Introducing Sophie van Waardenberg
We’re pleased to welcome Sophie van Waardenberg to the NZCF team as our Communications Administrator. Sophie has recently returned to Aotearoa from the United States, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Syracuse University, after which she held a Junior Advisor position at the Permanent Mission of New Zealand to the United Nations.
Her role with NZCF will include, among other things, managing and creating social media content, producing the monthly eBreve, writing press releases, assisting with funding applications, and managing a new 6-month Pasifika outreach programme funded by Creative New Zealand.
Sophie grew up singing in choirs at St Cuthbert’s College before joining the Auckland Youth Choir during her university years, and she calls Tāmaki Makaurau home. She has a range of experience as a freelance writer, a literary editor, a university teaching assistant, and a research assistant. Her poetry, essays, and book reviews have been published in Aotearoa and the US. She believes in the power of the creative arts to form and strengthen communities - something she put into practice through the facilitation of community youth writing programmes in New York and which she's excited to see continue through this role with NZCF.