Eight
French and New Zealand writers who’ve lived and worked in Thorndon’s historic
Randell Cottage are gathering to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the
writers’ residency this week in Wellington. They will attend a reception hosted
by the Randell Cottage Writers Trust, the French Embassy and Wai-te-ata Press;
and will read from their work in French and English on Friday October 5 from
1-2.15 pm at the Wai-te-ata Press Printery (under the Victoria University
library). All welcome.
The
Thursday evening reception includes the launch of Gnossienne, a collection
of poems and prints by Randell writer (2010) Pat White and artist
Catherine Day, published by Wai-te-ata Press on its 50th
birthday. After the public festivities, the writers will gather for an
afternoon tea at the cottage to swap notes on their time there.
They
range from the first resident writer, Peter Wells of Hawkes Bay, to the current
writer Vivienne Plumb of Auckland, and include Michael Harlow (Alexandra),
Whiti Hereaka (Wellington), Tim Corballis (Wellington), Nicolas Kurtovich (New
Caledonia), Jennifer Compton (Melbourne) and Pat White (Gladstone). Another
thirteen writers – mostly those living in France – have been unable to come the
distance but many have contributed to a small publication in French and English
being launched this week too.
Since
2002, the historic Randell Cottage in Thorndon, Wellington, has been home to
twenty-one writers from France and New Zealand. The twenty-second writer
(French) is to be announced this week arriving in January, and NZ writers are
being called upon to apply for the next NZ residency starting July 2013 with a
stipend that has been increased by $2,000 to $22,000. Go to www.randellcottage.co.nz
for details or email info@randellcottage.co.nz.
The deadline in November 2.
Trustee
Fiona Kidman says, ‘This week we want to celebrate what each writer has brought
to the cottage and what they’ve taken away, including their books - a number in
translation - and their literary successes. And we want to celebrate the
residency, and the cottage itself – all those words it’s played host to, all
those writers it held in its hands.’
The Randell
Cottage Writers Trust is supported by Creative New Zealand, the Embassy of
France, Wellington City Council and the New Zealand-France Friendship Fund. For
more information on the history of the cottage and the residency go to www.randellcottage.co.nz
No comments:
Post a Comment