Sun 6 Mar 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Autumn Farm A week-long gathering of gay writers at Golden Bay's Autumn Farm has been announced, an off-shoot of the popular holiday retreat's support for the writer director of Mates and Lovers. "Autumn Farm's owners, Pete and Pete, didn’t know me from a bar of soap when they sponsoredme to spend three weeks rewriting the script of Mates and Lovers," says Ronald Trifero Nelson. “All I did was write and rewrite, enjoy great home cooked meals and the amazing winter sun of Golden Bay. I got heaps more accomplished than if I'd stayed home, so I began to wonder how many other gay guys out there could use that kind of a retreat to work on projects.” Men Scribbling Men, an initiative of Nelson's Fabulous Arts Aotearoa New Zealand was born. "It aims to provide what writers need: time and space for free. MSM reflects the FAANZ mission statement to be “centred on works that reflect, engage and inspire the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takataapui, fa’afafine, and queer communities of Aotearoa/New Zealand,” Nelson says. MSM will provide private accommodation, meals and the gardens and treks of Autumn Farm and Golden Bay for five writers for seven days from 16–23 July. "This inaugural year will concentrate on short and long fiction and script writing for both screen and stage," according to Nelson. Writers will be chosen based on "their writing abilities and their plan to achieve their goals at Autumn Farm." Applications will be assessed by Stevan Eldred-Grigg (Shanghai Boy, Oracles and Miracles), Dominic Sheehan (Finding Home, The Strip), and Nelson. Further details and deadlines are available by emailing MSM@FAANZ.com. Meanwhile, the honed version of Mates and Lovers, which had a successful run in Auckland late last year, is opening tomorrow night at Wellington's Downstage Theatre as part of the 2nd Asia Aacific Out Games cultural festival.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 6th March 2011 - 7:55pm