The Michael King Writers Centre Trust is looking forward to welcoming and hosting a diverse cohort of writers who, during their time in Devonport’s Signalman’s House, will work on an exciting and eclectic range of topics including: poetry that experiments with hybridity and is an exploration of trans language and poetic form, of territory and authority; a psychological, supernatural thriller that explores the impacts of loss and grief and examines the power of intuition and the emotional damage done when intuition is ignored; an allegorical, contemporary novel of trees, dance and kidnapping that uses a feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and a family’s struggle with a child in a coma to investigate western society’s rejection of the innate interconnectivity of nature. There are also essays that cover cultural collapse, abuse, violence, desire, morality, religion and Judaism, loss and death, class, feminism, love, film, socio-cultural phenomena, sub and counter-cultural movements, social and people’s movements.

This year’s selection panel had their work cut out for them with a high number of applications received again for the 19 residencies planned across 2022. There were 109 applicants totalling 522 individual applications across all of the available categories. A continuing trend is the high number of applicants in the emerging writers category. There is clearly a large and growing demand for developing writers to have an opportunity to retreat and work on their craft. This underpins our kaupapa of supporting grassroots growth in the literary sector.  

Established writers to receive residencies are: Ashleigh Young, Clare Moleta, Emma Espiner, Erik Kennedy, Gillian Candler, Mandy Hager, Michele Powles, Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith and Vana Manaisadis.

Emerging writers awarded a residency are: Anna Rankin, Claire Baylis, Faith Wilson, Madison Hamill, Matthew Packer, Rose Lu, Shriya Bhagwat, Sinead Overbye, Tara Black and Shilo Kino.

 ‘The selection panel was hugely impressed by the standard of writers and applications received for next year’s residencies at the Centre,’ says board of trustees Chair, Melanie Laville-Moore. ‘Alongside the high profile and familiar names, we’re equally delighted to be supporting so many emerging writers as they develop their craft and their writing careers’.

 All residencies are made possible with thanks to support from Creative New Zealand.