A project that has helped our finest authors thrive for more than 20 years is threatened by the axing of state funding, writes Fiona Kidman.
In a small Wellington studio tucked away at the end of a cottage garden of herbs and old roses and shady native trees, can be found the portraits of 45 writers. They are the former residents of Randell Cottage, a property gifted by generous benefactors the Price-Randell family in 2001.
I was part of a group of writers who set out in the 1990s to find a property where a New Zealand writer could live in comfort with a guaranteed income for six months of the year. At the time, few residencies existed that supplied both accommodation and stipend. So far as I know, still no others provide accommodation for families as well.
Out of the blue, I was approached by an old friend, Beverley Price, who told me she, her now-late-husband Hugh, and their daughter Susan could supply a house, a beautifully restored worker’s cottage built in the 1860s by her great-grandfather William Randell for his family. It is in Thorndon, close to the Botanic Gardens, within walking distance of several major research facilities.
With Vincent O’Sullivan and a group of other writers, we formed the Randell Cottage Writers Trust and the first writer, Peter Wells, took up residence in 2002. He was followed by French writer Nadine Ribault, as during our search for a property, we had formed an alliance with the French Embassy. There was an element of the reciprocal with the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship that has meant so much to New Zealand writers. The French writer who comes each year is funded by the French government.
Creative New Zealand enthusiastically embraced our vision, and began to fund the New Zealand residency. It was known as the Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writing Fellowship. We could hardly believe our luck. Currently, each writer receives about $32,000.
It’s been an amazing journey, as they say. On the international side, French residents have illuminated our local literary scene and provided valuable connections with translators and publishing houses in Europe.
The New Zealand writers have included literary luminaries such as Witi Ihimaera, Owen Marshall, Stephanie Johnson, Whiti Hereaka, Tina Makereti and, returning to her homeland, Kirsty Gunn. Several of our writers have won Ockham awards since their residency and there have been numerous shortlistings. Several mid-career writers have achieved wider publication and acknowledgment since taking up the fellowship. The whole project is entirely supported by volunteers but the rewards for our time are immense.
All of this is now in danger of ending. The Randell Cottage residency is in crisis. Creative New Zealand announced late last year it would no longer fund it, apparently preferring newer residencies. Worse still, we are barred from applying again for three years.
In spite of this drastic news, we are committed to ensuring the cottage and its contribution to the arts and culture of Aotearoa New Zealand is preserved. To do this, we realise we must now look beyond government support for sponsorship of our fellowship. This would desirably carry the name of new funders.
We have some generously donated funds to keep the residency going this year, and we are constantly fundraising. As for the future, we are dancing as hard as we can.
Anyone with an interest in finding out more about Randell Cottage and supporting its future is invited to visit our website, randellcottage.co.nz
Much-awarded author Dame Fiona Kidman is a patron of the Randell Cottage Writers Trust.
