Back on track: Checking in with Adriana Palanca
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Adriana Palanca at the hideout (Fall, 2026)
Writer Adriana Palanca joined us at The Hideout for a residency this fall from Montreal. We recently checked back in with Adriana to learn more about her time on PEI and her recent creative projects.
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Tell us more about the project you were working on at The Hideout. What were your goals and what did you accomplish?
I had started writing a novel in December 2025 and although I made good progress through the start of 2026, by summer, circumstances and responsibilities pulled me way off track.
My week at The Hideout was an opportunity to get back on track, to clean up the first six chapters and make them coherent, so that I had a solid foundation to keep building on.
And I did exactly that.
What does a regular creative practise look like for you?
Moments of focus when the words start flowing in, combined with walks and conversations that allow me to let go of what's been done, and create space for the next flood of words to come in.
“Having a self-directed residency also helped, because the more I am distracted or pulled in by what others are doing, the less work I get done.”
Why were you drawn to a residency at The Hideout?
I had always wanted to visit PEI, and a quiet, rural landscape is my ideal space for writing. Having a self-directed residency also helped, because the more I am distracted or pulled in by what others are doing, the less work I get done.
What were some of the highlights of your time on PEI?
Collecting shells on the red sand beach, Larkin Farms' chicken pot pie, the fat green birds with hot pink mullets that visited every day, how the rain shuffled the leaves in the trees
What projects are you working on next and where can folks find your work?
I am still working on the first draft of the novel, but have a few poems in progress. More of my words can be found on my website and on Instagram.
Adriana is a Montréal-based writer, poet and essayist who explores the connection between memory—both personal and collective—and how it manifests in our bodies and in our words. Her first poetry collection, With Your Teeth in My Heart, was launched in November 2025. She is currently working on a novel.
