Fellowship Lets Cartoonists Live in J.D. Salinger's Former Home

J.D. Salinger was a writer, not an artist—but according to TIME, cartoonists who feel an affinity with the Catcher in the Rye author can now apply for a month-long residency at Salinger’s former home in Cornish, New Hampshire, in February 2017.

The Cornish C.C.S. Residency Fellowship is offered by the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS), a two-year educational program in White River Junction, Vermont (about 16 miles away from Cornish) that focuses on comics and graphic novels. Their fellowship is “designed to create a focused and inspiring environment for cartoonists in order to create exceptional work,” CCS’s website states.

Around two years after Catcher in the Rye’s release, Salinger withdrew from the public eye. The author left his hometown of New York City and moved to rural Cornish, where he lived from 1953 until his death and produced works such as Franny and Zooey.

Salinger's home—which is now owned by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss—sits on 12 acres of land, and is tucked away at the end of a curving, mile-and-a-half-long dirt road. The chosen artist will live in a one-bedroom studio apartment over the garage (where Salinger once worked), complete with a kitchen, studio, and claw foot bathtub.

In addition to free lodging, the cartoonist will be provided with a $600 stipend, and the neighboring CCS will provide them with access to classrooms, a library, and a production lab. However, a word to the wise: The fellowship recipient will need a car with snow tires or 4-wheel drive.

Aside from creating new work, the artist is required to complete basic household chores like shoveling the walkway, and present a lecture at the CCS. Interested in throwing your hat in the ring? Applications are due November 1, 2016, and full details are available online.

[h/t TIME]

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