Current writer-in-residence, Hinemoana Baker addressed an enthusiastic audience at the National Library on 21 November. In conversation with Trustee Francis Cooke, she spoke of her recent history in Berlin, her enjoyment of working on her new collection in Randell Cottage and engaging with locally-based writers, and the fun she had had creating a poem in response to the removal by persons unknown of a poster supporting Te Hīkoi mo te Tiriti, which she had put on the Cottage’s picket fence. Hinemoana read out the work, called Placard, Te Ahumairangi, written in the demanding Malaysian repetitive rhyming structure of a pantoum, to the delight of attendees.
French Cultural Counsellor, Eric Soulier described the new brand, Villa Antipode, that covers the four arts residencies supported by the French Government in New Zealand. He brought a nostalgic flavour to the occasion by sharing news of recent French lauréates, Amaury da Cunha, Caroline Laurent, Sedef Ecer and Julien Blanc-Gras. Eric launched a video recording of Julien at the Cottage, commissioned by the Embassy, which adds to the collective record of writers-in-residence and is available on Julien’s page.
The evening concluded with the drawing of book raffles, thanks to donations by Tina Makereti, Lynn Davidson, the Cuba Press and Unity Books Wellington.
