Mark Baumer Writing Residency
Pictured below is Lou Foust, one of our Fellowship recipients and some words after the experience:
Over this past week, I gained knowledge of myself, the planet, and my hopes for the future, and I cannot thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to do so. The cabin is a wonderful creative space because of its uniqueness, and I felt so welcome and productive there, writing my poetry, taking pictures and videos, and just getting out for some fun!
The more I hear about him, the more I wish I could have met Mark. I think we share many interests and passions, and in so many ways he seems like a part of me now. I have never felt so close to a stranger as I did this week.
On my first full day here, I drove to the beach and spent a couple of hours by the ocean, because somehow it felt like something I needed to do. The following is a poem I wrote after I got back from the beach.
Newcomb Hollow Beach
Lou Foust
By some coincidence, life led me back to my first shark sighting
So I run to the sand and take off my boots
Squeezing coarse grains in my toes
I lay back and bask in afternoon glow
The ocean’s dance is so enchanting
Her white waves and curves remind me of my privilege.
To be in her presence is to know an all-powerful. Calypso.
Her hand could nourish or drown me
Kill me, or be all that I need to survive
I go to her and her icy water laps at my toes,
Challenging and numbing them,
Still, the ocean calls me toward her.
What does it mean that sharks now come this far north?
When I see the blue-green ocean I think of her toughness, her strength,
She is ruthless and unyielding, yet she is still like a mother
Cracking boulders for the satisfaction of demonstrating her strength
yet gently wearing them to the small pebbles under my feet.
When I’m with her, I have no choice but to bend to her will
And I see there is some peace in giving up control
Sand whips at my numbing legs,
Its coarseness brushes my face and explores under my eyelids
I bow to her
and wait for her to wash it all away
When she comes to grab me I welcome her sand into my hair,
and her delicious salts into my mouth
But when the water reaches my shoulders, all my breath is taken away, and my being.
All that I am is cold.
But when I come up and gasp for air the ice-cold water is still warmer than before
The ocean roars in anger and pain, and I roar back for nothing but an answer
I whisper through the air, “let me drown or let me try to make it better.”
To me, this poem is a reminder to keep Mark, his mission, writing, and his philosophy very dear to me for the rest of my life. Thank you again, so so much for this opportunity. I hope that somehow our paths may cross again.
Sending lots of love and my gratitude,
Lou Foust
Pictured below is Tiffany Mi, another of our Fellowship recipients and some words after the experience:
Mark Baumer Writing Residency
Week in writer’s cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Wheaton College Undergrad/Brown University MFA Spring Break 2024 Residency
Description: The Mark Baumer Residency for Wheaton College Undergrad/Brown University MFA Students offers dedicated student writers attending either Wheaton College’s undergraduate writing program or Brown University’s MFA in Literary Arts program the opportunity to spend Spring Break 2024 free of charge in a house cabin conducive to creativity, on the outer Cape. Surrounded by the National Seashore beaches, ponds, woods and hiking trails, the student resident will have the opportunity to create in quiet seclusion.
The cabin includes: a writing space, a literature library, a printer, a kitchen, electric heating as well as a wood stove, a Nordic shower and a tree-level sleeping loft. Travel and meals are the responsibility of the resident.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/52232803?source_impression_id=p3_1689030062_uYHTHYyPX%2FSOQKL8
Mark Baumer was an innovative, experimental writer and poet, who was devoted to protecting our planet and furthering the good of humanity. An awareness of and affinity with his writing is encouraged (see his publications online, his blog and print publications, in particular his collection ‘The One on Earth: Selected Works by Mark Baumer’, available in paperback and audiobook, which won the Fence Modern Prize in Prose).
This writer’s retreat came about at the behest of Susannah Fulcher and her husband, Russell. They are owners of Sunshine House B & B in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.
Susannah attended Brown’s MFA program and met Mark in the fall of 2010, when he was entering his second year. Fulcher said that as a “34-year-old mother of a little girl and toddler, I felt lost. Mark was the human who made me feel welcome.” Susannah told Mark’s parents that she will always remember that first time I met him. “Mark had just returned from his first walk across America and he smiled at me and asked if I was one of the first-year students.” She mentioned how Mark spoke, generous with his time, “interested in learning about my situation.”
That experience with Mark—knowing him as a friend and fellow student—has stayed with her. “He had a way of seeing people for who they are, of encouraging others, humbly, to live their life authentically, no matter what that meant.”
The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund is grateful to the Fulcher’s generosity and for sponsoring a wonderful place for writers to come, experience the natural beauty of the Outer Cape area, with the hope that Mark’s vision as a writer will inspire them in their writing journey in the same way he inspired others through his life and commitment to the arts and the planet.
Our hope is that writers will be reminded, in Mark’s words, “this is the only opportunity we are ever going to have to live this life.”
Who was Mark Baumer?
Mark graduated in 2002 from Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine. He was an honor roll student and played baseball and hockey.
Mark went on to Wheaton College and played division III baseball. In 2005, he was named First Team All-New England, leading the Wheaton Lyons in home runs, RBIs, while batting .350. Mark’s senior season, the Lyons played in the 2006 Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin, losing in the finals.
In 2009, Mark was accepted into Brown University’s Masters of Fine Arts Program in Literary Arts. This was a life-changing event for Mark, allowing him to pursue poetry and performance art.
In 2010, Mark walked across America for the first time. He walked from Tybee Island, Georgia to Santa Monica Beach in California in 81 days. Prior to that, he had actually hitchhiked cross-country upon graduation from Wheaton with a high school friend during the summer of 2006.
In 2012 Mark began working at Brown University’s Rockefeller Library. He became involved in labor negotiations representing workers as part of the United Service & Allied Workers of Rhode Island as a union shop steward. He was also engaged in environmental activism and focused on social justice issues.
In 2015, he was won the Quarterly West Novella contest for his work Holiday Meat.
In 2016, Mark was awarded a poetry fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts. The fellowship allowed him to ask for and be granted an unpaid leave to walk across America to raise awareness about climate change.
Mark began his walk across America in early October 2016. Every day he would blog, post videos, and write poetry. He was killed shortly after chronically his 100th day on the road when he was struck by an SUV that veered onto the paved shoulder where he was legally walking. Mark was 33-years-old.
Mark seized every opportunity and maximized his all-too-short time on this earth.
It’s amazing how often we all forget this is the only opportunity we are ever going to have to live this life—Mark Baumer
For more information about the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund and the organizations we support:
https://markbaumersustainabilityfund.org/
The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund
Mark Baumer Writing Residency Program
Week in writer’s cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Wheaton College Undergrad/Brown University MFA Spring Break 2024 Residency Application
Application requirements:
- Applicants must be attending writing classes through Wheaton college’s undergraduate writing program or Brown University’s Literary Arts MFA program.
- Must fill out and sign the application form.
- Must include a writing sample (up to ten pages) and a personal statement including why you are applying for this residency, what project you are intending to work on, if and how you see connections between your writing and Mark Baumer’s experimental literary work and/or his life’s mission to raise awareness of the threat of climate change.
Applicant:
Name: _________________________________________________ DOB:
Address:
Phone Number: ___________________ Email:
College:
Major/Degree and Years Attending/Attended:
Published Writing:
Awards Received:
I acknowledge that, if I am chosen to receive a Mark Baumer Writing Residency, travel to and from Wellfleet, MA and all meals are my own responsibility.
I certify that the information I have provided is accurate.
If I receive this residency, I will:
Write a 500-word essay about my time spent in Wellfleet for the Mark Baumer Residency Program and allow a photo of myself to be taken.
I give permission to the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund to use my name, photo and essay for publicity purposes.
Applicant’s Signature: __________________________________________ Date:
Applications must be emailed to markbaumersustainabilityfund@gmail.com By November 30, 2023.Residency recipients will be notified on or before December 31, 2023.
The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund Announces
Mark Baumer Writing Residency
Week in writer’s cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Young Writers Fall/Winter Residency 2023
Description: The Mark Baumer Writing Residency Program offers working writers under the age of 35 the opportunity to spend one week free of charge in a tiny house cabin in the woods of Wellfleet, Cape Cod. Surrounded by the National Seashore beaches, ponds, woods and hiking trails, the resident will have the opportunity to write in quiet seclusion.
The cabin includes: a writing space, a literature library, a printer, a kitchen, electric heating as well as a wood stove, a Nordic shower and a tree-level sleeping loft. Travel and meals are the responsibility of the resident.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/52232803?source_impression_id=p3_1689030062_uYHTHYyPX%2FSOQKL8
The Mark Baumer Residency Program invites applications from writers under the age of 35, with at least one publication (can be online), who are actively establishing themselves as working artists. Mark Baumer was an innovative, experimental writer and poet, who was devoted to protecting our planet and furthering the good of humanity. An awareness of and affinity with his writing is encouraged (see his publications online, his blog and print publications, in particular his collection ‘The One on Earth: Selected Works by Mark Baumer’, available in paperback and audiobook, which won the Fence Modern Prize in Prose).
Exact dates of the residency are arranged with the chosen resident.
This writer’s retreat came about at the behest of Susannah Fulcher and her husband, Russell. They are owners of Sunshine House B & B in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on the Outer Cape.
Susannah attended Brown’s MFA program and met Mark in the fall of 2010, when he was entering his second year. Fulcher said that as a “34-year-old mother of a little girl and toddler, I felt lost. Mark was the human who made me feel welcome.” Susannah told Mark’s parents that she will always remember that first time I met him. “Mark had just returned from his first walk across America and he smiled at me and asked if I was one of the first-year students.” She mentioned how Mark spoke, generous with his time, “interested in learning about my situation.”
That experience with Mark—knowing him as a friend and fellow student—has stayed with her. “He had a way of seeing people for who they are, of encouraging others, humbly, to live their life authentically, no matter what that meant.
The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund is grateful to the Fulcher’s generosity and for providing a wonderful place for writers to come, experience the natural beauty of the Outer Cape area, and hope that Mark’s vision as a writer will inspire them in their writing journey in the same way he inspired others through his life and commitment to the arts and the planet.
Our hope is that writers will be reminded, in Mark’s words, “this is the only opportunity we are ever going to have to live this life.”
Who was Mark Baumer?
Mark graduated in 2002 from Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine. He was an honor roll student and played baseball and hockey.
Mark went on to Wheaton College and played division III baseball. In 2005, he was named First Team All-New England, leading the Wheaton Lyons in home runs, RBIs, while batting .350. Mark’s senior season, the Lyons played in the 2006 Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin, losing in the finals.
In 2009, Mark was accepted into Brown University’s Masters of Fine Arts Program in Literary Arts. This was a life changing event for Mark, allowing him to pursue poetry and performance art.
In 2010, Mark walked across America for the first time. He walked from Tybee Island, Georgia to Santa Monica Beach in California in 81 days. Prior to that, he had actually hitchhiked cross-country upon graduation from Wheaton with a high school friend during the summer of 2006.
In 2012 Mark began working at Brown University’s Rockefeller Library. He became involved in labor negotiations representing workers as part of the United Service & Allied Workers of Rhode Island as a union shop steward. He was also engaged in environmental activism and focused on social justice issues.
In 2015, he was won the Quarterly West Novella contest for his work Holiday Meat.
In 2016, Mark was awarded a poetry fellowship from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts. The fellowship allowed him to ask for and be granted an unpaid leave to walk across America to raise awareness about climate change.
Mark began his walk across America in early October 2016. Every day he would blog, post videos, and write poetry. He was killed shortly after chronically his 100th day on the road when he was struck by an SUV that veered onto the paved shoulder where he was legally walking. Mark was 33-years-old.
Mark seized every opportunity and maximized his all-too-short time on this earth.
It’s amazing how often we all forget this is the only opportunity we are ever going to have to live this life—Mark Baumer
For more information about the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund and the organizations we support:
https://markbaumersustainabilityfund.org/
The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund
Mark Baumer Writing Residency Program
Week in writer’s cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Young Writers Fall/Winter 2023 Residency Application
Application requirements:
- Applicants must be working writers under the age of 35 with at least one publication.
- Must fill out and sign the application form.
- Must include a writing sample (up to ten pages) and a personal statement including why you are applying for this residency, what project you are intending to work on, if and how you see connections between your writing and Mark Baumer’s experimental literary work and/or his life’s mission to raise awareness of the threat of climate change.
Applicant:
Name: _________________________________________________ DOB:
Address:
Phone Number: ___________________ Email:
College:
Major/Degree and Years Attending/Attended:
Published Writing:
Awards Received:
I acknowledge that, if I am chosen to receive a Mark Baumer Writing Residency, travel to and from Wellfleet, MA and all meals are my own responsibility.
I certify that the information I have provided is accurate.
If I receive this residency, I will:
Write a 500-word essay about my time spent in Wellfleet for the Mark Baumer Residency Program and allow a photo of myself to be taken.
I give permission to the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund to use my name, photo, and essay for publicity purposes.
Applicant’s Signature: __________________________________________ Date:
Applications must be emailed to markbaumersustainabilityfund@gmail.com By August 31, 2023.
Residency recipients will be notified on or before September 24, 2023.