WORD Christchurch Festival Opens Next Week!

There’s just one week to go until more than 100 writers, thinkers and performers from New Zealand and around the world take to the streets, schools and theatres of Ōtautahi Christchurch offering a feast of fresh ideas, music, powerful stories and creative escapes at WORD Christchurch Festival.

The festival, which opens on Tuesday 27 August and runs until Sunday 1 September, offers a heady mix of more than 70 free and ticketed events thoughtfully curated to appeal to all ages, for all readers, performance and music lovers, and for anyone with a curious mind and a sense of fun.

WORD programme director Kiran Dass says tickets sales are surging.

“Get your tickets now as some shows are starting to sell out! With most tickets under $25 we’ve got something for everyone, whether it’s a quiz night, an open-air boogie with popular musicians, or getting up close with one of your best-loved authors. I can’t wait to welcome you all,” says Ms Dass.

The festival opens with a celebration of Janet Frame, marking her 100th birthday by charging five writers from here and abroad to reflect on Frames quote ‘Imagination is a form of courage’.

The final day of the festival is Father’s Day, with several events perfect for Dad. Irreverent Radio Hauraki Breakfast DJ and author of the self help guide A Life Less Punishing Matt Heath hosts a Dad’s Day Brunch at The George; Australian scientist and communicator Dr Jen Martin will use peer reviewed evidence to answer some of our weirdest conundrums at an event held at The Piano; and at Tūranga, Liam Dann enlightens our wallets with tips from his book BBQ Economics.

In between, the ever-popular Risky Women is back featuring daring wāhine sharing moments when they took a chance in their personal or professional lives; and the candid and unedited event Bad Diaries Salon returns with five writers sharing writing from their personal diaries.

You’ll need to be quick to secure tickets to Cabinet of Curiosities, where writers share their weird and wonderful obsessions. See award-winning multisensory artist Dr Jo Burzynska in Fragrant Texts - a sniffable exploration of all things booky; join in a debate about whether AI is negatively impacting creativity and the written word; and share nibbles and a drink with renowned New Zealand cook, caterer, entrepreneur and cooking school tutor Tina Duncan as she imparts wisdom from a lifetime working with food in the glorious Champagne Lounge at Crowne Plaza.

The exploration of powerful personal stories is a feature of this year’s festival with events including new work by lauded New Zealand born British writer and literary critic Catherine Taylor; trailblazing scholar and activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato); former Waitaha Canterbury local body politician Dame Anna Crighton; multi-award-winning Ōtautahi Christchurch-raised poet Grace Yee; and Wellington writer and curator Megan Dunn.

Much-discussed and internationally acclaimed theatre work The Savage Coloniser Show comes home to Ōtautahi Christchurch, where Tusiata Avia wrote the book the show is based on. Weaving together elements of stand-up comedy, waiata and theatre, Isaac Martyn (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) explores what it means to reclaim Māoritanga from a Pākehā upbringing in his show He Māori?; and WORD is also proud to collaborate with Pacific Underground to present a rehearsed reading of Oscar Kightley’s Dawn Raids at Ngā Hau E Wha Marae.

There’s plenty of fun for tamariki and rangatahi, too. Don’t miss Word the Front Line where Ōtautahi’s finest high school poets battle it out for the slam champion crown. Head to the Edmonds Band Rotunda by the Ōtākaro Avon River on Saturday afternoon for Rangatahi Boogie featuring stories and song from Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri) and Such’n’Such, aka Greg Malcolm and Jenny Ward.

Music always features strongly at WORD which this year offers 2024 Taite Music Prize winner Vera Ellen; a dazzling performance exclusively in the Kāi Tahu dialect from Lyttelton-based vocalist Kommi; and a celebration of Moana-nui-a-kiwa connections with poets Tayi Tibble (Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou), Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku), and Faith Wilson accompanied by the infectious grooves of Judah Band in Confluence. And there’s Voices of Ōtākaro, a special chamber presentation that celebrates the power of verse set to melody with vocalists and musicians from the University of Canterbury and Christchurch Symphony.

Two of this year’s most talked about writers Talia Marshall (Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne ō Wairau, Ngāti Takihiku) (Whaea Blue) and Saraid de Silva (Amma) appear in events throughout the festival talking about their new books, as do best-selling and critically acclaimed writers Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā) (The Mires) ; Steve Braunias (The Survivors: True Stories of Death and Desperation) and Airana Ngarewa (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, Ngāruahine), author of the runaway best seller The Bone Tree.

WORD celebrates the idea of ‘better together’ in a range of powerhouse pairings. This year’s Programmers-at-Large Tayi Tibble and Jordan Tricklebank (Ngāti Maniapoto) bring thoughtful flair to the programme. Tibble appears in the programme alongside US first nations poet Sasha taqwšblu LaPointe (Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian) for a discussion about the kinship they experienced touring together and publishing as Indigenous women in the world; Louise and Gareth Ward, who met at police school and now own beloved Havelock North bookshop Wardini Books, discuss their colourful lives and delightful cosy crime novel Bookshop Detectives; award-winning creatives Christine Jeffs and Emily Perkins discuss what it takes to portray real women on our pages, stages and screens; passionate conservationist and Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki and artist Lily Duval come together to share conversations about some of our most curious creatures along with their book Critters of Aotearoa; and well known authors Claire Mabey (The Raven’s Eye Runaways) and Rachael King (The Grimmelings) join forces to spark young imaginations with their newly minted middle grade books.

WORD Festival executive director Steph Walker says she is proud to present a world-class festival right here in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

“Over many years, WORD has developed a unique festival that shares books, stories, performance and community-minded events with our city. With over 20 percent of our programme being free to attend, WORD is for everyone!”

WORD Christchurch Festival warmly thanks its major funders Christchurch City Council, Creative New Zealand and the Rātā Foundation; principal funders the University of Canterbury and Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu, its myriad of partners from here and abroad, and all its festival patrons and supporters and supporting publishers.

Key dates

24 August – end October Ōtautahi is Flash! (The Crossing)

27 August – 1 September Full festival programme (various venues)

28 August In the Frame: Opening Words (The Piano)

29 – 31 August He Māori? (Little Andromeda)

30 August Ideal Home Noise, Vera Ellen on Songwriting (The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, Altiora)

31 August Rangatahi Boogie (Edmond’s Band Rotunda)

31 August Storywalk (Margaret Mahy Playground)

31 August Hīkoi Walking Tours (various)

1 September Matt Heath’s Dad’s Day Brunch (The George)

1 September Hosting with Tina Duncan (Crowne Plaza)

10 – 13 September The Savage Coloniser Show (Black Box Theatre, Papa Hou)

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