 We are delighted to have Eleanor Catton as our current writer in residence. Eleanor, who holds the six-month University of Auckland residency, arrived in mid-July and has been hard at work ever since. She is completing her second novel The Luminaries which is due for publication next year, and then she plans to work on an ambitious trilogy for young adults. Ellie, who is from Wellington, is a very exciting young writer who is making a wonderful contribution to the local literary community while she is here. She has already done readings at several events and she has several more coming up. It is well worth taking the opportunity to hear her thoughtful and thought-provoking presentations. She will speak at an English department staff seminar on The Showing and The Telling: Voice and Style in Fictive Works on Wednesday September 26, 4.15 pm (Arts 1, Staff Common Room). All are welcome. She will also appear in conversation with novelist Emily Perkins at a Devonport Library Associates event on Thursday November 22. In October, Ellie will join the group of authors travelling to the Frankfurt Book Fair, where New Zealand is the guest of honour. MKWC chairman Sam Elworthy has written an article about the book fair, which is on our web site http://www.writerscentre.org.nz/news_events.php?rid=75 | Fundraising Upside Down |  Each year we try to do a fundraising event or activity to help cover some of our operating costs. This year we are lucky to be able to work with the Auckland Theatre Company on the staging of a one-night only performance of Arthur Meek’s wonderful play On the Upside Down of the World, directed by Colin McColl and featuring Laurel Devenie. It will be held at the Victoria Theatre in Devonport on Monday October 8 at 7.30 pm. The play was staged during the Auckland Arts Festival and in Wellington last year to great reviews, and will be on as part of the Nelson Arts Festival after its Devonport outing. It is a beautiful play based on the diaries of Lady Ann Martin, an early settler at Judges Bay in Auckland, which talk about her experiences with local Maori. This performance, part of the Auckland Heritage Festival, is one night only and the opportunity to see it might not come again soon. Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for students, available through the Michael King Writers’ Centre. Arthur Meek, at left, was our writer in residence in 2011. | Friends |
 Our wonderful Devonport Friends group is now being led by Lynn Dawson, following the decision by Ian Free to step down. The Friends play a huge role in the centre, providing valuable help with projects such as the garden, library, open afternoons, events and giving help or hospitality to our resident writers when it’s needed. Ian, who wields the meanest barbecue tongs in town, has made an enormous contribution to the centre over five or more years. We thank him for that, but we know he won’t be far away. Lynn brings great ideas, energy and enthusiasm to the Friends. We are always keen to have more people involved in the Friends group or as volunteers at the centre, so let me know if you are interested. A new project where we could use a hand is to research and build a data base of information about the television documentaries and films that Michael King made, with the goal of being able to screen his work. | | A precious gift from Barry Brickell | |
 Our dear friend and renowned clay artist Barry Brickell, from Driving Creek Railway in Coromandel, spent two months at the centre through the winter working on a range of writing projects. This was his third stay as a visiting writer and we love having him here. Barry has left some of his beautiful pottery at the centre, which is always much admired. This year he gave the centre this beautiful garden sculpture, featuring words from a poem by R.A.K. Mason. We plan to make a small pathway around the sculpture with pavers. Next year the Dowse Art Gallery in Lower Hutt will hold a major retrospective exhibition about Barry’s life and work. |
| What’s coming up | | - Eleanor Catton on The Showing and The Telling, University of Auckland, Arts 1, Staff Common Room (Room 583) on Wednesday September 26 at 4.15 pm.
- The Friends will host an open afternoon at the centre as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival on Sunday September 30, from 2 to 4 pm.
- On the Upside Down of the World at The Victoria Theatre, Monday October 8, 7.30 pm. Tickets on sale through the centre.
- Residential workshop on Writing Science at Vaughan Park from October 20 to 22.
- Poet Laureate and former resident Ian Wedde will do a reading at the opening of the Devonport Arts Festival, with former Poet Laureate Michele Leggott on Saturday November 17, 4 pm, at The Depot.
- The Friends will host an open afternoon at the centre as part of the Devonport Arts Festival on Sunday November 18, from 2 to 4 pm.
- Michele Leggott and guests will do a reading and discussion of her new work Wind and Weather which explores a family mystery and its connections with Devonport, at The Depot on Wednesday November 21, from 5.30 pm for 6 pm (free, but BYO drinks and nibbles).
- The Devonport Library Associates will feature Eleanor Catton and Emily Perkins in conversation on Thursday November 22 from 7.30 pm at the Devonport Library.
- The Friends are organising a performance of Playing Miss Haversham written and performed by actress Helen Moulder on Sunday November 25, at 4 pm, as part of the Devonport Arts Festival (venue to be decided). Tickets will be on sale through the centre.
- Launch of Signals, our new literary journal featuring the work of students who have taken part in the 2012 Young Writers’ Programme. This will be held on Saturday December 8 from 10am (venue to be decided).
| | News and notes |
- The wonderful Going West Festival is on this month. Check out the programme here.
- Creative NZ is calling for applications for the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship. It offers a residency of at least six months in Menton, France, and a stipend of NZ$75,000. Applications close on Friday September 21. Click for more information.
The University of Canterbury is also calling for applications for the Ursula Bethel Residency (applications close early October). Details here - The NZ Society of Authors and the Manukau Institute of Technology Creative Writing School are offering a one-day workshop in Newmarket on digital publishing, graphic novels, performance poetry and social media, on Saturday September 29. Click for details.
- The Victoria University of Wellington is calling for applications for its 2013 Writer in Residence. Applications close on September 30. Applications for the University of Waikato/CNZ Writer in Residence close on September 28. Massey University is offering a 12-week residency in 2013, starting late April, and applications close on November 2.
- Playmarket has launched Asian Ink, a new competition for NZ Asian writers.
They are looking for the best new and original work to workshop.
Submissions are due by September 28. http://www.playmarket.org.nz/asianink - Takahe magazine is running two competitions, one for poetry and one for essays in cultural
studies. The deadline for both is September 30. http://www.takahe.org.nz - Australian publication [untitled] is seeking short story submissions for issue six, due
out in early 2013. The maximum is 8,000 words, any genre. http://www.untitledonline.com.au - The 2012 Manhire Prize in Creative Science Writing is open for entries until October 5.
This competition is run by the Royal Society of New Zealand in partnership with the
International Institute of Modern Letters to encourage and improve the science communication
through popular science writing. Full details are available at
http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/programmes/competitions/manhire-prize/2012-information/ - The international New Writer annual prose and poetry competition closes on November 30. There is a fee for entry. http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm The international New Writer annual prose and poetry competition closes on November 0. There is a fee for entry
. http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm - Remember Margaret Mahy by clicking on this link
| The Michael King Writers' Studio Trust wishes to thank its supporters and partners, including the Auckland Council, Creative New Zealand, the Lion Foundation, the ASB Community Trust, the Joyce Fisher Charitable Trust and Deloitte. | |
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We are currently calling for applications for our residency programme in 2013. There will be four supported residencies at the centre: three eight-week residencies, each with a stipend of $8,000, and one six-month residency offered in partnership with The University of Auckland, with a stipend/salary of $30,000. Applications close on Friday October 12. Details and application forms are available from the centre or from our web site. http://www.writerscentre.org.nz/supported.php. Please spread the word among your friends and colleagues. Our supported writers’ residency programme is offered thanks to funding from Creative New Zealand. Those who don’t qualify are welcome to apply to stay as a visiting writer at our very modest rates. See http://www.writerscentre.org.nz/accommodation.php
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