The Košice Literary Residencies were established in 2021 as a residency programme in Košice for writers from Slovakia and the surrounding region. The residency is located in the Grosschmidt House (the residence of the famous Košice lawyer from the turn of the 19th and 20th century, Gejza Grosschmidt) on Mäsiarska Street in Košice. In this monumental complex, the residential programme is adjacent to the Museum of Sándor Marai, a famous writer born in Košice.
The programme of the Košice Literary Residency focuses on a wide range of genres and lines of contemporary literary work. Authors of prose, poetry, drama and experiment, essayists, publicists, translators and critics can apply for the residencies with their projects. During the first two years of the programme, authors and publicists such as Tomáš Hučko, Tímea Beck, Jakub Juhász and Mária Ferenčuhová, as well as screenwriters Barbora Námerová and Tereza Dodoková have completed literary residencies. In 2022, the programme hosted residencies of three Ukrainian authors (Olga Bizul, Katya Slonova, Oksana Savchenko) and expanded the residency space to include a literary office, a room for public events and a second residential apartment.
As a family-friendly space, the Residential Center also hosts male and female residents with children. The international level of the programme is confirmed by the launch of the Epic Residencies project, which, together with partner institutions in Norway and Iceland, organises residential exchanges between Slovak writers and Icelandic and Norwegian authors. In 2023, the programme will also start cooperation with the Czech Jiří Orten Prize and will provide a residency for the winner or runner-up of the prize.
The residential programme is run by the National Minorities Club, which has been operating in Košice since 1999. Its establishment was initiated by the City of Košice, representatives of various minorities and other organisations. The functions of the association include the coordination of events and activities of national minorities through their representatives in the Commission of National Minorities and the Commission of Culture of the Košice City Council. The club brings together 11 national minority communities from Košice and organises major city events each year, including the Evening of National Minorities. The club has also been running the Sándor Marai Memorial Room for over 15 years. Through its activities and presence on the cultural map of Košice, the Club emphasises and helps to preserve the multicultural and multiethnic character of the city of Košice. In recent years, the Club has expanded its mission by building a residential centre for literature.
