Saturday, October 20, 2007


RANDELL COTTAGE INSPIRES RESIDENT WRITER

Whiti Hereaka has plenty to show for her six months as writer in residence at Randell Cottage - a short story, a screenplay, and an almost completed second draft of her novel.

“I wrote every day,” she says. “I used the little outdoor writing studio, which is quite separate from the house.”

Surrounded by white boards and chapter summaries on small cards, Hereaka enjoyed having the freedom to look at her novel in more depth than would otherwise have been possible.

“It’s very quiet in the cottage,” she says. “At night you can hear moreporks.”

Although Hereaka thinks of herself as a playwright first and foremost, she was encouraged to write a novel by Huia publishers after winning an award for her first screenplay in 2005. The short story Hereaka also wrote while in the cottage, Olivia, was a finalist in this year’s Pikihuia awards.

“Olivia is related to my novel,” Hereaka says. “It’s about a woman whose husband is having an affair. Some of it is set in the Botanic Gardens, so it was very useful living so close by. I went there a lot - I took photos of the trees, as they’re quite important in the book.”

Randell Cottage, located in Thorndon, Wellington, hosts French and New Zealand writers alternately for six months at a time, with a monthly stipend of $2,500. New Caledonian poet, Nicolas Kurtovitch will take up residence at the cottage later this month.

Kurtovitch will be followed by a New Zealand writer, and applications close on 2 November for local writers interested in the residency for the period April to September 2008.

To find out more about the Randell Cottage residency, email: randell@writerstrust.co.nz, or visit http://www.randellcottage.co.nz/.

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