The Randell Cottage Writers Trust is delighted to announce that renowned author Dame Fiona Kidman has agreed to become one of its two Patrons, alongside the Ambassador of France to New Zealand, H.E. Laurence Beau.
Dame Fiona was a founding member of the Trust in 2001, together with the late Sir Vincent O’Sullivan, who was a Trust Patron at the time of his death in April 2024. She has been the face of the Trust’s recent widely-supported Boosted fundraising campaign for its annual Writing Fellowship.
The subject of a recent film documentary, The House Within, she will shortly launch her next publication, The Midnight Plane: Selected and New Poems.
Trust Chair Christine Hurley says, “We are very proud to welcome Dame Fiona to this honorary position. She will share the role of Patron with the French Ambassador, to reflect the two alternating Fellowships offered by the Trust in our heritage Cottage in Thorndon, Wellington. These residencies host mid-career writers from France and French territories for six months at a time, followed by the same period of stay for a New Zealander, rent-free and with stipends to meet their living costs. To date, the Cottage has hosted 46 writers whose works have attracted worldwide recognition.”
In 2024 Dame Fiona, as President of the Friends of Randell Cottage, led an active fundraising programme that culminated in ‘Raise the Roof’, an evening event in a packed auditorium in the National Library in Wellington. Chaired by Sir Stephen Kos, the programme of letters read aloud was a resounding success and holds promise for future midwinter events for the Friends and their supporters.
Dame Fiona subsequently passed the role of President to Acting President Ruth Jeffery and will stand down completely from the Friends’ Executive Committee at its Annual General Meeting on 20 May. She will then take up the formal position of Patron of the Randell Cottage Writers Trust, although her dedication to the cause of literary achievement in New Zealand will be undiminished and she will continue to make a practical contribution to the wider activities of the Trust and the Friends.
———————————————————————————————————
For further information on the work of the Trust see www.randellcottage.co.nz
