Write-A-House is a new endeavor led by multi-faceted Detroit entrepreneur and novelist Toby Barlow to give homes to writers willing to relocate to Detroit that have been purchased  in Wayne County’s tax foreclosure auction. “It’s like a writer’s in residence program, but the writers get to keep the homes, forever.” A select few writers will be chosen by a committee is comprised of at least 50% Detroit writers, based on submitted applications and a piece of their work.  There is dynamic change on neighborhood, industrial, and corporate levels- in the arts, and real estate- and Barlow’s aim is to bring “in people who will become witnesses to that.  Barlow himself is author to two novels,  his most recent entitled Babayaga and his debut Sharp Teeth. Write-A-House will work to support a more vibrant literary arts community that lives at a grassroots level and helps Detroit’s neighborhoods.

Detroit is in crisis,” states Barlow, “but it’s also an opportunity.”

Write-A-House is working in conjunction with local non-profit organization Young Detroit Builders to renovate and reinvigorate these homes with the same “energy occurring in the city right now,” that Barlow hopes will inspire the homes’ future residents. Not only is this a unique long-term gift for the writers who move in, but money raised on the organization’s current indiegogo fundraiser will grant the youth contractors vocational training as well as contribute to neighborhood stabilization.

Interested? Apply now!

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