Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence

About the residency

The Emerging Pasifika Writer's Residency was established in 2019 by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, with the support of Creative New Zealand. It runs for three months in the second half of each year, funding dependent, and includes a writing room, mentorship, and a stipend of $15,000.

The Residency is unique in offering the chance to work within an established community of writers at the University's International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML), with a mentor from the Pasifika arts community.

It is open to Pasifika writers in all areas of literary activity, including drama, fiction and poetry (page and performance), devised performance, creative non-fiction and graphic novels. Please note: film and television scriptwriting projects are not eligible.

Applicants should be writers at an early stage of their career, with a growing body of work, and must be either New Zealand citizens or hold permanent residency. Applicants should not be full-time employees of Creative New Zealand or the University, nor have been employed on a full-time basis by the University in the twelve months prior to the closing date. Current tertiary students are also ineligible.

The 2026 Resident will be Kasi Valu.

A full role description and application form will be available on the Current Vacancies page of the University's website during the next application period. Enquiries can be directed at any time to modernletters@vuw.ac.nz.

We also offer the three-month Emerging Māori Writer's Residency, and the full-year Victoria University of Wellington/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence on an annual basis.

2026 Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence—Kasi Valu

Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Kasi then trained as an actor at Te kura Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa, gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts (2022). His theatre career has involved working in a variety of roles including acting, writing, stage managing, and producing. He has performed at slam poetry events and at the Auckland Writers Festival. He won the E Tū Whānau Spoken Word Competition in 2021 and received a Fale-ship Residency from the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust.

Kasi will use the residency to develop a collection of poems, spoken-word pieces, and short stories with the working title Frangipani Thorns. Audiences may encounter historical reflections, social media discourse, political satire, community gossip, and speculative futures. Kasi also plans to make audio recordings of the pieces.

Previous Emerging Pasifika Writers in Residence

Photos by Robert Cross.

2024 Emele  Ugavale

2021  Simone Kaho

2020 Tavita Nielsen-Mamea