Nataliya Oryshchuk: 2023
Emerging Writers Residency

Originally from Kyiv, Nataliya is a Christchurch-based writer, playwright, street performer, researcher, theatre-maker and a Gothic nerd. She is the founder and director of NO Productions Theatre company which, since 2012, has produced over twenty original theatre shows in Canterbury and beyond. Right now, she is working on a new solo show “Ukraine to Middle-earth and Back Again”. In her spare time, Nataliya enjoys hoarding various university degrees: so far, she has accumulated a PhD in Russian Studies (University of Canterbury), Master of Creative Writing (Massey University), Master of Arts in History (University of Auckland), Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English (University of Canterbury) and Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies (Kyiv National University of Theatre Arts). She deeply hates the war in Ukraine and, whenever possible, escapes to her imaginary worlds. She dreams that one day she’ll build her own theatre guarded by marble gargoyles. When the real world is to be confronted, she does it by writing her creative non-fiction stories. During her residency (our 7th for the year), Nataliya is working on her collection of stories “Ancestry Dot Home” about migration, Ukraine, survival and escapism.