Applications are now open for one of New Zealand’s top writing residencies: the 2023 Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writers Fellowship. The fellowship comprises a generous stipend, funded by CNZ and currently set at $28,500, and six months’ rent-free accommodation in one of Wellington’s oldest heritage homes.

“We’re incredibly proud to be offering New Zealand writers an extended period of time to devote to their work, a generous stipend, a comfortable home for six months, a peaceful garden, and proximity to Wellington’s research institutions – and to be able to welcome our residents’ families and partners as well,” Trust chair Christine Hurley says.

The Trust is particularly interested in hearing from mid-career and Māori and Pasifika writers.

Built in Thorndon in 1867, the Cottage has been painstakingly restored and is close to the National Library, the Turnbull Library and National Archive. It’s provided a peaceful inner-city base for writers from a range of genres: novelists, poets, biographers…

The first New Zealand resident was Peter Wells, in 2002. He’s been followed by Tim Corballis, Michael Harlow, Renée, Beryl Fletcher, Whiti Hereaka, Jennifer Compton, Kirsty Gunn, Pat White, Peter Walker, Vivienne Plumb, Denis Welch, Tina Makereti, Witi Ihimaera, Owen Marshall, Stephanie Johnson, Stephen Daisley, James Norcliffe, Paddy Richardson, Michalia Arathimos, and Lynn Davidson. The current resident is Rose Lu..

The Randell Cottage Creative NZ Writer in Residence is selected by a Trust-appointed committee to work on an approved project. The deadline for applications is Friday, 4 November 2022. The successful applicant will be announced in December.

Application forms and further information can be found at HERE