Paddy Richardson from Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature is one of two virtual UNESCO City of Literature Virtual Writers in Residence for the 2020 Festival.

Supported by Festival organisers at the National Centre for Writing and University of East Anglia, the virtual writers in residence will create new work and foster connections between Norwich, England’s first UNESCO City of Literature, and their home city. 

As well as Creative New Zealand Awards, Paddy has been the University of Otago Burns Fellow, the Beatson Fellow and won the James Wallace Arts Trust Residency Award. She has been a guest at many writing festivals and was one of the New Zealand writer representatives at both the Leipzig and Frankfurt Book Fairs in 2012 when New Zealand was the guest of honour. In 2019, she was awarded the Randell Cottage residency in Wellington where she spent six months writing and researching her latest novel to be published in 2021. 

Paddy lives on the Otago Peninsula where she swims, walks, reads and works as a full-time writer. She said: ‘I feel thrilled and very honoured to have been selected for the UNESCO City of Literature digital writers' residency at Noirwich Crime Writing Festival. For me, personally, I see this as an opportunity to share my writing and experiences with other writers and readers of crime fiction.’ 

Paddy will take part in a full programme including live Q&As, interactive creative writing workshops, a virtual book group, and discussion panels. Other celebrated authors taking part include Attica Locke, Sophie Hannah and Jill Dawson. The Festival ran from 10-13 September, and you can hear more about Paddy's experience on the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature website.