Have you ever been to the cavernous circus tent that is the Mall of America and thought, “wow, I’m really moved to write some beautiful prose about this place?” Well, if you have, Mall of America will pay you to do it. Yes, MoA is looking for a writer in residence. No, I’m not kidding.
As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, America’s largest mall has announced it will pay one lucky writer to spend five days “deeply immersed in the Mall atmosphere while writing on-the-fly impressions in their own words.”
Shall I compare thee to a J.Crew? Thou art more lovely and more moderately priced.
Mall of America is located just a little south of Minneapolis, Minnesota and aside from having more than 400 stores and an indoor theme park, also has an attached hotel where the winner will sleep during their five-day excursion. The writer in residence will also receive a $400 gift card to buy food and drinks and “collect a generous honorarium for the sweat and tears they’ll put into their prose,” the mall said.
This isn’t the first time a business has appointed a writer in residence to raise brand awareness. Aside from Mall of America, Heathrow Airport in London and other companies have made use of a writing residency program.
The application is open to everyone, and a contest will be held to choose the winning writer. Twenty-five semifinalists will be selected and judged on creativity and skill, according to the contest rules. This application is open to anyone who wants to write—no professional experience needed.
“We’re not only looking for writing skill, but also creativity in your pitch,” the Mall of America press release says. “Heck, if you can make the assignment work as a musical-comedy screenplay, by all means make it so!”
There’s no business like mall business like no business I know. Everything about it is appealing, everything that foot traffic will allow!
The deadline to apply is March 10, and the writer will need to be available to take residence some time between June 10 and July 10, 2017.
Think you’ve got what it takes? Apply here.
An aspiring food and health writer, native Chicagoan, and nut butter enthusiast. Jessica is also the creator of BiteMeBlog, but don't call her a foodie More.
