New Zealand’s National Writer-Residency Organisation Announces Its 2025 International Residency With China

The Michael King Writers Centre in association with the Shanghai Writers’ Association is pleased to announce the call for applications for a New Zealand writer to hold a residency in Shanghai.

The successful writer will receive accommodation in an inner-city apartment, a stipend towards living expenses and return economy class air travel. Writers will take part in discussions and literary events as part of the programme. The residency is from 1 September to 31 October 2025 and is open to mid-career or established writers.

Applications close on Monday 31 March. For the application form and more details see: https://writerscentre.org.nz/application-shanghai-residency-2025/

Since the exchange began in 2013, four writers from Aotearoa have spent time in Shanghai and five Chinese writers have held a residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in Devonport, Auckland.

In 2023 Melinda Szymanik was the recipient of the exchange to Shanghai and she wrote; ‘Shanghai is an amazing and beautiful city. It has a population of nearly 25 million people so it's teeming with life and folk driving motorbikes on the footpaths. There is art going on everywhere if you look for it. I walked along Beijing Road to the Sculpture Park and enjoyed the art and the green space. I am taking lots of photos as mementos, and as research. Writing is going pretty well and I am able to spend a good chunk of time each day adding to the project and making use of my own experiences to breathe life into my main character. The other residents are all lovely people and we are getting along well, talking books, writing, and the ups and downs of being published in our respective countries of origin’.

For more information on the exchange see Michael King Writers Centre Website.

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