The Randell Cottage Writers Trust is delighted to announce that Saraid de Silva has been selected as our Writer-in-Residence for 2025. She will be the first writer of Sinhalese descent to take up residency at Randell Cottage.

Trust Chair Christine Hurley says, “Despite our recent loss of Creative New Zealand funding, which would have covered the writers’ stipends for the coming three years, we are determined to fundraise to host Saraid for the full six months from July to December next year. Saraid understands the unusually fraught nature of our offer and has responded that it is a joy to know there will be some way for her to keep writing into the end of next year.”

Saraid de Silva is a Sri Lankan Pākehā writer and arts worker based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She was the co-creator and co-host of Radio New Zealand’s podcast and video series Conversations with My Immigrant Parents and has recently worked as a storyliner, script writer and script editor on New Zealand television shows including Shortland Street. Her first novel, Amma, was released in New Zealand and Australia by Hachette New Zealand in March 2024 and in the UK by Weatherglass Books in April 2024. It is already a number one bestseller on the Aotearoa fiction charts.

Saraid’s proposal sets out her intention to work on her second novel. Panel Chair, author and poet, James Norcliffe says, “Amongst a very strong pool of candidates, the quality of Saraid’s writing sample and project stood out. She is at the right point in her career where the residency would be a real next step for her and give her a boost and platform to write a major new work that promises to be exciting, engaging and confrontational. Her track record and reputation gave the panel confidence that this is a work that she will commit fully to while on the residency, and which would be highly likely to be successful both in literary recognition and as a widely popular work when published.”

The Trust and Friends of Randell Cottage are working together to find ongoing sponsorship for this prestigious writing fellowship, which has demonstrated its success and impact over the past twenty-three years.

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