A Land of Granite: Teen Writing Competition

Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature in partnership with the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and in collaboration with Dunedin Public Libraries invited participation in a teen writing competition, timed to coincide with the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Colin McCahon exhibition A Land of Granite: McCahon and Otago. 

The writing competition was open to high school students and called for fictional writing in response to McCahon’s paintings, limited to 750 words. The competition coincided with the lock down in New Zealand enforced to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during April through May 2020.

Colin McCahon is one of New Zealand’s key 20th Century painters. His work over forty-five years consisted of various styles including landscape, figuration, abstraction and the overlay of painted text. Dunedin Public Art Gallery curators Lucy Hammonds and Lauren Gutsell referenced the theme of a walking tour for this exhibition, following in the artist’s footsteps and displaying 14 locations McCahon had connections to in Dunedin.

Judging the competition was well-known Dunedin writer Robyn Maree Pickens. As well as her writing career Robyn has an MA in Art History and has worked in galleries and art project spaces in Auckland and Dunedin. Robyn’s art writing has appeared in ArtAsiaPacific online, ANZJA, Art + Australia online, The Pantograph Punch, and Art New Zealand. Currently she is a PhD candidate in ecological aesthetics at the University of Otago, and an art reviewer for the Otago Daily Times and Art News.  Robyn secured a writing residency at Saari Residence, Finland between January and February 2020.

Entries were of a particularly high standard despite participants being unable to view McCahon’s works in the flesh. Robyn was particularly impressed by the perseverance and quality of the responses among those who took part. The official prizegiving ceremony took place at Dunedin Public Art Gallery with good self-distancing practice adhered to.

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