Pfister broadens its commitment to the arts with in-house storyteller

Everybody loves to people-watch. We do it in the grocery store, when we dine out, at concerts and festivals – anywhere a lot of folks we don’t know are gathered. And we love to tell our friends what we see. Great authors leverage their own natural abilities and their readers’ innate curiosity about the essence of otherness by using their observations to reveal larger truths about humanity. And now one of the city’s most interesting venues for passive voyeurism is joining the endeavor.

On the heels of the successful Artist in Residence program, the Pfister Hotel is holding an open call for its first-ever in-house storyteller. Called the Pfister Narrator, this is an opportunity for a talented writer to spend six months lurking about Milwaukee’s grand lady, interviewing guests and staff and opening a window to the world. Don’t look for dirt on the guests; that’s not the point of the exercise. Still, it could be a potentially fascinating read if scribed by a sufficiently insightful author. And no matter what, it seems an excellent opportunity for a local talent looking for a place to call home, at least temporarily.

The Pfister Narrator will work about ten hours a week and publish a minimum of two posts per week. In return, the author will receive $1,000 per month, which can be taken as a stipend, a scholarship for continuing education or as a donation to the charity of that person’s choice. And, like the Artist in Residence, the Narrator will park for free in the hotel’s ramp and dine in the hotel cafeteria. Not bad work if you can get it.

Know anyone who might be up to heading the inaugural voyage? Someone whose talents extend beyond blogging everything they had for lunch and into constructing an ongoing, nuanced narrative of the people and events that give life to a grand space, rich in history? Entries will be accepted through October 1, 2010, and the residency will commence shortly thereafter.

All applicants will submit an application form, current resume, 2-3 writing samples of recent work, a 200-word proposal, cover letter and two professional references to info@thepfisterhotel.com.

A review panel will review the applications and ultimately choose the Pfister Narrator. More information and the application form itself can be found at ThePfisterHotel.com/Pfister-Narrator.