Kyle Mewburn selected by Nanjing City of Literature for its 2023 Residency Programme

By Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature | Posted:

The City of Literature team was thrilled that Kyle Mewburn, best known for her children’s books and more recently her autobiography Faking It, was selected as one of six writers from around the world to take part in the annual Nanjing City of Literature Residency Programme for two weeks in November 2023. There were 92 applications from the City of Literature sub-network and from other Creative Cities. The other five writers selected for the residency that is fully funded by Nanjing were from Edinburgh, Granada, Jakarta, Milan and Québec City.

This was Kyle’s first visit to China and she was:

incredibly honoured, delighted and super-excited to have been chosen to participate.

Kyle returned

buzzing after a full-on whirlwind of activities and a mind-blowing tsunami of sensory experiences. It was an extraordinary two weeks … there were official banquets with a panoply of weird and wonderful dishes (I tried everything but the tofu!); museum and temple visits; a night cruise on the canal network surrounding the old city; a weekend away in Xinhua (a provincial town with a mere 2 million inhabitants); and a visit to the local hot pools. We gave readings, participated in a critique group, and discussed our writing with local writers. In-between we shared so many fabulous meals full of unusual taste sensations, accompanied by effervescent conversation and loads of laughter. Everywhere we went, with extensive retinue in tow, we were wined and dined and treated like rockstars…. it's a truly fabulous city with a story on every street corner and entire novels unfolding along every laneway. Oh, the sights! The smells! The noise!! Talk about sensory overload.

You can read the article and enjoy images on the latest Residency here.

Kyle’s first novel, Sewing Moonlight (Bateman Books), is due to be launched in April this year.