Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship

You can apply if you are:

• an individual who is a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
• an established writer of literature who has a strong national reputation for your writing and a significant publication record.

A ‘strong reputation’ means you will have either:

• received critical acclaim for your work, for instance, having had significant works of literature published, or
• received a significant literary award or fellowship or been short-listed for literary awards.

You cannot apply if:

• you have received the fellowship before
• you are in breach of the conditions of a current funding agreement.

For more information about eligibility for Creative New Zealand grants, see Guidelines - Eligibility.

The Fellowship provides $100,000 over two years to fund a writing project. It offers the fellow the time and resources to commit to a period of deep investigation, experimentation, or research in their practice, and towards a major writing project.

The project must be completed between 31 March 2023 - 31 March 2025. You can apply for costs incurred only within this period. We don’t fund retrospective or ongoing costs. 

Funding can be used for project costs including:

• fees, stipends or wages
• travel and administration costs

The Fellowship is intended to achieve Creative New Zealand’s long-term goal that high-quality New Zealand art is developed, and result in:

• support for a high-quality artist
• the development of their practice and skills
• the creation of new work.

What we don’t fund

• Writing projects that we don’t consider to be literature. See Guidelines – Literature
• Activities already funded by another Creative New Zealand funding programme or initiative.
• Activities another Creative New Zealand funding programme or initiative is designed to support. For instance, activities that are associated with the 2024 Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture.
• Other activities listed in our guidelines under Guidelines – What we don’t fund.

Register or sign into your Creative NZ Portal account to apply using the online application form.

Submit your application by 1:00 pm, Friday 17 February 2023 (or sooner if possible).

For technical support to create your Creative New Zealand Portal account or use the online application form email portal@creativenz.govt.nz

How often you can apply

You can submit one application only.

Reapplying for a previously declined project

We offer the opportunity to resubmit previously declined projects only under limited circumstances. See Guidelines – Reapplying for a previously declined project.

The application form includes the following sections:

Idea

In this section you tell us:

• what the central idea, or kaupapa, of your project is and what your artistic aims are
• how the project offers a significant opportunity for your career
• how your project will achieve Creative New Zealand’s long-term goal that high-quality New Zealand art is developed.

Process

In this section you tell us where, when and how you plan to deliver your project and what you will do once it is complete.

People

In this section you tell us about yourself, your achievements, and your future plans. You can also tell us about other people playing a significant role in your project.

Budget

In this section you tell us:

• how much you’re requesting from Creative New Zealand ($100,000), and
• the total cost of the project.

You must also provide a detailed project budget that shows:

• all the costs of the project 
• which of those costs you want the Creative New Zealand grant to cover, and
• all sources of revenue.

You can present your budget using:

• our standard project budget template, or
• the template that is built into the Budget section of the application form.

For more guidance about budgets see Guidelines – Budgets.

Support material

In this section, add extra documents and information that support your application, such as:

• up to ten pages of the proposed work in progress, if relevant and available
• letters of support from relevant referees with specific comments endorsing the project
• a timeline
• invitations or written agreements distribute your work
• a full literary CV
• quotes and estimates (e.g. for travel).

For more guidance about support material see Guidelines – Support material.

For more information about our assessment and decision-making process, see Guidelines - Assessment

After the round closes, staff check your application is eligible and then it is assessed by peer assessors.

We will let you know the result of your application on the results due date. The recipient of the fellowship will be listed on our Results page.

If you are awarded the Fellowship, we’ll contact you about your:

• Funding agreement
• Payment details
• Reporting requirements

If your application is not successful you can email Funding Services to get feedback on it, and you may consider looking into other sources of funding and support.

For more information, advice or to discuss your project email Funding Services.