Ruth and Oswald L Kraus Innovator-in-Residence
Zia Ravenscroft is an award-winning writer and actor who also performs as a drag king under the name of Judas Kiss. Originally from Feilding, he has recently completed a Bachelor of Arts at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington with majors in English Literature and Theatre and minors in Creative Writing and Gender and Sexuality Studies. He has performed in Shakespeare in Love (dir. Ewen Coleman) in 2025, The Rover (dir. Nicola Hyland) in 2024, and was in Red Scare Youth Theatre in 2022. As Judas Kiss, he won Judges' Choice at the third heat of Rising Star: A New Drag Performer Competition in 2024 and competed at the finale. In 2022 and 2023 they competed at the Wellington Poetry Slam Regional Finals, and in 2023 represented Wellington at the National Poetry Slam Finals. His writing has been published extensively in journals such as Starling, Cordite, a fine line, Bad Apple, Takahē, The Spinoff, Circular, Salient, and The Quick Brown Dog. In 2026, they will complete a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Theatre.
The project Ravenscroft is undertaking for the Innovator-in-Residence scholarship is an anthology of work entirely by transgender artists and performers, including poetry and writing, visual art, drag and other performance art, and costume and prop design. It will be the first anthology of transgender art produced by transgender artists in Aotearoa, and will explore the complexities, limits, tensions, and possibilities of the transgender body and intersecting identities as a response to the current conservative and wildly transphobic political climate.
Ruth and Oz Kraus founded Brick Row Publishing Company which had offices in both in Auckland, New Zealand and later Palm Springs, California. They specialised in literary publishing, particularly poetry, in the 1980s-2000s, and were very interested in fostering younger writers and artists.
This biennial scholarship supports a one-trimester student residency at Wai-te-ata Press. Applicants must have completed at least two years of study at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, be enrolled at the time of the residency, and/or intend to study in the following year. Applicants will also be expected to spend 10 weeks/400 hours physically on-site at Wai-te-ata Press during Trimester Three (November through February) to achieve the required outputs.
The successful student will explore the interface between creative writing and publishing in innovative formats using the letterpress, 3D printing, and digital facilities of the Press. Collaboration with other writers, artists, translators is encouraged. Expected outputs are a publication, exhibition, launch and talk.
The student will be paid a stipend ($8,000) and is eligible for an Individual Directed Study course credit (FHSS211 - 15 points, FHSS311 - 20 points or FHSS421 - 15 points). To apply, please check the Scholarships page.
Read about the inaugural Innovator-in-Residence for 2023-2024, Cadence Chung. Buy the book. Listen to a track or two.