Residents at Rathcoola
July 2005 | January 2006 |
January 2006: Fiona Farrell
Fiona
Farrell, resident at Rathcoola from January 2006, is the author of novels,
stories, plays and poems. Her most recent publication 'a mix of memoir and
fiction' and noted for its humour, is Book Book published
by Vintage in 2004.
Her first novel, The Skinnie Louie Book,
won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction in 1992. Other awards include the
Bruce Manson Award for Playwrights and the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship
in Menton, France.
Born on Oamaru, New Zealand, she was educated at the Universities of Otago
and Toronto, Canada. She began writing during the nineteen eighties and is
now one of the leading writers of her generation.
“I learned such a lot during this Residency. I felt
constantly intrigued, curious, excited by the place. I filled book after book
with notes which I am working from at the time I write this, back here in
New Zealand. Within a few weeks of our arrival in Donoughmore I had completed
the novel I had thought would be the major work from the residency. In fact,
I found so many other ideas pouring in that I wanted to finish it and begin
on something new. I wrote a final draft in record time during the first few
weeks in Donoughmore then turned to writing poetry as a way of keeping a kind
of diary record of what I was experiencing daily.
I really don’t want to sound smug or complacent, but I have never
written so fluently or easily before: the peace of Donoughmore, the comfort
of our lives there, the constant stimulation of living in that particular
place surrounded by that culture simply released me to write. It all felt
so easy: like humming a tune. I can’t put it more precisely than that.”
Diary of events
1st July 2007:
The third residency at Rathcoola commences.
January 2007:
Residents for 2007 are selected.
30th November 2006:
Closing date for applications for 2007 residency.
February 2005:
Residents for 2005/6 are selected.
30th November 2004:
Closing date for applications for 2005/2006 residential periods.
October 2004:
The Rathcoola website is launched, inviting applications for the 2005/6
residencies.
