Fulbright New Zealand and Creative New Zealand invite applications for the 2012 Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency, an award which offers a New Zealand writer of Pacific heritage the opportunity to work for three months on a creative writing project exploring Pacific identity, culture or history at the University of Hawai‘i. The project may be in any genre, but priority is given to works that focus on developing New Zealand literature in the genres of fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction (including biography, history, arts-related and cultural topics) and playwriting.
The residency is valued at NZ$30,000 and includes return airfares to Hawai‘i, accommodation costs and a monthly stipend. Previous recipients have included authors Sarona Aiono-Iosefa and Marisa Maepu, poet Tusiata Avia, playwrights Victor Rodger and Makerita Urale, and filmmakers Sima Urale and Toa Fraser. Hawai‘i has been identified as a strategic location for artists and is considered the hub of Pacific writing with numerous universities, library resources, networks, writers’ forums and publishers. It is also an important link to the mainland US and has a strong indigenous culture.
Last year’s writer-in-residence, Marisa Maepu, found Hawai‘i to be the perfect location for researching and writing her first novel, Sala ma Sina, the historical setting for which includes American Samoa during the turbulent decades of American administration leading up to and during World War One. “Hawai‘i is an ideal setting because of its thriving Pacific writing scene, its libraries, cultural institutions and networks. I spent time with many writers, artists and students from Hawai‘i and the United States,” Marisa says. “My Fulbright experience provided the conditions for inspiration and my imagination to flourish. I was sad when I left Hawai‘i, but my world was a lot bigger.”
This year’s Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency is available from August to November 2012. The deadline for applications is 5:00pm, Monday 2 April.
For further information see the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency award listing on our website or contact Makerita Urale at Creative New Zealand – [email protected] / (04) 498 0729