Chia-Chia Lin

Chia-Chia Lin is the author of The Unpassing (FSG 2019), which won the 2020 Clark Fiction Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critic Circle’s John Leonard Prize. She graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and her short stories and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, NewYorker.com, The New York Times, Zyzzyva, and more.

Did the retreat meet your expectations?

My retreat happened a year and a half into the pandemic, which was a time when all of my expectations of life were small and timid. But I had hopes, of course--mainly for productivity. And I am very happy to report that I was productive.

What was the most enjoyable aspect of your retreat?

I loved the view of the vineyards from the house, which was situated on the slope of a hill. I pulled a bench outside and spent a lot of time there with my laptop. My co-resident and I finished the writing day there with wine. We both have young kids, whom we have been ushering through this pandemic with little reserves in sanity and energy, so, really, all of it was enjoyable to the point of feeling like decadence: the writing, the time, the aloneness, the views, the wine, the chats, the recharge.

Did the vineyard setting inspire you and/or your writing? In what ways?

I sometimes think I write better with an expansive view--something that reaches beyond what you can see, and maybe prompts you to consider what's beyond the immediate. Hills and great big swaths of sky fit the bill. And the fog in the morning was whispery and alive. I wrote a bit of fog into a scene.

What did you work on during the retreat?

I got a restart on what will hopefully be my second novel after a long, painful pandemic pause.

What other activities did you do during the retreat?

We took a break to hike a nearby park, and we explored the downtown a little one evening. We also met up outside the tasting room with my editor, who happened to live nearby, and she brought lunch from a local spot. But mostly we just wrote, read, and talked, which was exactly as I wanted it to be.

Any tips or advice you think might be helpful for future residency applicants?

If you're a parent of young children or work full-time or have real-life obligations, consider this retreat! There just aren't that many residencies out there that are short, and this one is a gem. While I'm sure we would all love to hide in a castle to write for months, this retreat fits into real life and yet still feels like a break from real life.

If your retreat was a co-residency do you have any advice or tips for future applicants that wish to apply and work together?

The co-residency offering is a real opportunity, not only to write, but to be nourished by conversation, and/or to have a reader for your work if you're at the right stage for it. I'd choose someone whose approach to art you admire, who's reading and thinking about interesting things, and who might give you a kick in the pants, and for whom you might do the same.