Earle Creativity and Development Trust 2023 recipients announced

Lucija Ozolins of Latvia receives her naturalisation certificate from Palmerston North Mayoress Rennie in 1965.

A project to tell the stories of World War II refugees who settled in Palmerston North has received a financial boost.

Untold Stories will share people’s war experiences and why they became displaced persons. It will cover their selection and trip to New Zealand on refugee ships, time at the Pahīatua Camp, and settling into New Zealand during an assimilation immigration policy.

The project has received $12,000 from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust.

Project leader Tania Kopytko says Untold Stories’ purpose is to write about an unknown part of New Zealand’s history.

The writers are Susie Tsaclis (Romania), Bruno Petrenas (Lithuania), Mary Zambazos (Greece), Mychelle Mihailoff (Bulgaria), and Kopytko (Belarus and Latvia).

They were all born in Palmerston North of World War II refugee parents and know each other from school, university or through family links.

The seventh story will be about the refugee process at that time and the role of the Pahīatua Camp in preparing the refugees for a productive life in New Zealand.

A group of displaced persons arriving at Pahīatua Camp in 1951. Photo / Courtesy of Mark Holland

An exhibition will be held at Square Edge Arts Centre in July and there will be presentations and workshops to encourage others to research and write their stories.

In 2025, in conjunction with the Pahīatua Museum, there will be a reunion of children of the displaced persons.

The Earle Trust has granted the Renaissance Singers $8800 for the creation of works for its May 18 concert Far Out! Godwits, Guitars and Songsters.

Guitarist Matthew Marshall will take a workshop with guitar students who will then perform at the concert.

Mātairangi Mahi Toi Māori received $3200 for artist in residence Theia to run a three-day workshop and recording session in Palmerston North for rangatahi.

Zak Rodgers received $3000 for The Cure for Gravity, a collection of poetry and short stories.

Paula Allen received $7000 to publish Hope Defiant, a collection of her poems she typed on an iPad.

Manawatū Scottish Pipe Band is celebrating its centenary in 2025 and received $5800 for the publication of its history. The book will be launched at the Jenny Mair Highland Square Day in December 2024.

The band was founded by pipe major Victor Nicholson, a Gallipoli veteran.

Homegrown Woodcraft, which will tell the story of the Manawatū Woodworkers Guild, received $7000. The book will cover the guild’s history from its first meeting in 1986 with five interested woodworkers.

Centrepoint Theatre received $10,000 for a play about the Feilding Farmers’ Market to be written by Alison Quigan. Centrepoint general manager Kate Louise Elliott says something as seemingly simple as a farmers’ market holds many secrets and triumphs as well as catastrophes and fiascos that only Quigan could turn into an entertaining night at the theatre.

Palmerston North writer Darryn Joseph received $5300 from the Earle Creativity and Development Trust. Photo / David Wiltshire

Dr Darryn Joseph has transitioned from being an associate professor at Massey University to fulltime writer.

Auckland University Press director Sam Elworthy says Joseph is one of the quiet rangatira of te reo Māori literature.

He has published more than 20 books and he has also written numerous resources for immersion education. Joseph was the te reo Māori editor for AUP’s Hiwa: Contemporary Māori Short Stories.

Joseph received $5300 for his writing projects. He has been proud to call Manawatū home for more than two decades and looks forward to continuing working here as a creative mind and author.

Next year, is the 20th anniversary of his sci-fi chapter books RT3 he wrote under the pen name Tākuta Hōhepa.

Gumboots, Brass and Wind Ensemble received $7000 for music tuition and a showcase weekend at Bulls in April.

Palmerston North composer Sai Shravan Natarajan received $10,650 for a new orchestral work for the Manawatū Sinfonia.

The Salvation Army’s Just Brass programme, which provides music lessons to children, received $20,000.

Co-founder of the trust, Dick Earle, says it is driven by the idea creativity can be stimulated, encouraged and taught.

“It’s a good thing to be involved in, I think, especially in one’s declining years.”

People are creative irrespective of anything anyone else does but a pattern of activity can be stimulated, the 93-year-old says.

“One’s life is limited but the ideas are not.”

Grants for seven history and literature projects totalling $50,100 were made this year, while $49,640 was given to five music projects. The trust received 17 applications for history and literature projects seeking $100,000 between them, while 12 music applicants sought $140,000.

Next year, the trust will make grants for science, technology and visual arts.