Applications for the 2024 Kaipukahu University of Waikato Writer in Residence are open

Posted: Friday Sep 29, 2023

Applications close Friday 10 November 2023

Each year the University of Waikato invites applications for the position of Writer in Residence, tenable for twelve months from early January. The position is jointly funded by the University of Waikato and Creative New Zealand. It is open to poets, novelists, short story writers, dramatists, and writers of serious non-fiction. The appointment is made on the basis of a record of publications of high quality, and on the strength of the residency proposal.

There are no teaching or lecturing duties attached to the award, the sole purpose of which is to give the Writer the freedom to write. It is expected the Writer will participate in the cultural life of the University

Our name: The late Ngāti Wairere elder Meto Hopa spoke of an ancient whare wānanga of Ngāti Wairere called Te Tiwhaopareiriwhare that stood on the ridge now known as Hillcrest Road, Hamilton East. According to Meto, the surrounding forest and swamp was called Kaipukahu for its abundance of foods – kai meaning food, and pukahu meaning abundant. Equally significant was the food for the soul, the food for the mind and the food for the heart spread and gathered at the whare wānanga Te Tiwhaopareiriwhare. The Kaipukahu University of Waikato residency for writers acknowledges the symbolism and mana of Kaipukahu, and the fact that the University of Waikato stands on the site of Te Tiwhaopareiriwhare.

Applications are to be made on the University of Waikato application form HERE

For more information, please contact Sarah Shieff (email sarah.shieff@waikato.ac.nz) or Catherine Chidgey (email catherine.chidgey@waikato.ac.nz)