Newsletter from the Friends – July 2023
Read the July 2023 newsletter from the Friends of Randell Cottage.
Sedef Ecer
Watch interviews with Sedef Ecer and Caroline Laurent
Two of our French residents Sedef Ecer and Caroline Laurent were interviewed by the French Embassy in New Zealand about their time at the cottage and in Wellington.
Readings and discussion about ‘Room to write’ with Whiti Hereaka, Sedef Ecer, and Fiona Kidman
We had a very good turnout to a special lunchtime gathering at Unity Books last week to promote Room to Write.
Room to write with Whiti Hereaka, Sedef Ecer, and Fiona Kidman
Join us for a celebration of Randell Cottage and the anthology of twenty years of Kiwi and French writers, ‘Room to Write’.
Featuring 2022 Ockham Award-winner Whiti Hereaka, Randell Cottage French writer-in-residence Sedef Ecer, and Randell Cottage Trustee Emerita Fiona Kidman.
Watch live: Evening event with Sedef Ecer and Caroline Laurent
We hope to see you at the Friends’ event featuring French writer Sedef Ecer on Tuesday 7 March, but if you can’t be there in person, you can watch online. Find out how.
Reminder: Join us for a special evening event with our French writer in residence
Don’t forget to add this event on 7 March at the National Library to your calendar and send an rsvp to tell us you’ll be coming along.
French writers at Randell Cottage
Who are the latest French writers in residence at Randell Cottage? How are they drawing on their experiences here, in combination with their multicultural heritages, to inform their creative work?
Sedef Ecer – 2023
Born in Istanbul, Sedef Ecer grew up in the world of movie-making, theatre and television. Her latest book, Trésor national, was published by JC Lattès in 2021. She writes in different genres and in two languages: she has written more than 500 articles or opinion pieces for the press, novels, screenplays, explored new genres and translated Montaigne, Charlotte Delbo and Saint-Exupery’s works into Turkish.
As a writer and actress, Sedef Ecer has been a nominee or a recipient of prestigious awards. (French National Center of Theater, French National Center of Cinema, Beaumarchais Award, French Society of Multimedia Writers, Draft of a Dream, Velasquez Price, Writing Stipend of Paris Region, National Theater Award of Guérande, High School Students Favorite Play, nominated for Godot Award, Collidram Award, Best Television Comedy La Rochelle Festival) She is one of the founders of Parlement des Écrivaines Francophones.
Her major work is in the field of theatre. Her plays have been performed in numerous theatres and festivals in different countries, published, awarded and translated into Polish, Turkish, Armenian, German, Greek, English, Persian and Italian. As an actress, she has played in feature films and several plays since she was three years old and has worked recently under the directions of Amos Gitaï (with Jeanne Moreau), Lorenzo Gabriel and Thomas Bellorini.
During her stay in Wellington, she hopes to explore an exciting subject: a novel that will focus on the role of New Zealand and Turkish women and the fighting at Gallipoli – her parents live close to the site, and the project is something she has had in mind for some years.
Stuff, 05/03/2023: Turkish-born novelist in NZ to research women and Gallipoli
Further reading
Watch Sedef Ecer – an interview at Randell Cottage, from the French Embassy in Aotearoa New Zealand
Writer-in-residence Sedef Ecer arrives at Randell Cottage
Our newest writer-in-residence, Franco-Turkish novelist, actor and playwright Sedef Ecer, is now installed at Randell Cottage after a warm welcome by representatives of the French Embassy and the Randell Cottage Writers Trust.