28 March 2023

The Michael King Writers Centre in association with the New Zealand China Friendship Society and the Shanghai Writers’ Association is pleased to announce the call for applications for a New Zealand writer to hold a residency in Shanghai.

The successful writer will receive accommodation in an inner-city apartment, a stipend for living expenses and return economy class air travel. Writers will take part in discussions and literary events as part of the programme. The residency is from 1 September to 31 October 2023 and is open to mid-career or established writers.

Applications close on Monday 24th April. For the application form and more details see: https://writerscentre.org.nz/application-shanghai-residency-2023/

Since the exchange began in 2013, three writers from Aotearoa have spent time in Shanghai and four Chinese writers have held a residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport, Auckland.

In 2018 Frances Edmond was the recipient of the exchange to Shanghai and she wrote ‘One cannot live in a place even for a short time without it becoming a part of the psyche, leaving its imprint on the essence of who you are. The opportunity provided by the Shanghai residency, the experience of living and writing in that enormous, vibrant, hospitable city is a rare gift, one to be treasured and always remembered’.

For more information on the exchange see Michael King Writers Centre Website.