The Luna Foundation Writers Residency 2025
The Luna Foundation is a female-led, family-run charitable organisation that empowers and supports women throughout New Zealand by providing financial assistance and other resources in the areas of education, health and wellbeing, arts and culture, and entrepreneurial endeavours.
Through its involvement with the arts, The Luna Foundation has recognised the need to establish a residency for women writers who would benefit from dedicated time spent progressing their creative projects.
Open to any woman writer who holds a current New Zealand passport or is a New Zealand permanent resident, the Luna Foundation Writer’s Residency will be held from 3-17 November 2025. In addition to a 14-night stay in Hawke’s Bay, the successful applicant will be offered a stipend, airport transfers, and a car for personal use during the Residency.
Applications will open on Monday 16th June and close on Monday 30th June 2025. Applicants will need to provide information about their intended writing project, details of published work or a notable project, and up to 500 words on why this Residency would be beneficial.
Chair of the Hawke’s Bay Readers & Writers Trust, Catherine Robertson, says “We’re so incredibly lucky to have a second writer’s residency in Hawke’s Bay. Along with the Rush Cottage Writers’ Residency at Black Barn in May, we’re now thrilled to have The Luna Foundation Writers’ Residency in November. Our heartfelt thanks to the generous people who’ve made these opportunities happen. Honestly, you couldn’t find a better place to write, so best of luck to all the applicants.”
To apply, please follow the link.
8 August, 2025
We are thrilled to announce that Hazel Phillips has been selected as the recipient of the inaugural Luna Foundations Writers Residency 2025.
Hazel’s compelling vision, literacy excellence and bold voice stood out among an extraordinary pool of applicants.
The selection process was highly competitive and we are deeply grateful to every writer who shared and trusted us with their work.
Hazel Phillips is the author of four books: Fire & Ice (2025); Solo: Backcountry adventuring in Aotearoa New Zealand (2022); Wild Westie (2014), a biography of Sir Bob Harvey; and Sell! (2013), a social history of New Zealand’s advertising industry. Hazel has a background in newspaper and magazine journalism, and her writing has been published in media and journals across New Zealand and Australia. She published an essay in the book Otherhood (2024) and contributed to the global publication Atlas of Mountaineering (2025), edited by Conrad Anker and Katie Ives. Hazel holds a Masters in Creative Writing with first-class honours and an MA in media studies. She is currently working on her next book, about early women climbers and adventurers of Aoraki Mount Cook.