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Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship

The Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship Program at Akademie Schloss Solitude

The Jean-Jacques Rousseau fellowship program, founded in 2011, was established in order to provide authors of both sexes with financial support in emergency situations of all kinds, be it political, economic or other difficulties. It is hoped that the fellowship will allow them to pursue their literary activities in improved conditions. The program is being sponsored by a citizen of Stuttgart who wishes to promote contemporary literature with this unique fellowship and prefers not to be named.

Selection procedure

It is not possible to apply for this fellowship.

Selection approach: Each year, the Akademie asks a dozen intermediaries from its international network to submit names of authors they consider in need of support on the grounds cited above. Here, the focus is placed both on the urgency of these individuals’ emergency situations and their qualitative literary talent.

The search for suitable candidates may be limited to a specific country at the discretion of both the sponsor and Akademie Schloss Solitude.

Each year, fellowship decisions are taken by a jury of three, consisting of the sponsor, a representative of Akademie Schloss Solitude and an external member, currently Dr. Florian Höllerer, Director of the Literaturhaus Stuttgart.

Fellowship amount

The working fellowship consists of a financial allowance, and is not necessarily linked to a residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude. Both the fellowship amount and the length of any residency at the Akademie, if desired, will be determined by the jury on an individual basis. The fellowships awarded to date amount to between € 2,000 and € 5,000.

Special fellowship

In the past, Akademie Schloss Solitude has discovered that some radical emergency situations which develop at lightning speed also demand a rapid, non-bureaucratic response. As a result, a fund for short-term decisions has been established in addition to the regular Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellowship, which can be used for particularly acute cases.

Why call a fellowship after Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

Exiled, censored and ostracized, the life of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), who paved the way for the French Revolution, was riddled with calamity and failure. His literary and philosophical œuvre champions man’s liberation as vociferously as it makes exclusion from an earthly paradise an inevitable constant.

Last but not least, Schloss Solitude owes its name and function as a place pioneering a return to nature to the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose principal works »L’Emile« and »Du Contrat Social« were published in 1762, i.e. in the year of Solitude’s foundation. After all, Rousseau was no stranger at the Württemberg court, and carried on a long and lively correspondence with Louis Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, the brother and successor of Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. With this fellowship program, which aims to alleviate emergency situations experienced by contemporary authors, Akademie Schloss Solitude continues the tradition of enlightenment to which it has dedicated itself since its foundation.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2011:

  • Luis Chaves, author, San Jose/Costa Rica
  • Angelica Freitas, author, Laranjal/Brazil
  • Qassim Haddad, lyric poet, Bahrain; the fellowship is linked to a 4-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (February to May 2012)
  • Simone Kornappel, author, Berlin/Germany
  • Christophe Marchand-Kiss, author, Paris/France

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2012:

  • Nguyen Bich Lan, author and translator, Hanoi/Vietnam
  • Sahar Mandour, author, Beirut/Lebanon
  • Giedre Kazlauskaite, author, Vilnius/Lithuania
  • Andrei Ruse, author, Bucharest/Romania; the fellowship is linked to a 2-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (autumn 2012) 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2013:

  • Radu Aldulescu, author, Bucharest/Romania; the fellowship is linked to a 3-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (October to December 2013)
  • Isaac Otidi Amuke, author, Nairobi/Kenya
  • Wingston Gónzalez, author, Guatemala
  • Brian James, author, Sierra Leone
  • Samira Negrouche, author, Algeria
  • André & Nathan Trantraal, graphic novelists and authors, South Africa

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2014:

  • Rasha Abbas, journalist and author, Syria; the fellowship is linked to a 3-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (September to November 2014)
  • Kerstin Becker, author, lyric poet, and editor, Dresden/Germany
  • Lamija Begagić, author, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Germán Carrasco, lyric poet, Chile
  • Dolores Dorantes, lyric poet and journalist, Mexico and USA
  • Do Trong Khoi, author, Vietnam
  • Dimitri Kaufman, author, Israel; the fellowship is linked to a 1-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (February 2015)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2015:

  • Hamed F. Abboud, author, Syria/Austria
  • Catherine O'Brien, author, Dubiln/Ireland
  • Reza Ghassemi, author and musician, Paris/France
  • Ahmed Hilal, author, Syria/Turkey
  • Ivana Sajko, author, Zagreb/Croatia

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2016: 

  • Hamad Hilal, author, Syria
  • Lina Attalah, author and journalist, Egypt
  • Ahmad Zatari, author, journalist and translator, Egypt
  • Emad Al Ahmad, author, lyric poet and translator, Syria/Turkey
  • Marcella Morgan, author and lyric poet, Ireland
  • Freddy Sabimbona, playwright and theatre-maker, Burundi
  • Yasser Abu Shaqra, author and playwright, Palestine/Syria

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2017: 

  • Mayra Oyuela, author, Honduras
  • Farhaad Heidari Gooran, writer, editor and experimental filmmaker, Iran
  • Isar Aboumahboub, author, Iran
  • Fiona O’Rourke, author, Ireland
  • Dareen Tatour, poet, Palestine
  • Yigru Seltil (Florin Ionescu), author, Romania
  • Bogdan Coșa, author, Romania; the fellowship is linked to a 3-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude (Oct – Dec 2018)
  • Dan Naciu, author, Romania
  • Noor Dakerli, author, Syria
  • Mohamed Saeed, author, Syria
  • Doha Hassan, writer and reporter, Syria
  • Talal Bou Khader, freelance writer, Syria
  • Mohammad Masaad Asaad, author, Syria/Palestine

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Fellows 2018: 

  • Farhad Babaie, writer, Iran
  • Irina Bruma, poet, Romania
  • Ebru Nihan Celkan, playwright and writer, Turkey
    The fellowship includes a three-month stay at Akademie Schloss Solitude
    ​(Jan–March 2019)
  • Karin Karakasli, writer, poet and columnist, Turkey
  • Mirza Metin, writer and director, Turkey
  • Flávia Péret, writer, Brazil