Writer Maxine Alterio Wins Seresin Landfall Residency 2013

Seresin Estate and Otago University Press are delighted to announce that the fifth recipient of the Seresin Landfall Residency is writer Maxine Alterio, who plans to use the Residency to work on her second collection of short stories Stories Bodies Tell which explores ‘the physical betrayal of bodies, the ramifications of something lost, and the emotional consequences that arise, not just for the protagonists, but also for those connected to them.’ 

The title story has already anthologised in Best New Zealand Fiction 3 edited by Fiona Kidman (Random House, 2006).

‘It’s a thrill and an honour to be awarded this residency, my first, which makes it doubly exciting. The timing of this gift is perfect for me.’

Maxine Alterio’s publications include: Live News and Other Stories (Steele Roberts, 2005), Ribbons of Grace (Penguin Books, 2007) and her most recent novel, Lives We Leave Behind (Penguin Books, 2012) written during the course of doing a PhD at the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University. The PhD also included a study that focused on the memoirs of First World War nurses.

Reviewing in the Otago Daily Times, Willie Campbell described Lives We Leave Behind as ‘a finely crafted novel that gives a depth of insight into human needs and responses in times of crisis’.  Alterio has also published a work of non-fiction Learning Through Storytelling in Higher Education: Using reflection and experience to improve learning (Kogan Press, UK, 2003).

‘I’m very grateful to Seresin Estate and Landfall/Otago University Press for the opportunity to concentrate fully on this writing project’ says Alterio. ‘I envisage few distractions during my six weeks in this remote and beautiful part of the South Island … since land and seascapes often appear almost as characters in my work, I expect aspects of Waterfall Bay will find their way into my writing during my stay and possibly long after I leave.’

Former residency winners

The inaugural Seresin Landfall Residency recipient was C.K. Stead in 2009, with an additional residency being made available that year to Jenna Shaw. The subsequent recipients have been:  Wystan Curnow, 2010; Serie Barford, 2011; and Pat White in 2012.