The proposal to buy Charles Brasch's former Heriot Row, Dunedin house for the city had merit, but the tight timeframe was always going to be problematic.
The poet, editor and arts patron is widely regarded as one of the forefathers of Dunedin and New Zealand literature and his poems are among the most well known and highly regarded in literary circles.
Landfall, the literary journal he founded and edited for 20 years, has provided a vital publication platform for writers and critical thinkers, and continues to thrive under its current editor, Dunedin poet David Eggleton. So too does the University of Otago's Robert Burns Fellowship, which Brasch largely initiated.
Hence the fuss, now the house in which he lived and worked in for some 20 years (until his death in 1973) has come up for sale. A deceased estate, it appears the house has been in the same ownership since Brasch's death, making this a rare opportunity.
There have been calls from the city's writers (among them Brasch's literary executor Alan Roddick) for the Dunedin City Council and University of Otago to buy the house under our new Unesco City of Literature banner and use it for a writer's residency or visiting writers' accommodation.
It was a great idea on paper, but it's unlikely to fly now. The deadline sale closes at midday today.
There are all manner of legal implications if it is extended. The university and council both say they have not had enough time to consider the proposal. Some people would have questioned whether the city should have paid for the property.
The fact there are other Dunedin and Otago writers' residencies, trusts and historic homes (the Caselberg Trust, the Robert Lord Cottage, College of Education's children's writer's residency, Hone Tuwhare residency, Janet Frame Eden Street Trust) offer arguments both for and against another such project. It could have offered an annual home for the Burns Fellow, or even a writers' museum.
The Heriot Row property is physically nothing special; as unassuming, perhaps, as its former owner. But it dates to 1901, is centrally located, and there is no denying the literary heritage value.
On the back of our Unesco City of Literature designation, the timing of the sale certainly provided an opportunity worth discussing.
It has also provided a broader opportunity to discuss how we honour and remember our past writers, support and celebrate our current crop, and how we are using our newly acquired Unesco label.
That designation was a coup, but it seems sadly to have gone largely the same way as the Gigatown label: fought for, won and lauded at the time, but with little to show for it down the track. Momentum has been lacking.
It is pleasing, then, that a City of Literature director, Nicky Page, has just been appointed by the council.
She will have much to do to reharness the energy that went into the initial City of Literature bid, market our new ‘‘brand'' to the world and ourselves, encourage collaborations between different disciplines, cities and countries that emphasise the role of literature in our daily lives, and help nurture the talent the city and region has on offer - not just feed off those writers.
Energy and goodwill only go so far. Funding is the perennial arts problem, which will mean there will always be limits to what can be achieved. Regardless of reality's restrictions though, the very nature of the arts - as well as our place in Unesco's Creative Cities Network - means we should should always dare to dream.
For who knows what is possible if we don't try.
