Robert Lord Writers Cottage 2020 residencies announced

Posted: Wednesday Jul 22, 2020

Canterbury flash fiction writer Sandra Arnold and Wairarapa children’s writer Di Batchelor have been awarded residencies at Dunedin’s Robert Lord Writers Cottage, and applications are currently invited for two further residencies at the cottage.

Sandra Arnold is an award-winning writer with a PhD in Creative Writing from Central Queensland University. She is the author of five books, most recently the flash fiction collection Soul Etchings (Retreat West Books, UK) and the novel The Ash, the Well and the Bluebell (Mākaro Press). While at the cottage she plans to complete a new collection of flash fiction titled Below Ground. She has received Creative New Zealand support for the project.

Di Batchelor is a children’s writer and cartoonist. She has published two volumes collecting her ‘Rachel’ cartoons, which ran for many years in the Wairarapa Midweek. Di plans to use her time at the cottage to write and illustrate a sequel to her children’s book Rhinehold the Mouse. She is also a keen mycologist and is looking forward to exploring the Otago region.

Applications for the New Zealand Young Writers Festival residency close Friday 31 July 2020. The four-week residency, supported by Creative New Zealand, offers a writer aged 18–35 accommodation and a stipend to write and participate in the NZ Young Writers Festival (24–27 September). For details see https://www.thebigidea.nz/work/223721-young-writer-in-residence.

Applications close 20 August 2020 for the 2021 Summer Writer in Residence, in association with University Book Shop (Otago). The six-week residency for an emerging writer, supported by the University of Otago Summer School programme, runs from January to February 2021. It includes an office and administrative support at the University Book Shop, as well as a stipend. See www.ubsotago.com/pick-me for details.

Current cottage resident Elena de Roo, University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence for 2020, is approaching the end of an unusual but productive stay. She arrived at the cottage only weeks before New Zealand went into level-four lockdown.

Chair Nonnita Rees says the Trust is delighted to offer not only its traditional rent-free residencies, for writers who wish to come to Dunedin and work on particular projects, but also these targeted residencies in partnership with other Dunedin organisations. “We are looking forward to welcoming Sandra and Di to the cottage, and excited that these residencies will bring two further writers to Dunedin City of Literature.”