The 2015 Robert Burns Fellow and University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence announced

The 2015 Robert Burns Fellow is acclaimed Wellington-based poet Louise Wallace (right). She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University, is the author of two books of poetry published by Victoria University Press, and her work has featured in both the 2011 anthology The Best of Best New Zealand Poems and this year’s Essential New Zealand Poems: Facing the Empty Page. She has previously taught creative writing at Massey University in Wellington, and also at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

A joint project will see children’s writers Jennifer Beck, from Auckland, and Robyn Belton, from Dunedin, take up the six-month University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence from 2 February – to 31 July, with Jennifer staying at the Robert Lord Writer’s Cottage for her three-month portion of the residency. Each year, Dunedin resident Nonnita Mann kindly provides the Cottage rent-free for this residency.