Michael King Writers' Centre - Last week for applications

Applications for the Michael King Writers’ Centre 2014 residency programme close in just a few days.  

There are four supported residencies in 2014, with stipends ranging from $8,000 to $30,000. The residencies are at the Michael King Writers’ Centre which is based in the Signalman’s House, a heritage villa on Takarunga Mt Victoria in Devonport.

The residency programme, which is open only to New Zealand writers, aims to support writers and promote the development of high-quality New Zealand writing. Previous resident writers include Eleanor Catton who wrote the final draft of her novel The Luminaries at the centre last year. The novel is on the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker Award.

Writers who are selected for the 2014 residencies receive free accommodation at the Michael King Writers’ Centre, use of the writer’s studio and a stipend:

·         Summer Residency, eight weeks from January 6, 2014 ($8,000)

·         Autumn Residency, eight weeks from March 10 ($8,000)

·         Maori Writer’s Residency, eight weeks from May 12 ($8,000)

·         The University of Auckland Residency, six months from mid-July 2014 ($30,000 stipend/salary)

The eight-week residencies are open to emerging or established writers, while the six-month residency offered in partnership with The University of Auckland is for an established author who may benefit from an academic environment. Writers must be working on a specific project in fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction or non-fiction. Writers who live in Auckland are welcome to apply. The residencies are offered with the assistance of Creative New Zealand.

Application forms and further information are available on the centre’s web site 

(www.writerscentre.org.nz) or from the centre.  Applications close on Friday October 4, 2013, and the selections are expected to be made in November.   

Twenty-six New Zealand writers have held residencies at the centre since 2005. The current writer in residence is novelist Sarah Laing. Writers who do not qualify for the supported residency programme are able to apply to be a visiting writer on a paying basis.

For further information, please call Karren Beanland, Manager:

Ph/fax:            445 8451 Mobile:            021 496 488 Email:  manager@writerscentre.org.nz