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Join author Saraid de Silva for an evening of conversation, readings, and video reflections from past Randell Cottage writers-in-residence, including Titaua Peu and Hinemoana Baker.Join us at the Library or online. Register to receive a Zoom link: https://dia-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p6_8lW8vSyOLAnFYTHhOgw#/registration
A conversation with author Saraid de Silva
This year’s Randell Cottage writers-in-residence are Titaua Peu (French writer-in-resident) and Saraid de Silva (New Zealand writer-in-resident).
Join Saraid de Silva in conversation with Randell Cottage trustee Francis Cooke. Saraid will also read from her new novel, which promises to be very different from her first and acclaimed book Amma. But how different will it be from Amma’s stories that follow three generations of South Asian women? Saraid says her Untitled Second Novel is a revenge thriller about two best friends in a stolen car, crossing the country to crash a New Year’s Eve party.
Video reflections from former writers in residence
Following the conversation, French Cultural Counsellor, François Bockel, will present the latest in the series of short videos of writers-in-residence reflecting on their experience at Randell Cottage. Titaua Peu was the French writer-in-residence earlier this year, and New Zealander Hinemoana Baker was the 2024 New Zealand writer-in-residence.
The videos form part of Randell Cottage’s recorded oral history, designed to capture the essence of those writers and their interests while undertaking their fellowships.
RSVP to let us know you are coming
Light refreshments will be provided so RSVP before 1 December to [email protected].
Randell Cottage writer’s residency
Wellington’s historic Randell Cottage has been a writers’ residency for New Zealand and French writers since 2001. The Randell Cottage Writers Trust is supported by the New Zealand-France Friendship Fund/Arts Foundation of New Zealand, and the Wellington City Council. It works in close partnership with the Embassy of France.
About the speakers
Saraid de Silva is a Sri Lankan Pākehā writer and arts worker based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She was the co-creator and co-host of Radio New Zealand’s podcast and video series Conversations with My Immigrant Parents and has recently worked as a storyliner, script writer, and script editor on New Zealand television shows. Her first novel, Amma, was released in New Zealand and Australia by Hachette New Zealand in March 2024 and in the UK by Weatherglass Books in April 2024. It was long-listed for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Literature in the Ockham Awards and the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Titaua Peu is a Tahitian novelist who stayed in Randell Cottage during the first half of 2025 as the French writer-in-residence. She is working on a new series of books that present a near future marked by a reverse migration, one in which inhabitants of Aotearoa have migrated north to the island of Mangareva in French Polynesia following a great war. The first laureate from French Polynesia, Titaua is considered one of the principal French-speaking voices in the literature of the Pacific, with her writings focusing on Polynesian society, the impact of colonialism and the place of women.
Hinemoana Baker (Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-Tonga, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Kāi Tahu, England, Germany) is a writer, performer, and educator. She was the 2024 New Zealand writer-in-residence from July to December, where she worked on a new collection of poetry, Exhaust World. Hinemoana has published four previous collections of poetry with Te Herenga Waka University Press: mātuhi | needle (2004), kōiwi kōiwi (2010), waha | mouth (2014) and Funkhaus (2021).
Image: 2025 Randell Cottage writers-in-residence Saraid de Silva and Titaua Peu.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011, New Zealand
Tickets
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