At last, we can celebrate the return of our French writers in residence! After a two-year break because of Covid-19 border restrictions, Randell Cottage looks forward to welcoming a new French writer in 2023.

Check out the application details and criteria here. Applications close on 10 July 2022.

Founding trustee and Trustee Emerita, Dame Fiona Kidman, is a fervent supporter of literary exchanges between France and New Zealand, saying: “The annual Randell Cottage Writers residency has provided the opportunity for an esteemed French writer to live and work in New Zealand for the past twenty years. This has had immense cultural benefits for Wellington, and for the wider New Zealand writing community. We have developed close friendships and enhanced our understanding of each other’s cultures in deep and meaningful ways. These new friendships have often led to reciprocal visits to France by local writers and return visits from many of the French writers, so that it is a rich and ongoing connection.”