The Michael King Writers' Centre Trust
Photo by Outerspace Design
The Trust
Following Michael King's death, a group of his friends and literary associates decided to honour his memory by setting up a writers' centre.
King had been extensively involved in the Frank Sargeson Trust, which has preserved the old Frank Sargeson house on Esmonde Road in Takapuna, and set up a flat for a writer in Auckland city. His friends knew that he had long been keen on the idea of having a writers' centre to support New Zealand authors and promote the country's literature endeavours. Following his death, they decided to realise his dream.
They established the Michael King Writers' Studio Trust, which now runs the centre. The North Shore City Council was invited to become a partner in the project. The council made available the historic Signalman's House on Mt Victoria in Devonport as a centre on a long-term lease.
The project was launched in early 2005. Creative New Zealand agreed to fund a stipend for a resident writer each year. In 2006, the trust raised $150,000 in funding to complete a sympathetic renovation of the heritage house to allow for the establishment of a full writers' centre, complete with a separate working studio for the resident writer. The Michael King Writers' Studio Trust received the 'New Zealand Trust of the Year' award for 2007 from the NZ Trustees Association.
The centre aims to promote all aspects of New Zealand's literature, including fiction and non-fiction, and to recognise Michael King's stature as a writer, historian, biographer and someone who helped New Zealand understand its cultural roots.
Members of the trust are:
Bob Ross (Chairman)
Wensley Willcox (Deputy Chair
Helen Woodhouse (secretary)
Gordon McLauchlan
Emeritus Professor Peter Bartlett
Geoff Chapple
Christine Cole Catley, DCNZOM
Dinah Holman
James Mason
Geoff Walker, ONZM
Merata Kawharu
Witi Ihimaera, DCNZOM
Andrew Williams (advisory member)
Mike Cohen (advisory member)