New Zealand China Friendship Society – Rewi Alley Fellowship
23 September 2024
Danyan Chen has been selected as the fifth Chinese writer to travel to Aotearoa for an eight week residency at the Michael King Writers Centre from
September to November.
Danyan is a renowned author known for her impactful contributions to both fiction and non-fiction, particularly focusing on youth and urban narratives in China and the overseas Chinese language community. Her works have been translated into multiple languages. She’s also a prominent travel book writer and has ventured into documentary filmmaking. In 2021, she directed a 93-minute documentary entitled Storage that investigates how to safely store collective memory. It made waves internationally with its premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. Many of her books have been recognised with awards and have achieved best seller status. Her novel Nine Lives earned prestigious literary awards in Europe, including the UNESCO Gold Medal for Tolerance Literature.
Danyan is a Cultural Director at the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Gardens, overseeing the rose garden recognised by the World Federation of Rose Societies as one of the world’s finest.
During her eight week residency Danyan will spend time researching and carrying out field surveys for her next works. These include looking at the migration history of Chinese roses, ancient gold mining routes and the history of Chinese labourers in New Zealand is also of interest as she is researching the overseas history of Chinese people.
Danyan is going to spend a week on a farm in Aotearoa and is also planning to immerse herself in learning about Māoritanga whilst here.
Later in her residency Danyan will head to Wellington to appear at Verb Literary Festival.
This opportunity is available through a partnership between the Michael King Writers Centre, the New Zealand China Friendship Society, the Shanghai Writers’ Association and the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
Previous writers to come to MKWC were Sun Wei; award winning novelist, former journalist and documentary filmmaker in 2019, Huo Yan in 2013; a young writing star from Beijing who took up the first Rewi Alley Fellowship. Acclaimed novelist Xiao Bai from Shanghai and Yin Jian Ling, a poet, essayist, novelist and literary critic, enjoyed the residency in 2015 and 2017. Alison Wong was the first New Zealand writer selected to join the international writers’ programme in Shanghai (2014), followed by Heidi North Bailey in 2016, Frances Edmond in 2018 and Melinda Syzmanik last year.
Michael King Writers Centre Chair, Melanee Winder, says that the exchange with China is an outstanding opportunity to strengthen the international ties and to broaden the diversity of experience enjoyed at the Signalman’s House. That in return a New Zealand writer is able to experience the same warm hospitality in Shanghai makes the programme all the more compelling’.
