We are delighted to announce, in conjunction with the French Embassy, that Lili Sohn will be the 2027 French writer-in-residence at Randell Cottage. She was chosen from among 28 applicants by a French and NZ selection panel.

Lili’s arrival will mark the beginning of our twenty-fifth anniversary year. She will be the fiftieth Randell Cottage resident, dating from the inaugural writers in 2002, Peter Wells from New Zealand and Nadine Ribault from France.

Lili is the first graphic novelist to be selected for the residency. Her works have appeared with leading French and Franco-Belgian publishers such as Casterman and Delcourt.

Her project is an exciting, challenging and sensitive one: centring on the complexities surrounding the restitution of a tattooed head or toi moko found in a Rouen museum. Lili proposes to deepen her research for the project by consulting with Te Papa specialists and university academics.

Lili and family will join us from early January for a five-month stay. Her visit will include presentations to Alliance Française groups throughout the country, as well as to functions hosted by the Randell Cottage Writers Trust.