Residents
2022
Phoebe Marmura
Phoebe Marmura was a resident at Oatmeal Creek from April to May of 2022. Phoebe is a writer and visual artist currently working on a a collection vignettes and stories that explore desire, femininity, lust, domestic adventure and reclusion
Oatmeal Creek allowed Phoebe the quiet and space to flush out existing stories, as well as write new pieces for her collection. The Texas landscape and heat inspired Phoebe’s stories, many of which are set in the rural and desolate spaces of America. Phoebe likes to create a rich visual and sensory world with her writing. The ranch style home where the residency took place, with its porch swing, large wooden desk, and four poster bed, were just as inspiring to her work as the walking trails and creek
Daniel Kuo
Daniel Kuo was a resident at Oatmeal Creek in March and April of 2022. His fiction explores characters who struggle for connection and closeness in a modern technological landscape. His work has appeared in Hyphen and SmokeLong Quarterly, received a Rin Kelly scholarship from the San Francisco Writers Grotto, and been longlisted for the Disquiet International Prize. During his time at Oatmeal Creek, Daniel worked on two short stories and began a novel. He greatly enjoyed the peaceful setting and solitude, his daily walks around the property, and the local animals and other wildlife who kept him company as he wrote and read outdoors.
Lola Milholland
I am a small food business owner, social practice artist , and writer who works at the intersection of food justice, cultural history, and ecology. My writing has been published by Gastronomica, Lucky Peach, Oregon Humanities, and the Edible Portland. A former editor for Edible Portland magazine, I live in Portland, Oregon, write a regular Substack newsletter called Group Living and run Umi Organic, a noodle company with a commitment to providing nutritious public school lunch.
Oatmeal Creek was exactly where I needed to be to finish most of the first draft of my first book, which will be released from Milkweed Editions in spring 2024. Group Living and Other Recipes is an intimate domestic portrait across two generations of communal living experiments in the United States, including stories of my personal experiences with group living interwoven with cultural history, recipes, and portraits of my family members and friends who are rethinking ideas of home and family.
My first week and a half at Oatmeal Creek was one of the most intense periods of writing I’ve ever experienced. With absolutely no distractions besides an adorable donkey and an occasional armadillo or emu, I was able to get more done than I had anticipated, which gave me time afterwards to explore the property and experience its character. I loved my time there. Oatmeal Creek property is just small enough to feel familiar and large enough to never lose its mystery. I learned how much solitude serves me in my writing, and at the same time, I never felt alone. The wild animals kept me amazing company, and I loved eating out of Kerrie’s garden.
2021
Caldwell Holden
Caldwell was a resident at Oatmeal Creek in April 2021. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a recent graduate of Bennington College, his work often explores how different worlds can reflect one another through echoes of theme and repetitions of circumstance. Oatmeal Creek’s unique landscape and peaceful setting further drove his interest in this concept and provided him with ample time and space to explore it through the revision of his novel in progress.
Caldwell’s writing appears in the Claremont Review, SHANTIH Journal, Stylo24, and 90.5 WESA where he worked as a Production Assistant in early 2020.
Alfredo Aguilar
Alfredo Aguilar was a resident at Oatmeal Creek during March 2021. While in residence he worked on poems that will comprise his second collection of poetry, which focuses on the increased militarization of the U.S./Mexico border during the nineties. The remote location allowed him the time and quiet to fully concentrate and make strides on this project. In addition, the trails and environment on the property inspired the beginnings of new poems largely dealing with nature and solitude.
2020
Susan Wyssen
Susan was a resident at Oatmeal Creek in March of 2020. A writer and artist, her work explores memory and American mythology, especially that of the agrarian West. Oatmeal Creek provided her the space and quiet to continue work on a series of female-centered, character-driven short stories.
Inspired by her frequent turns around the property, she began new work while at the residency, an exploration of human relationship with nature, the tendency to position nature as both aggressor and comforter, enemy and balm. She continues to explore these themes in her personal essays.
2019
Andrew Ranville
Andrew was the first resident in April–May of 2019. As cofounder and Director of the Rabbit Island Foundation—an artist residency located in Lake Superior, Michigan—Andrew’s time at Oatmeal Creek was instrumental in helping develop the Oatmeal Creek residency program. During this period he also wrote about the value of culture, diversity, and environmental responsibility in the context of rural spaces for several conferences and presentations.
Andrew’s interdisciplinary practice consists of expeditions, fieldwork, installations, sculptures, architectural interventions, photographs, and films that explore ideas related to landscape and community.