Place for peace, quiet, poetry

A Broad Bay cottage on the Otago Peninsula looks set to again become a tranquil place where painters, writers and poets find inspiration.

University of Otago 2009 Burns Fellow Michael Harlow yesterday took the keys to a recently refurbished cottage to begin his tenure as the first Caselberg Trust resident.

As he crossed the threshold, Mr Harlow told trustees and trust members who had gathered for the opening that he believed hard work was an integral part of the creative process.

"I didn't think I believed in inspiration, but I feel quite privileged to be here, and do feel inspired," he said.

Mr Harlow has lived in Alexandra for six years. He has been a psychotherapist and says aspects of this often appear in his writing - "they are both about working with the unconscious".

He won the Takahe poetry prize in 1998 and was Wellington's Randell Cottage writer in residence in 2004.

His book Cassandra's Daughter was published in 2005.

Caselberg Charitable Trust chairwoman Janet Downs, of Broad Bay, said Caselberg House residencies would be offered to an "eclectic range" of artists, who would stay for a few weeks or several months.

The cottage had deteriorated while unoccupied for two years before the newly formed trust bought it in 2006.

Hard work by trustees, trust members and volunteers from the community - including tradesmen who had donated labour - and sponsorship from several Dunedin businesses had transformed the cottage into the tidy retreat it now was, she said.

The home was formerly owned by Anna and John Caselberg, who both died in 2004.

Mrs Caselberg was an artist and daughter of one of New Zealand's best-known painters, Sir Tosswill Woollaston.

John Caselberg was Burns Fellow in 1961.

He produced poetry, criticism, short-stories and essays and enjoyed a long collaborative relationship with friend Colin McCahon.