The Michael King Writers' Centre Trust

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

Bob Ross (Chairman)
Wensley Willcox (Deputy Chair)
Peter Bartlett
Geoff Chapple
James Mason
Helen Woodhouse (Secretary)
Peter Simpson
Sam Elworthy
Grant Stuart
Liz Allen
Andrew Williams
Mike Cohen

Specialist Advisers

Dinah Holman
Gordon McLauchlan
Merata Kawharu
Dame Christine Cole Catley
Witi Ihimaera
Geoff Walker

Bob Ross(Chairman) Bob Ross has been in the New Zealand book trade for over 40 years. He founded Benton Ross Publishing in 1980 and Tandem Press in 1991. He has held many roles within the publishing industry including Chair of BPANZ and New Zealand Book Trade Organisation. He has also as served on the board of Booksellers New Zealand and on Copyright Licensing Ltd. He set up NZ Publishers Export Group and now acts as a mentor for exporting publishers.

Wensley Willcox(Deputy Chair) A journalist and poet, she has worked in the not-for-profit sector in positions as regional Citizens’ Advice Bureau co-ordinator, YWCA Board, and journalist/librarian for the Mental Health Foundation. She has held office at branch and national levels for the Society of Authors (Pen NZ Inc). She has been a long-time advocate for the establishment of a national writers’ centre.

Peter Bartlett, BArch (NZ), PhD (Arch Psychol), FNZIA, Architect, , Emeritus Professor of Architecture; consultancy re Performing Arts, Cultural and Urban Centres; designed redevelopments, Paris, 1954-57; member New Zealand Cultural Facilities Advisory Committee, 1976-88; cofounder UA’s Urban Research Unit, 1978. Awards include: Winstone House, 1958; Newcomb House, 1969; AGS Centennial Theatre Centre, 1974-75; Barlett House, 1998.

Geoff Chapple First writer-in-residence; author, journalist, playwright, Chief Executive of Te Araroa Trust.

Te Araroa Trust

Long Walker

James Mason, QSO 2000, Born and raised in Devonport. He was educated at Devonport District School, Takapuna Grammar and Auckland University where he gained B.A. and LL.B. degrees. James gained his legal experience in his father’s law firm which he later managed. He founded the New Zealand Canoeing Association and numerous Charitable Trusts including the New Zealand Trustees Association, of which he is Chairman and the New Zealand Maritime Trust which is preserving the steam ferry “Toroa”.

Helen Woodhouse(Secretary) Helen has been the Takapuna Library Manager since 1990. A founding committee member of the Auckland Writers’ Festival, she is also a founding trustee of the Lake House Trust Inc, a Frank Sargeson Trustee (since 1992), and has for ten years been the Auckland representative on the Wellington-based New Zealand Book Council.

Peter Simpson Director of The Holloway Press, which publishes limited edition, hand-printed books, and was formerly Associate Professor of English at The University of Auckland. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (1976) where he won the A.S.P. Woodhouse Prize for the best doctoral thesis in English. He has taught at Massey, Canterbury, Toronto, Carleton (Ottawa) and Auckland Universities. He was Head of English at The University of Auckland 2005-07. He served as Member of Parliament for Lyttelton in 1987-90. As an academic, writer, and curator, Peter Simpson specialises in New Zealand literature, art and cultural history, modern poetry, and post-colonial literatures. He is the author and editor of a large number of books and has written numerous articles and reviews. He collaborates frequently with visual artists on books and has curated several exhibitions. He has participated in many national and international conferences and literary festivals. He has been an advisor for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards (three times) and was a judge for the Commonmwealth Writers Prize (Asia Pacific Region, 2006). He is an advisor for the Colin McCahon French Bay House Trust, and is former chairperson of the University of Auckland Art Collection committee. He joined the Michael King Writers' Studio Trust in 2009.

Sam Elworthy grew up on a farm in South Canterbury and went to university in Dunedin where he edited the student newspaper and wrote a book about student life, Ritual Song of Defiance: A Social History of Students at the University of Otago. He spent fifteen years in the United States, completing a Ph.D. in history and then publishing books. He led the editorial team as Editor-in-Chief at Princeton University Press. He arrived back in New Zealand in 2007. He lives in Devonport and is the director of Auckland University Press. He joined the Michael King Writers’ Studio Trust in 2009.

Grant Stuart has held various financial and commercial management roles mainly in the corporate sector including Regency Duty Free Stores, Carter Holt Harvey, ORIX and Fruitfed Supplies. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. Originally from South Canterbury, he moved to Auckland after completing a B.Com at Canterbury University. He comes to the Trust through his association with Opoutere, where Michael King lived.

Liz Allen has many years experience in arts administration both in Canada and New Zealand. She held the position of Chair of the Cultural Advisory to the SaskTrust which administers the Western Canadian Lottery funds for arts and culture. Returning to New Zealand she worked in Community Newspapers and for a small publisher. She was the CEO of the New Zealand Society of Authors from 2002 to 2008. She is currently on the Public Lending Right Advisory and the New Zealand Book Month Board as well as a member of the NZSA Auckland Branch Events Committee organising the Writers on Monday series. She is a published poet. Her first book of poetry won the League of Canadian Poets Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She currently works in energy management as a project manager. Liz Allen joined the Trust in 2009.

Andrew Williams is Mayor of the North Shore City Council. He was elected in October 2007 after serving previously as a councillor and community board member. A Campbells Bay resident and businessman, he is originally from Waipukurau, in Central Hawke's Bay. His business centered on international trade in the meat industry, farmed venison exports, airfreight, shipping and trade. For nine years he has been the Trade Commissioner for Belgium and Luxembourg, and served as the Hon. Vice Consul of Belgium. He joined the trust as an advisory trustee in 2008.

Mike Cohen, SM, BCA CA (ex-officio), was elected to the Devonport Community Board in 1998 and has been the Chairman since 2003. He has also been a member of the Waitemata District Health Board since 2001. He is a Chartered Accountant. He lived 16 years on a Kibbutz that provided a flourishing centre for arts and culture. Mike returned to New Zealand with his family in 1996.

Dinah Holman, QSO 1988 for public services to heritage, MA, DIP TP, is a nationally known heritage planning consultant and author. She was chair of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (1986-90); executive director of the Auckland Heritage Trust (1985-89); a member of the Auckland Institute and Museum Council (1991-94), and a member of the Auckland Library Heritage Trust (1998- ). She received the NZPI Distinguished Service Award in 1992 She is the A.R.D. Fairburn Literary Executor.

Gordon McLauchlan is a writer, journalist and broadcaster with a New Zealand-wide reputation. He is a former national vice-president of the New Zealand Journalists’ Association, was for two years national president of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) and the society’s 2003-04 president of honour. He was elected to the world executive of PEN International at Edinburgh in 1996. He has written many books and has acted as a public affairs consultant to a number of New Zealand corporations. He was the founding chairman of the Michael King Writers’ Studio Trust and served on the trust until 2009.

Merata Kawharu is a graduate in social anthropology and Maori studies from Auckland University and Oxford University in England, she is a Director of Research at the James Henare Maori Research Centre at the University of Auckland. She won a Rhodes scholarship in 1994. In 1999, she was Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research and Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University. She won a Marsden Fund award in 2002 for research concerning indigenous knowledge and museum practice. She is a member of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and its Maori Heritage Council. A highly-regarded author herself, Merata was a finalist in the 2003 Montana Book Awards for Whenua: Managing Our Resources. She has written extensively on Maori development and the Resource Management Act. Her iwi are Ngati Whatua and Ngapuhi.

Dame Christine Cole Catley Christine Cole Catley, D.C.N.Z.M, QSM, is one of the best known teachers of journalism and writing in New Zealand. She writes, edits, and publishes books from her Devonport home. She was a close colleague of Michael King and established the Frank Sargeson Trust, of which he was deputy chair. Christine is a past president of honour of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc). She also co-founded Parents Centre New Zealand.

Find out more - bio
Bright Star - Beatrice Hill Tinsley
Bloody Marvellous-George Haydn 1919-2005
Fairburn and Friends

Witi Ihimaera, D.C.N.Z.M., Q.S.M., was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the NZ Order of Merit. in recognition of his work as an award-winning novelist, short story writer and mentor of young writers. Witi was a long-standing friend and colleague of Michael King. A diplomat for many years, he now teaches English, Maori and Pacific literature at the University of Auckland. He has withdrawn from the trust while he is on sabbatical leave, but has indicated his intention to rejoin in 2008.

Geoff Walker is the Publishing Director of Penguin Books, and one of New Zealand's most experienced publishers. He was a close friend and colleague of Michael King and published many books by him, including the current award-winning best-seller, The Penguin History of New Zealand.