Quotes from previous Fellows
“Now that I’m back in New Zealand I see with every passing moment how valuable the time spent as the Fellow has been to me”
Nigel Cox
“A writer benefits in two obvious ways from the KM Fellowship. You have an extended period, free from financial worries, in which to get on with your work. Living in Menton provides the stimulus of a different culture, ready access to other parts of France and Italy, and by being there the writer can gain a clearer image, through contrast, of where they have come from”
Russell Haley
“I do feel extraordinarily fortunate to have had this opportunity, and know it is something that will continue to influence my work and life for many years to come”
Jenny Bornholdt
“The title of a Katherine Mansfield story encapsulates my feelings about Menton: Bliss. I am so grateful to have had this magical opportunity; it is no exaggeration to say that it has changed my life”
“We have been back in New Zealand for just over two months and I still long for that room in the Isola Bella. I have never experienced such peace and bliss and uninterrupted time”
Stephanie Johnson
“I was completely happy in France, filled up with sights, sounds, sensations, tastes, knowledge – much of which will appear in my work in due time”
Elizabeth Knox
“I enjoyed the experience of living in a different culture, surrounded by another language and living to a different routine. I began to think new thoughts and write about new things”
Fiona Farrell
“I doubled my daily output in Menton and, as far as I am able to tell, the quality is good”
Maurice Gee
“On a personal level I should admit that I have fallen in love with the south of France, especially a small beach at Cap D’Ail where the water is the deepest azure I have ever seen, except where it breaks against the rock where it is lapis lazuli. There could have been no better place to write Bulibasha than here, in Menton”
Witi Ihimaera
“The KM room was a pleasure to work in. It’s comfortable and spacious and I did much work there”
Stuart Hoar
“It is hard to know how to start ‘reporting’ on six months of one of the most splendid years of my life – to date. I dreamed of being awarded this Fellowship for thirty years before I actually applied for it. It turned out beyond my wildest expectations. Although I had read reports by previous fellows, I think it is difficult to convey the experience of Menton without living it. I feel I have had a rare and very privileged experience”
Dame Fiona Kidman
