Jampolis Cottage (Nicola Davison)

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is launching a new residency program for writers on the shores of the Minas Basin.

The Jampolis Cottage Residency Program in Avonport, Nova Scotia, will be offered as four-week sponsored residencies for Nova Scotian writers that will include a $2,000 stipend as well as self-directed residencies of one- or two-week duration for which writers will pay an at-cost rate. The first residencies are expected to be offered in the summer of 2023 after repairs and accessibility updates are completed, the federation said in a release.

Jampolis Cottage, a 230-year-old Georgian house, was most recently the summer home of American scene and lighting designers Neil Peter Jampolis and Maritza Jane Reisman Jampolis. The Jampolis Living Trust offered the home to the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia in September 2021, and ownership was transferred to the federation at the end of December 2022.

“With residencies at the Jampolis Cottage, writers from Nova Scotia and beyond will have an opportunity to create great works of art that will enhance the literary landscape of our province,” federation president Sean Paul Bedell said in a statement. “We believe Jampolis Cottage will be transformative for our organization and the writers we serve.”