Caselberg Trust

31/05/2026

Entries for the Caselberg Trust International Poetry Competition 2026 are now open!

Now in its 16th year, the competition attracts entries from across Aotearoa New Zealand and from all over the world. This year we are delighted to announce that Ōtepoti Dunedin City of Literature has joined with our long term sponsor the University Book Shop (Otago) to co-sponsor the competition.

City of Literature Director Nicky Page says “Ōtepoti City of Literature is proud to join original sponsor University Book Shop (Otago) to support this remarkable International Poetry Prize, pivotal to the ecosystem in Aotearoa and beyond – congratulations Caselberg Trust!”

We’re also delighted to announce that this year’s judge will be Dunedin writer Emma Neale. Emma’s latest book 'Maybe Baby' (Bateman Books) has just hit the bookstores this month. A former editor of Landfall, Emma works as a freelance editor for publishers in Aotearoa and Australia. She has had 14 books published. In 2020 she received the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for a Distinguished Contribution to New Zealand Poetry. Her seventh poetry collection 'Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit' (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2024) won the Mary and Peter Biggs Prize for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in 2025. In 2025 she also received the Janet Frame Prize.

The winning poem and judge’s report will appear in Landfall Tauraka 252, and poets keen to enter can find entry details on our website: https://www.caselbergtrust.org/prizes

Caselberg Trust Chairperson Dr Janet Downs says “A big thank you once again to our sponsors – UBS and the Ōtepoti City of Literature, to our judge Emma Neale, Landfall Tauraka, and to all the wonderful poets that entrust us with their poems. We couldn’t do it without you.”

Entries are judged blind. First Prize is $600 (plus one-week stay at the Caselberg house at Broad Bay, Dunedin). Second Prize is $300 and up to 5 Highly Commended awards (no monetary prizes).

The first- and second-placed poems and highly commended entries will appear on the Caselberg Trust website (copyright remaining with the authors) after the publication of Landfall Tauraka 252 in November 2026.

Entries close 5pm Tuesday 30 June.

Thank you to our partners City of Literature Dunedin, New Zealand, University Book Shop Otago, Landfall Tauraka Journal.

Image: Anna Comrie-Thompson

26/05/2026

Applications for the 2027 Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency close this Sunday 31 May! All creatives are welcome to apply.
See our website for more information.

21/05/2026

Do you need some time out to create? Due to late cancellations, we're welcoming applications for self-funded residencies at the Caselberg House and Brasch studio between Monday 15 June and Monday 25 July 2026. All creative practitioners may apply.
Please see our website for more details and contact [email protected] to apply.

21/05/2026

Ten days left to get your application in for the 2027 Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency!

🗓 Applications open until 31 May 2026. See our website for more information.

13/05/2026

Our 2025 Poetry Prize winner Helen Williford-Lower is at the house this week as part of her prize. Helen went to St Brigid's school yesterday to donate her prize money to the school and to read poetry from her new collection

Helen Williford-Lower visited S. Brigid's School to read from her new book Fairy Lights, Bed Time Poems, and donate her Caselberg Trust Poetry...

06/05/2026

Do you need some time out to create? Due to late cancellations, we're welcoming applications for self-funded residencies at the Caselberg House and Brasch studio between Monday 15 June and Monday 25 July 2026. All creative practitioners may apply.
Please see our website for more details and contact [email protected] to apply.

The Caselberg Trusts offers a selection of residencies, some by application or invitation, and some in collaboration with our partners Blue Oyster Art Project Space and the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, and Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature.

01/05/2026

Applications are now open for the 2027 Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency!

The Trust is pleased to offer the Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency for the fourteenth time in 2027.

For the Creative Connections Residency the Caselberg Trust is specifically looking for projects that reach out and make links across a variety of creative media, professional disciplines, and/or communities relevant to the planned project. We welcome applications from people from any background i.e. arts or non-arts. However, applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to engage in a creative project and processes, and to collaborate effectively with creative media and with communities relevant to their identified project.

🗓 Applications open: 1–31 May 2026

The Trust is pleased to offer the Caselberg Trust Creative Connections Residency for the fourteenth time in 2027. Applications for the Creative Connections Residency 2027 are open from 1 to 31 May 2026.

19/04/2026

An interview with current Caselberg resident Ngaroma Riley on E Tangata

“All I want to do is keep carving without trampling on anyone's mana. I kept hearing ‘mahi tapu’ being bandied about, and I thought: ‘All right, what is this mahi tapu that people say wāhine aren't supposed to take part in?’” — Ngaroma Riley.

07/04/2026

Please join us on Sunday 19 April at 2pm for an open studio with Ngaroma Riley, the 2026 Caselberg Creative Connections resident. At 2.30pm, Ngaroma will discuss her research and show some of the work she has created during her residency. Refreshments are provided. All welcome.
We look forward to seeing you.

More info here: Open Studio: Ngaroma Riley, 2026 Creative Connections Resident

Image: Ngaroma Riley, Once Were Gardeners (2024)

30/03/2026

Closing soon!

Applications for this year's Caselberg Trust Margaret Egan Cities of Literature Writers Residency close tomorrow (31 March) at 11.59pm (NZST).

In 2026 the residency is offered to an established writer with at least one published work, who is a citizen or permanent resident of Aotearoa New Zealand and currently resides in Aotearoa New Zealand.

More details and the application form are available at the link.

Writers from Aotearoa New Zealand are warmly invited to apply for this year's Caselberg Trust Margaret Egan Cities of Literature Writers Residency. Applications close at 11.59pm (NZST) on 31 March 2026.