marion.

Marion: Well, I’m delighted that you’re here. So let’s start with the who of this, Edna St. Vincent Millay, who preferred to be called Vincent, an early 20th century poet, playwright, and under another name, writer of prose, who was the first woman to win the Pulitzer for poetry. Her dates are 1892 to 1950. She was a feminist, a fabulous redhead, and was renowned for her readings. I’ve got recordings of those and they’re thunderous. So talk to me first a little bit about Vincent.

Calliope: She was a wild woman. I wish I’d been on the fly on the wall for the parties that she had up at her place on the weekends because she had all of the New York intelligentsia coming out and they would put on plays, and do that sort of thing as part of being houseguest. And she was one of the first to really have a cult following with poetry when she traveled by train throughout the 20s and 30s and 40s. And like you said, her voice, I mean, the readings that she gave had a huge following. It’s really interesting to listen to them if anybody wants to go to YouTube and try to pull up some of those archives. And she’s a fascinating person. And we really love having her as a reference for this retreat, this place to welcome in our writers.

Marion: Well, it’s a hallowed ground as far as I’m concerned. So let’s move on to the where of this.

Millay Arts is located at Steepletop, the former home of Edna Say Vincent Millay. It was founded in 1973 by Norma Millay Ellis, an artist and sister of Vincent. And it’s an artist residency, which I think a lot of people just don’t know what that is. So Norma initially, I think, invited her friends and others to come live and work in a small building on the estate, but you’ve since expanded the footprint.

And I know the place well, having visited many times, but how about you give those listening a sense of place, if you would?

Calliope: So as you said, it’s located, it’s up in East Australis, New York, on the top of the mountain, close to Harvey Mountain. And it’s on the former estate that Millay lived in where she died, Vincent died in 1950. And when she died, her sister Norma, who was a character on her own, started Millay Colony, as it was called at that time, in honor of her sister. And she lived in Millay’s house and Vincent’s house until 1986. So she started this whole thing. And yes, in the early years, Norma would handpick people to come up and invite them for dinner. And she had very strong opinions of art and writing and that sort of thing. And as we evolved after Norma died, we became more established and in ’97 built an another building.

So we have two buildings on the campus. So there’s actually two nonprofits up there at Steepletop. One is Millay Society, that are the caretakers for the legacy of Millay. And the other nonprofit is Millay Arts. And we’re the ones that hold a residency season there.

Marion: Ah, okay. That’s right. There are two experiences up there. And the mission of Millay Arts, as stated on the website, is that it quote, “Supports the work and creative process of multidisciplinary artists through a range of residencies that enrich lives and communities locally and globally.” And the way I understand it, basically a residency is a gift of time and space for creatives. So if you would, shed some light on who comes, what their needs are. I think a lot of the writers, and my audience is writers, think that they can’t do this. And so what is it that you grant here?

Calliope: So, we have around 1,500 applications that come in each year. And out of that, through the jury process, we choose around a little over 60 people to come to the residency.

Now this includes not only writers, but artists and composers as well. And once you go through the jury process, if you’re invited to a residency session, you’re given a bedroom, a studio of your own, a chef comes and does the food shopping and cooks dinners through the week. And this is all done at no cost for you.

We have a couple of different tiers as far as levels. That’s for our core residency, as we call it. We have another residency called the Steepletop residency, which is a paid residency, but that’s also vetted.

So I have, you know, seven disciplines of which most of them are writing. So it’s fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, poetry. And out of that, I have almost 21 jurors that go through all the applications through several rounds. And then they make the decisions to decide who they think would really be beneficial as far as the residency for the writer. And this is also a blind jury so that the jurors only have access to the work sample, to the writing sample, and to the artist statement as to why this person wishes to come to a residency.

Marion: Yeah. And so I was a juror there years ago, and I have to say it was a glorious experience with an enormous respect in the jury for, I was a nonfiction juror. And that’s where I fell in love with the process in terms of what you offer to people.

So let’s talk specifically for the writers listening, because now everybody’s got there, they’re actually listening. They’re thinking, wait a minute, so why should somebody do this? Or what is it that you give? I think people have a hard time imagining, you mean you’re going to feed and house me and let me write?

Calliope: Yes, with no distractions. I mean, it’s only recently that I was forced to put in Wi-Fi internet in the Steepletop barn, which is the main place that most of the writers will go into and into the main building. What we give them, I mean, our world is full of distractions. We are so, you know, everyone’s really busy. We’ve got our work. We’ve got everything that kind of pulls us away from our writing life. And this is an opportunity for them to come in and have this huge chunk of time.

The residency session lasts anywhere from two weeks to almost three and a half weeks to work, to interact with the others, and to basically tell the rest of the world that “I’m focused on this writing and I’ll come back to you at the end of my session.” So, I think what happens and what I’ve seen is that everybody comes in, the writers will come in with, “I’m going to do this. I’ve got this sort of schedule.” And then they kind of settle in to the place and they are inspired by Millay, by the beauty of the place, by the peacefulness of it. And they start to go through what I would call paradigm shifts. You know, things will bubble up to the surface that they didn’t expect, or they have conversations with other writers of other disciplines or the composer or the visual artist, and that sparks some inspiration.

And by the end of their session, they have made a huge time as far as being able to write and to focus on it, and come away with probably thinking in different directions for the writing that they didn’t expect.

Marion: Oh, it sounds divine. So what does a day look like? Are we talking about people silently being in their own spaces, in their rooms, writing, composing, sculpting, playwriting, you know, screenplay writing, and then coming together for communal meals? Is that mandatory? Do you not have to do that? Just give me a sense. I show up, I’m scared, I’ve got my laptop, and what happens to me?

Calliope: I hope you don’t show up scared.

Marion: Well, I’m scared because I have never had this luxury before.

Calliope: Right. And once you do, you’ll end up showing up to all the other residencies that you get invited to.

Marion: That’s what I hear.

Calliope: Yes. Yeah, we’re definitely as a retreat, a safe spot. And as far as residencies go, Millay arts is one of the older ones in the country. And we’re also probably one of the more casual ones. You know, the fact that you made it through the competitive application and jury system, and you’re here, basically, our feeling is that you can do whatever you’d like.

So each person gets their own studio, there’s nothing to be shared, they get their own bedroom, bathrooms are shared for the most part. But they have this time. And yes, you know, everyone to be quiet and very respectful. That’s part of the orientation when they come in on arrival day. And then in the evening, yes, there can be a social time, they tend to be drawn to that to get together to kind of discuss what they wrote, they’ll have open studios with each other if they want to. But we, as a directors, don’t come in and mandate this or make sure that everybody’s there for dinner, that sort of thing. So, you know, the number one thing rule that we have within this place is just respect, respect for each other, and seeing that everybody else is coming in from all over the world to come in and do the same thing that you’re doing. And within that respect, again, people can basically do what they would like to do during that time.

Marion: It’s so wonderful. And speaking of things to do, of course, I should have said that Steepletop and Millay Arts is in one of the most enchanted areas of America for writers. It’s not far away from the remarkable home of Edith Wharton, another one of America’s great writers. It’s an easy 90 minutes away from the home of Emily Dickinson. I triangulate everything through Edna or Vincent, and Edith and Emily, those are my three favorite. All of them were redheads, by the way, so I just really love that.

So there’s just this magnetic pull I have to this very creative part of the world. In the neighborhood is Tanglewood, the great summer music site, and Jacob’s Pillow, America’s oldest summer dance camp. And people who have not been to the Berkshires, Northwestern Connecticut, or New York’s eastern edge may not know the richness of the area, but you and I have lived here for a long time and share this geographic space. But I also know that you and I share a deep sense that art is here, that it’s not merely taking place in the large cities of the world, but in the upstates of every state, in the woods and in the mountains. So what do you think it is about Steepletop? Because it is magical. What is it, do you think?

Calliope: We’ve been around for almost 52 years now. I think the place collects the artistic energy of people that come in. And other people feel that when they come in. And I think there’s just this wellspring of inspiration of all these artists and writers that have come through, some of them that, you know, you would know if the name was given. But they’ve all been there and they’ve had this focus of their artistic energy. And I think it’s kind of been a magnet and a thing that kind of just builds up that energy. And it’s such a thing that others can come in and draw inspiration from it.

Not only from the legacy of Millay, but from the legacy of all these other people that have come through the doors. And on the studio door frames and bedroom door frames, when you first come in, you look, you see all these names of all the past writers who have been there. And it really kind of sends a chill up your back like, “Oh, I’m using this person’s room. I’m going to be in the same room writing as this person.”

So like you said, you know, it’s also the magic of the Berkshires and where we are. Upstate New York in this area is just an amazing place. And, you know, I go down to Montauk, and I’m from the city originally. And I see a lot of the writers who have been in these areas and they come up to this area. Some of them after they come in for a residency end up getting a second home. But they come up because they can feel how wonderful it is, because it is a rural, but it’s a beautiful area. And because we are surrounded by so many other cultural institutions. So I think a combination of all those things is what draws people.

Marion: And I think one of the unexpected things that people get and I’ve heard from so many of your alums is that they forge lifelong friendships, as well as professional relationships, and future collaborations there. So talk a little bit about that. I think the thing that writers think they need most is some attention. I would say that the thing that writers, and I work with writers all day long and I’m a writer, and I know that the thing that we need most is community.

And so talk to me a little bit about the community. I mean, you talked about the fact that nobody’s makes you do anything, but what have you witnessed, or what do you hope for in terms of the community offered at Millay Arts?

Calliope:  It’s interesting for me because I put together the schedule. So I run the juries. I send out all the notices to all of those who have been accepted. At that point is when I really start to look at people’s bios. And then I start to put together the schedule.

Our residency season runs April through November. And again, the sessions last anywhere from almost a month to two weeks. So when I’m putting together the schedule, I don’t know who these people are for the most part, but I really try to put it together in a way that there’s a diversity of genders and ages and backgrounds, and all of that, in hopes that when they get together, they’ll really connect with each other. And it’s worked really well for the most part.

I think having this diversity of backgrounds and everything else, and because it’s also, we accept anywhere between six to seven people. We do collaborations. So sometimes it’s eight within a group. So the group is pretty small, but they have a chance to really interact with each other during the evenings. And they just tend to gel together. And I also think having the different disciplines in there also enhances that.

So the collaborations have kind of naturally occurred, collaborations between writers and composer. As a matter of fact, I had a composer work with one of the writers has got a new book coming out. So he did a little interview that he needed to do. And they pulled out one of the chairs from Millay and the composer, who’s a sound engineer, end up setting it up and photography, you know, in the photograph for it. And it turned out really well. So, you know, there is a kind of a thing there that people, you know, start to trust each other. They form friendships, as you said, and they really work. They kind of get to know the other person so they can work with them. And we’ve had many cross discipline collaborations that have happened. So it’s been really fun just to kind of watch all these things and how they kind of manifest throughout the residency.

Marion: Yeah, I love that so much. And I always picture that what we get most at such an experience is the absence of misunderstanding. You know, you try to explain to your brother-in-law what you do for a living when you’re a poet, or memoir writer, or fiction writer.

And they say, “Oh, really, what’s your story about?” And, you know, within moments, their eyes have glazed over and they’re looking to get back to the canapes at the bar, or whatever. But when you’re with other people who are creatives, you’re speaking and sort of thrumming at the same level and speaking the same language. And that reassurance that there is a place for us in this world, and that we can have this conversation and that we can have a conversation with a composer that’s about how do you get the work done is so deeply valuable. I just love it.

Calliope: You’re absolutely right. You know, being able to walk into this space with other people who get you right away and who understand the process that you have to go to as an artist, which I include writers within that term. So that to me, I think is extremely invaluable. And one that, like you said, writing is a very isolating type of experience. So to be able to have this community, and even be in the writing studio and know that in the next studio over someone is doing the same thing as you, I think is really powerful and very validating for that person.

Marion: Yeah, I do too. So you have these different residencies that you walk through. You have your core residency, you have your partially subsidized two week to month long stays, you have the artist in residence. So are all of them on a rolling basis of admissions? Let’s get to the nitty gritty about how does one apply? Because now the writers are all leaning into their earbuds and listening to this as they’re walking or whatever, and they want to go home and apply. So when and how and what does it involve?

Calliope: So our application, we have an online application portal at our website.

Marion: I’ll put the link.

Calliope: Millayarts dot org. And it’s open now. The next deadline is October 1st for the April through July sessions in 2026. And I really worked to make it a clear application that you would apply to upload. We worked on that system. And once the October 1st deadline, actually we do have a late deadline with a little bit higher application fee for October 8th. Once those deadlines are passed, then I have my jury start to go through several rounds of the applications. And from there, decisions are made whether to invite this person to a residency.

And a lot of times I’ll have alumni also as part of the jury pool. And it’s always really interesting for them. They come back really appreciating being able to be part of that process because jurors have to make some difficult decisions on who to invite. And it’s not just the work that’s up to par and qualifying, but it’s also maybe this person has a talent and isn’t quite there, but the jurors can see what they’re aiming for and think having a residency and being among these other people, and having a chance to get away and just focus on their work would really elevate their writing and help them out. So we encourage emerging writers as well as those who are definitely more established.

Marion: That’s great. And you also, you provide, I understand, an environmentally friendly building using the principles of universal access and that the main house features an ADA accessible bedroom, studios, bathrooms, kitchen and shared living space that comfortably accommodates a range of physical abilities. So everybody is welcome.

Calliope: Yes.

Marion: That’s wonderful. And did you really say it’s free? Did you say that?

Calliope: For the core, yes, for the core.

Marion: I just want to repeat that. I think people think, Well, what’s the catch? So what’s your, are you dependent on grants funding and how’s that looking in America in 2025?

Calliope: So we have a combination of endowment, fellowships, partnerships. My co-director, Monika Burczyk, is great. She’s been out there chasing after the grants, working with partnerships. We have partnerships that have evolved over the years with some of the universities, including Colgate and Vassar and UPenn. So there’ll be funded residencies through them.

So it’s a combination of all those things. And then we’ve also started not too long ago what we call the Steepletop residency, which is a paid, the person would be paying for their time at Millay. But it’s been interesting because we’ve actually attracted a lot of professors, that sort of thing, that have been on sabbatical that want to take advantage of coming in. And a lot of them been able to get their university to fund them for that residency. So again, from the different levels, that’s basically how we have it set up.

But if you apply for the core residency and you are invited, you do get your room, food and the dinners and the studio at no cost to you, except you would pay for incidentals and travel to and from Millay. We feel good that we’re able to accommodate those people in that way, because that’s changing a lot. And of course, with the funding issues and everything else, we lost our NEA funding like everybody else did. Luckily for us, we don’t depend on them as heavily as some of the other nonprofits. So that’s been fine for us. But in this environment right now, having this retreat and having this available to people, we’ve seen has gotten even more important.

Marion: Yeah, that’s it. I’ve been so worried about the places I love. My favorite place on earth is any writer’s house, any writer’s place. I do believe in all of that energy. I am someone who makes the trek to Edith Wharton’s house regularly. I go to Emily Dickinson’s house at least once a year.

And I feel that energy. But everybody’s losing their funding. And I’m delighted to hear that you’re not as vulnerable. That was wonderful and very insightful of all of you to get yourself an endowment. I’m sure you’re not serving champagne with dinner, but let’s be honest, these are tough times and particularly tough times for places like this that are wildly misunderstood. What do you think is the greatest benefit to the writers as they show up there, to the composers, to the artists? Let’s talk about the unexpected benefit. What do you see as something that people say, “Oh, I didn’t expect that.” What is it for you?

Calliope: I think the biggest thing that writers are surprised by, the kind of shifts that they have in their writing and their thinking, and how their story is going to evolve because they do have this chunk of time, and they can say to the rest of the world, the internet’s a little iffy up there, which it’s not, but they can say, “I’m not around, cell phone service is spotty up here.”

I encourage them to say that because having this chunk of time, most of us as writers have to piecemeal it between life and work and everything else. And here you can say, “This is all I’m going to do is just focus on my writing.” And I think it really makes a huge change in what they’re working on and how the story ends up coming out by the end of the month. I’ve even had writers who’ve ended up going into other writing disciplines. The fiction writer ends up trying poetry after speaking with one of the poets there, and they end up going cross-discipline themselves as far as trying other things because they have that generosity of time to be able to think about it and to ruminate and to do that.

Marion: Well, I can’t thank you enough for being there. I know that it’s 20 years, right? You’ve been there?

Calliope: Twenty years, yeah.

Marion: Congratulations on that. And thank you for every writer that you have said yes to. And I hope that everyone listening to this feels that they can engage in this kind of retreat to get the work done. Thank you, Calliope. It’s a joy to reconnect and to hear about this. And we’ll put all the links in so that everybody can apply. Thank you so much.

Calliope: Excellent. Thank you for doing this, Marion, for all the work you’re doing. And it’s a pleasure. You know, it’s a pleasure working at Millay, get to meet all the coolest people on the planet. It’s a beautiful area. And I highly recommend people applying. And I wish everyone luck and wish everyone the best in their writing and their artistic endeavors.

Marion: Thank you. I’ve been talking to Calliope Nicholas, Co-Director and Manager of Residency Programs at Millay Arts. Millay Arts is located on the site of Steepletop, the former home of Edna St. Vincent Millay in Austerlitz, New York. See more on Millay Arts at their website, Millayarts dot org. I’m Marion Roach Smith, and you’ve been listening to QWERTY. QWERTY is produced by Overit Studios in Albany, New York. Reach them at overit studios dot com. Our producer is Jacqueline Mignot. Our assistant is Lorna Bailey. Want more on the art and work of writing? Visit marion roach dot com, the home of The Memoir Project, where writers get their needs met through online classes in how to write memoir. And thanks for listening. Don’t forget to follow QWERTY wherever you get your podcasts and listen to it wherever you go. And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review. It helps others to find their way to their writing lives.

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