Island to Island: Aotearoa to Scotland
Writers Residency Exchange
Verb Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-tara, Aotearoa New Zealand) and Moniack Mhor (Highlands, Scotland) are partnering to create a residency exchange in 2024. The purpose is to offer writers paid time to explore a new geography, a fresh environment to inspire their creative work; and to strengthen the relationship between our respective literatures and acknowledge the close ties that both countries have both historically and in a contemporary context.
Applications have closed for the 2024 residency exchange.
Meet our 2024 Island to Island: Aotearoa to Scotland Residents with Verb Wellington and Moniack Mhor
We are overjoyed to announce that essa may ranapiri and Jenni Fagan have been selected as the residents for the 2024 Island to Island residency exchange.
Moniack Mhor will welcome essa to Scotland in late August, where they will participate in the Edinburgh International Book Festival, meet with local writers from the Scottish Highlands and attend a micro-residency on the Isle of Skye, among many other exciting opportunities.
Verb Wellington will welcome Jenni Fagan to Aotearoa in late October, where she will have space in Te Whanganui-a-Tara to write, meet the local literary scene, attend a micro-residency on Kāpiti Island and participate in Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2024, alongside other activities to provide the best experience of New Zealand.
essa may ranapiri
essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa ki te Tonga, Te Arawa, Ngaati Puukeko, Clan Gunn) is a poet who lives on the whenua of Ngaati Wairere.
They have two collections of poetry ransack (2019) and ECHIDNA (2022) published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.
In 2023 ranapiri was the recipient of the Janet Frame Poetry Award and the inaugural Keri Hulme Award. They are co-editor of the literary journal Kupu Toi Takataapui with Michelle Rahurahu.
They have a great love for language, LAND BACK, and hot chips. They will write until they’re dead.
Photo credit to Kelly Joseph (Ngaati Maniapoto)
Jenni Fagan
Jenni Fagan is a poet, novelist and screenwriter, and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Jenni was selected as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists after the publication of her debut novel, The Panopticon (2012), which was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the James Tait Black Prize.
The Sunlight Pilgrims (2016), her second novel, was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award and the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award, and saw her win Scottish Author of the Year at the Herald Culture Awards.
In 2022, Polygon published her most recent novel, Hex, and The Bone Library, a new poetry collection written during her time as a Writer in Residence at the Dick Vet Bone Library.
Photo credit to Mihaela Bodlovic
Across islands and oceans — about the Island to Island residency exchange
Verb Wellington and Moniack Mhor have partnered for this new residency exchange for 2024 — Island to Island: Aotearoa to Scotland.
The purpose is to offer writers paid time to explore a new geography, a fresh environment to inspire their creative work; and to strengthen the relationship between our respective literatures and acknowledge the close ties that both countries have both historically and in a contemporary context.
In August-September, an Aotearoa writer will travel to Moniack Mhor for a three-week residency. The writer will also join the Edinburgh International Book Festival in late August, ahead of the residency period. Their stay will also include a micro-residency to Skye as a further opportunity to explore the idea of an island. During their stay, the Aotearoa writer will meet the Scottish writer.
In October-November, a Scottish writer will travel to Wellington for a three-week residency, including the Verb Readers & Writers Festival and a journey to Kāpiti Island. While in Wellington our Scottish writer will have opportunities to connect with the local literary community and meet our Aotearoa writer (again) to deepen the exchange.
The experience in Scotland with Moniack Mhor
The writer will begin their time with an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in late August (the final weekend of the festival) in an Island to Island event including the Scottish writer.
The writer will then travel to Moniack Mhor from Edinburgh to fulfil their residency. During this residency, they will connect with other visiting writers, including writers from the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Ukraine, Ireland, and the 2024 Jessie Kesson Fellow. The writer will also travel for a micro-residency to the Isle of Skye for two nights.
The Aotearoa writer may also give a workshop along with the Scottish writer to the Young Writers Café or a care-experienced young people group. There will also be the opportunity to take part in a live reading event to a Highland audience at Moniack’s Strawbale Studio at the end of the three-week residency.
The experience in Aotearoa New Zealand with Verb Wellington
The writer will travel to Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington to be in the city between 22 October - 11 November to live in a house accommodation. Verb Wellington will offer networking and hosting opportunities for the writer to meet the tight-knit local literary community.
The writer will also travel to Kāpiti Island for an overnight tour — a conservation project that has inspired artists for decades.
As part of the Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2024, the writer will be featured in an event alongside the Aotearoa Island to Island residency recipient.