Three global crime-writing heavyweights discuss the inner workings of the criminal mind - and reveal the winners of the 2022 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Join Tā Tipene O'Regan, Helen Brown and Michael Stevens for a journey through some extraordinary Ngāi Tahu lives.
Join Joanna Preston for this workshop designed to bring you gently into the world of poetry.
Join wine writer, sound artist and multisensory researcher Dr Jo Burzynska and WORD Programme Manager, writer and critic Kiran Dass to explore the fascinating intersections between words, wine and sound.
Tracey Slaughter, Brannavan Gnanalingam and Murdoch Stephens chat about the harsh realities of domestic life and parenting, desire and rage, loss and sexual politics in their books.
Professor Deidre Brown presents the fascinating story of the trade in treasures between 19th-century Māori and Christian missionaries.
Under 25 with a message to spread or a story to tell? Come down for a mashup of free workshops, stalls and creative crafts.
Christopher Finlayson was in the engine room of the John Key-led National government. He speaks with Kim Hill about his remarkable career, and getting to know the real John Key.
What makes our moods? What do meditation and medication do to our brains? Is it better to be happy or do good?
Learn the nuts and bolts of interviewing, journalism techniques, information gathering and structuring a story in this masterclass with award-winning RNZ journalist Guyon Espiner.
Nicky Pellegrino and Miriama Kamo share a candid and witty conversation about the realities of menopause, and how to navigate this often-challenging phase of life.
Sarah Krasnostein is one of the finest observers of human nature writing today. She joins Kim Hill to unpack the lives of ordinary people who believe in the extraordinary: things most people would consider impossible.
Dr Julia Rucklidge has spent decades looking at nutrition, anxiety, depression and stress. She discusses why we need to be mindful of what we eat.
Join Nick Bollinger in conversation with Philip Matthews about the colourful transformation of New Zealand life wrought by the counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s.
A unique masterclass with Lloyd Jones which will explore the crucial role of 'imaginative risk' in writing.
Kate De Goldi in conversation with Liz Grant about her new novel Eddy Eddy.
As a Māori or Pasifika storyteller, what do you want the future of indigenous storytelling to look like?
Ottessa Moshfegh is the queen of bitingly mordant, unsettling and atmospheric fiction. She joins us from Southern California to talk about her new novel Lapvona.
Confluence brings together Pasfika and Māori musicians and poets for a joyous celebration of connections between Polynesia and Aotearoa.
Veteran Guardian foreign correspondent and former Russia bureau chief Luke Harding speaks with Guyon Espiner about the war in Ukraine.
Get cosy in the Little Andromeda bar for fabulous star-infused performances from poets, spec-fic authors, observationists and storytellers.
Economics commentator Max Rashbrooke and chronicler of life on the poverty line, author, playwright and poet Dominic Hoey, talk wealth, poverty and opportunity with Danyl McLauchlan.
Step into a working tattoo studio to hear writers and artists reveal the tales behind their ink: what they mean, why they got them, how the world reacts.
Prize-winning Indian novelist, playwright, journalist and film maker Annie Zaidi takes you into the heart of Mumbai with Dr Hafsa Ahmed.
One of our most popular storytelling sessions returns with a bang. Prepare to be inspired and moved as five extraordinary but very different women tell powerful stories of bravery and risk from their own adventurous lives.
Our festival-within-a-festival is back for another marathon of stunning performances and outrageous gimmicks.
How do we adapt, mitigate and create in response to the climate crisis? Can good writing get us past the language of science and policy to where the ecological and human meet?
Join Mohamed Hassan in this masterclass that weaves together storytelling, journalism and memoir to explore how a personal essay can help you tell your story.
Join NUKU founder Qiane Matata-Sipu for kōrero and kai with three dynamic women from the NUKU book: broadcaster and te reo champion Stacey Morrison, 15-year-old CEO and author Georgia Latu and poet and leadership executive Dr Karlo Mila.
Ross Calman and Dr Te Maire Tau on the life of Te Rauparaha, the turbulent history between Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Toa and the peace marriages that followed.
Join Heather Morris, author of the blockbuster The Tattooist of Auschwitz, in conversation about her gripping new novel Three Sisters.
Join Lloyd Jones in conversation about how myths, fables and legends shape our understanding of the past, and of ourselves.
Two gifted satirists, Coco Solid and Murdoch Stephens, tackle housing and gentrification in their recent books. Join them for a sparky conversation about the places we live.
Emily St John Mandel, author of Station Eleven, joins Rachael King from New York City to discuss a writer’s life during a pandemic, the power of imagination, and her new novel, Sea of Tranquility.
This workshop will help you to discover two essential ingredients for new work – a pulsating idea and a voice (character) to tell the tale.
Bring the whole whānau down for Matariki stories from Aotearoa, the Pacific Islands, Australia, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa, with award-winning journalist and author Miriama Kamo, and Māori astronomer Victoria Campbell.
Whiti Hereaka, Sascha Stronach and Cassie Hart on the craft of reimagining the past, present and future in their fiction.
Join Megan Dunn for a masterclass exploring how writing from life is an active fiction.
The Great WORD Story Hunt is back. Grab the whānau and find clues hidden in the library that will lead you to the next story.
Ray Shipley hosts Dominic Hoey, Mohamed Hassan, Vana Manasiadis and Emma Barnes in Christchurch's favourite nocturnal salon.
A very special night of storytelling, whisky and guitars to celebrate the life and art of the brilliant Keri Hulme.
Annette Lees guides you through nature’s reclamation of the Avon Loop, revealing the sights, sounds, creatures and stars that emerge when the sun goes down.
Tiny lectures which celebrate the weird and wonderful!
New Zealand poets join forces with Chinese musicians in celebration of the sister city relationship between Waimakariri and Enshi, China,
Dr Melani Anae and Rev Alec Toleafoa reflect on the apology for the Dawn Raids, and five decades spent in peaceful resistance, educating New Zealand about ongoing racism, and Pasifika empowerment.
Noelle McCarthy in conversation about her razor-sharp, raw and luminous memoir Grand.
Pip Williams joins Nicky Pellegrino live from Adelaide to discuss The Dictionary of Lost Words, her best-selling novel that shows the English language in a new light.
Join Rebecca K. Reilly, Sue Orr and Chloe Lane in conversation with Kate De Goldi about the murky intricacies of emotional, sexual and family politics and dynamics explored in their novels.
Chris Tse and Emma Barnes host a range of special guests for a deep dive into the brilliance and diversity of Queer writing today.
Journalist, poet and observer of human behaviour Mohamed Hassan asks what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century.
Vana Manasiadis and Kerry Dononvan Brown invite you to wander through a pocket of ancient bush, respond to writing prompts, engage your senses, think about space, history and deep time – and to write.
Learn about the art and craft of writing memoir in this masterclass by Dame Fiona Kidman.
Take a spin through America’s heady counter-culture with celebrated US author Rachel Kushner.
A kōrero with Coco Solid, Rebecca K Reilly and Nicole Titihuia Hawkins about the writing, art, music or people inspire them, and how these influences show up in their work.
In this workshop, Tracey Slaughter explores how to achieve grounded, dynamic writing in the short story form.
Annette Lees on a life spent walking at night, and the pleasures of trying to capture the natural world through words.
Tenacious New Yorker staff reporter Patrick Radden Keefe joins us from New York to talk about his gripping books Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty and the newly published Rogues: True Stories if Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks.
Renowned writer and activist Rebecca Solnit joins Morgan Godfery live from the US to talk George Orwell, roses, climate, resistance and love.
Join three remarkable authors Ruth Shaw, Megan Dunn and Clementine Ford for a discussion on the complexities, challenges and joys of writing memoir.
Whether you want to professionally present your own work, or hone your editing skills to improve other people's writing, this is the workshop for you.
Acclaimed British writer David Mitchell digitally joins singer-songwriter Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins for a unique and intimate performance.
Gifted novelist and screenwriter David Mitchell beams in from his home in Ireland to talk about creativity, fictional worlds, and his stunning WORD collaboration with Tiny Ruins.
Take an after-dark tour of the museum, with poets waiting beside favourite taonga to read work that illuminates these treasures in surprising ways.
Fearless contemporary feminist Clementine Ford turns from manifesto to memoir, using her own life to reflect on the nature of love itself.
Join Dame Fiona Kidman in conversation with Morrin Rout about her memoir So Far, For Now.
The Read Aloud Schools Day is back for another year. As always, we bring six exciting children’s writers across two sessions to the stage, free for all primary and intermediate schools in Canterbury.
Once again, we’re offering incredible speakers to Christchurch secondary schools, absolutely free of charge.
WORD transforms Tūranga to tell the story of Tāwhaki which is woven into the building itself, using the spectacular central staircase as the stage.
Poets set aside the niceties and throw down like their lives depend on it. Did they nail it? You be the judge.
WORD transforms Tūranga to bring to life the story of Tāwhaki which is woven into the building itself, using the spectacular central staircase as the stage.
Join CUP to celebrate the launch of The Wandering Nature of Us Girls, Frankie McMillan’s new collection of exquisite, genre-defying prose.
Internationally award-winning haiku poet Doc Drumheller brings the ancient Japanese ginko, or haiku walk, into Waimakariri schools.
Takahē is setting up shop and making an issue on-site during WORD. Drop in to find out what goes on behind the scenes at a literary magazine.
Out and About on New Regent Street takes framed poems from the new Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa into our favourite restaurants, bars and shops on New Regent Street. Track them down and be in to win.
Catch mega-bestselling author Liane Moriarty live on stage for a warm and wise conversation about family life, love and friendship, and the darkness that can lie beneath the veneer of seemingly perfect lives.
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