Biography

Writer and theatre-maker Jo Randerson (ONZM) is recognized as one of New Zealand’s most original voices. Her writing is dark, funny, poetic and absurd, and frequently peopled with outsiders, subversives and dissenters. Jo’s published works include short-story collections The Spit Children, Tales from The Netherworld and The Keys to Hell and her plays such as Fold, The Lead Wait, and The Unforgiven Harvest are performed frequently in schools and professional theatres. Her writing has won her the Robert Burns Fellowship, an Arts Foundation New Generation Award and the Bruce Mason Award for playwrighting. She collaborates internationally with visual artists, theatre makers and activists, most recently in Paris, Moscow and Istanbul with Swedish visual artists Goldin+Senneby at the biennales in each city. Her play The Spit Children premiered at Antwerp’s largest youth theatre HETPALEIS in May 2014. Jo is part of a team who have re-purposed a disused bowling club in Vogelmorn, Wellington as a creative community space see www.vogelmorn.nz. She is the founder and artistic director of Barbarian Productions (a theatre company). Recent theatre works include