This year, 2012, the
Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writers Trust celebrates its tenth
anniversary.
Since 2002, the
historic Randell Cottage in Thorndon, Wellington, has been home to twenty
writers in residence - ten from France and ten from New Zealand. Each writer
has spent six months living and writing in the Cottage supported by the Trust
which works in partnership with Creative New Zealand, the Embassy of France,
and the New Zealand-France Friendship Fund.
The Trust hopes as
many of the writers as possible will be able to join in the tenth anniversary
events. Trustee Fiona Kidman says, ‘We want to celebrate what each writer has
brought to the cottage and what they’ve taken away, including their books - a
number in translation - and their literary successes. And we want to celebrate
the residency, and the cottage itself – all those words it played host to, all
those writers it held in its hands.’
The celebrations will
kick off on Tuesday 12 June at 7 pm with the AGM of the Friends of Randell
Cottage at the cottage itself, 14 St Mary Street. On Tuesday 26 June,
Wellington writer, Beverley Randell, whose family donated the cottage to the
Trust, will give talks there on its history and preservation. Archive books and
historical objects from the 1800s found under the cottage will be on display.
Talk 1 will be at 4.30-6.00 pm and Talk 2 at 6.30-8.00 pm. All
welcome. Entry is free, although a koha toward cottage maintenance would
be welcome. Email info@randellcottage.co.nz
to attend.
The festivities will
continue over three days in October starting with a special event on 4 October
at the Wai-te-Ata Press to mark both the Trust’s tenth anniversary and the
fiftieth anniversary of the Press. The reception will be jointly hosted by
Randell Cottage Writers Trust, the French Embassy and Wai-te-Ata Press and will
include the launch of Gnossienne, a limited edition poetry collection by
former Randell writer Pat White, with artwork by Catherine Day, printed by
Wai-te-Ata.
Public readings by
Randell Cottage writers in residence will be held at the Wai-te-Ata Press on
Friday 5 October. On Saturday 6 October, the annual Randell Cottage Open
Day will be held from 11 am - 4 pm, followed by a Garden Party at the Cottage.
Pat White’s poetry and Catherine Day’s artwork will be on display at Wai-te-Ata
Press until late October when it will move to Aratoi in Masterton until
November 25.
This year’s New
Zealand writer in residence, the twenty-first author to live and work in the
cottage, is poet, novelist and script writer, Vivienne Plumb who arrives in
July. French author, Florence Cadier, has just returned to France after a
successful summer in the cottage when she finished the manuscript for a young
adult novel set in New Zealand.
For more information
on the history of the cottage and the residency go to www.randellcottage.co.nz
Randell Cottage Writers 2002-2012
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