Word Christchurch Festival

17 April 2021 Who is Kim Jong Un? In The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un, journalist Anna Fifield presents a captivating portrait of North Korea and its sometimes ridiculous, sometimes deadly leader. Featuring exclusive access to key figures in Kim Jong Un’s life, The Great Successor earned international acclaim for its insight into the world’s oddest and most isolated political regime. Anna Fifield has recently returned to New Zealand to take up the position of editor at the Dominion Post. Prior to that she was a foreign correspondent for twenty years, for both the Financial Times and the Washington Post, with postings across Asia and the Middle East. Don’t miss this fascinating event, where she will share stories and insights with fellow journalist Jo Malcolm.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Christchurch has arguably undergone more change and upheaval than any other city in New Zealand this century. Just as rocky is the relationship between the city and its people. We ask five writers with connections to the city: How do you feel about Christchurch? Is your relationship to a place different when you are born here than when you choose it as your home? And can we speak honestly about the dark side as well as the light? What would you say if you could address the city directly? Writing letters to Ōtautahi are Nathan Joe, Juanita Hepi, Lil O’Brien who grew up here, and more recent arrivals Erik Kennedy and Behrouz Boochani. Hosted by Naomi van den Broek.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival New Zealand women have published poetry for over 150 years. In her landmark book Wild Honey, poet Paula Green celebrates and makes connections between 201 of them, from emerging poets and those who are household names, who lived unconventional lives for their art and who gave a poetic voice to resistance, to those who have slipped from public view or were not paid the honour they were due in their lifetimes. Join us for a celebration of these amazing talented women, featuring three generations of poets who will each read from their own work and choose a poem from a woman who has inspired them. Featuring some of our greatest and freshest performers, this will be a moving, engaging and unforgettable festival event. Wild Honey celebrates the many ways in which poems by women deserve a place in the literary canon of Aotearoa. Featuring Jess Fiebig, Bernadette Hall, Cilla McQueen, Selina Tusiatala Marsh, Frankie McMillan and Freya Daly Sadgrove, with Morrin Rout. Unfortunately, Tusiata Avia is not able to appear at this event.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham is the only combat soldier ever to win the Victoria Cross twice. His acts of bravery in World War II meant he probably deserved six more. The mystery of how a reserved, modest, slightly-built farm valuer from New Zealand could be so ferocious and fearless in battle has intrigued and fascinated Tom Scott ever since he read about Charles Upham as a schoolboy. Searching for Charlie is Scott’s epic quest to unravel the ‘real’ Charles Upham. He talks with Christopher Moore about what he learned along the way.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Ralph Hotere was one of Aotearoa’s most significant artists. His life was just as remarkable as his art. Hotere invited the poet, novelist and biographer Vincent O’Sullivan to write his life story in 2005. Now, this book — the result of years of research and many conversations with Hotere and his fellow artists, collaborators, friends and family — provides a nuanced, compelling portrait of Hotere: the man, and the artist. Vincent O’Sullivan is joined by Bill Manhire, Cilla McQueen and Lisa Reihana to discuss the life and work of the man behind the iconic, stand-alone signature: HOTERE. Chaired by Sally Blundell.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Through their own marks about the land and its people, be it in ink or paint, Grahame Sydney, Brian Turner and Owen Marshall offer a love song to the South Island, in particular Central Otago, in their new book Landmarks. Hear the stories behind the words and pictures, chaired by Fiona Farrell.

30 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Ko Aotearoa Tātou | We Are New Zealand is bursting with new works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual art created in response to the editors’ questions: What is New Zealand now, in all its rich variety and contradiction, darkness and light? Who are New Zealanders? The starting point for the anthology was the statement by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after the March Christchurch attacks: ‘Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it…we will not, and cannot, be shaken by this attack.’ To celebrate the launch of this important book, published by Otago University Press, we welcome contributors reading from their work alongside special guests from 5pm to 6pm, followed by a reception from 6pm to 7pm. Featuring Dr Hanif Quazi, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, essa may ranapiri, Donna Miles-Mojab, Mohamed Hassan, David Gregory, E Wen Wong and more. Unfortunately, Tusiata Avia is not able to appear at the event.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival The ongoing containment of the coronavirus pandemic in Aotearoa has been in no small part due to the co-operation of what Jacinda Ardern affectionately calls our ‘team of five million’. It has been a triumph in communication, with clear messaging that New Zealanders have followed. An essential part of this effort is the work of Dr Siouxsie Wiles and cartoonist Toby Morris (The Spinoff), whose comics and animations have gone viral (excuse the pun) around the world. They discuss their strategy and challenges with Noelle McCarthy.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival We bring together two young first generation Iranian New Zealanders to tell their extraordinary stories. In The Girl from Revolution Road, writer and filmmaker Ghazaleh Golbakhsh speaks powerfully of displacement and living between two worlds. Her essays range from a childhood in war-torn Iran, to learning English and making friends, to dating in the days of COVID-19. Know Your Place tells Golriz Ghahraman‘s story, with memories of life and resistance in post-revolutionary Iran to making a home in Aotearoa New Zealand; her work as a human rights lawyer, her United Nations missions, and how she became the first refugee to be elected to the New Zealand Parliament. Golbakhsh and Ghahraman appear in conversation with Donna Miles-Mojab to discuss breaking barriers, the daily challenges of prejudice that shape the lives of women and minorities, and finding a place to belong.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival The horrifying events of the March 15 terror attacks on two Christchurch mosques in 2019 must never be forgotten. Husna Ahmed was a victim of the shooting, killed while looking for her husband, who was in a wheelchair. In Husna’s Story, Farid Ahmed accounts his wife’s life, including a tragic account of the shootings. He also outlines his philosophy of forgiveness, which he has travelled the world to convey. His conversation with Raf Manji should not be missed by anyone who was affected by that terrible day in our city.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Not in Narrow Seas is a major contribution by economist Brian Easton to the history of Aotearoa New Zealand. It covers everything from the traditional gift-based Māori economy to the Ardern government’s attempt to deal with the economic challenges of global warming. It is also the first economic history to underline the central role of the environment, beginning with the geological formation of these islands. Easton talks with Geoffrey Rice.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Becky Manawatu exploded onto the literary landscape last year with her book Auē, a story of broken family. Steve Braunias called it the best book of 2019: ‘a deep and powerful work, maybe even the most successfully achieved portrayal of underclass New Zealand life since Once Were Warriors.’ It went on win the 2020 Ockham awards for both best first novel and best novel. Don’t miss this exciting new writer in conversation with Emma Espiner.

30 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival In her new memoir Bella, Annabel Langbein, New Zealand’s most popular cookbook author, writes about her remarkable life and how food has shaped it, highlighting some of the recipes that have resonated most strongly with her over the years. From her childhood fascination with cooking to a teenage flirtation as a Maoist hippie, to possum trapping and living off the land as a hunter and forager, to travelling and starting her own croissant business in Brazil, Annabel’s life has always been centred on food and nature. Out of this came an obsession with creating cookbooks, introducing a generation of cooks to her simple recipes for delicious, stylish meals. Don’t miss this intimate evening with a cooking legend. Annabel appears in conversation with Jo Malcolm.

30 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright, and librettist, Vincent O’Sullivan is one of our most acclaimed and versatile writers. He was New Zealand’s Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015 and, in Kirsty Gunn’s words, ‘continues to have a prominent ongoing role in the public literary life of this country, helping us to press at our boundaries, see the close at hand as well as further horizons’. With a rich and rewarding recent novel (All This By Chance) and a volume of selected short stories, as well as a biography of Ralph Hotere and a forthcoming poetry collection, there will be much to talk about with chair Paul Millar.

30 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Presented by Heartland Bank Our gala night opens the weekend with six of our distinguished writers responding to the shifting world around us. What does it mean to find courage in the face of a global pandemic, race protests, border strife and climate anxiety? Each writer will deliver a short keynote that is sure to provoke both thought and emotion. With Becky Manawatu, Witi Ihimaera, Mohamed Hassan, Laura Jean McKay, Elizabeth Knox and Behrouz Boochani, hosted by John Campbell.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Supported by the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre A Long Time Coming: The story of Ngāi Tahu’s treaty settlement negotiations tells the extraordinary, complex and compelling story of Ngāi Tahu’s treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown and shines a light, for both Māori and Pākehā, on a crucial part of this country’s history that has not, until now, been widely enough known. Join author Martin Fisher, along with Te Maire Tau, Tā Tipene O’Regan and Chris Finlayson, as they discuss a claim that spanned two centuries.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Presented by Milford Asset Management Join MC Joe Bennett for this outrageous festival institution guaranteed to entertain and provoke. Is it the end of the world as we know it? Arguing for or against are The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire, satirist Tom Scott, novelist Paula Morris, comedian Guy Williams, scientist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, and te reo expert Dr Hana O’Regan. A raucous night of argument and repartee is guaranteed!

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Presented by Pegasus Health Matt Calman’s The Longest Day describes how training for the Coast to Coast helped him find a way up the perilous path from rock bottom. Fellow journalist Jehan Casinader (This Is Not How It Ends) found the power of storytelling helped him to survive. Both men talk with Ekant Veer about their experiences with depression and their individual roads to mental health.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Presented by Milford Asset Management Supported by the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship administered by the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi For fifty years, writers have travelled to Menton in the south of France to take up the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship. While there, they work in a studio attached to the Villa Isola Bella, where Katherine Mansfield, arguably New Zealand’s most famous writer, lived and wrote for a time late in her career. We invite five of those writers to write a letter to Mansfield about their time writing by the Mediterranean, or about anything they think Katherine should know about the world in 2020. Featuring Paula Morris, Vincent O’Sullivan, Bill Manhire, Carl Nixon and Fiona Farrell.

29 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Presented by Latitude To open the festival, we are bringing back one of our most popular events! This year we invite four extraordinary women to tell stories from their adventurous lives and talk about what drives them to take risks, in their life and work. Hear Kaiora Tipene, one half of the fabulous Netflix duo The Casketeers; Selina Tusitala Marsh, fast-talking PI, former Poet Laureate and author of Mophead; Annabel Langbein, celebrity cookbook author and adventurer; and Miriam Lancewood, author of Woman in the Wilderness. Hosted by broadcaster and author Miriama Kamo. Grab some friends and make a night of it; come away inspired to invite more adventure into your life.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Join one of Aotearoa’s master storytellers, Witi Ihimaera, for a very special evening of myths and music. His new book, Navigating the Stars, is a spellbinding and provocative retelling of traditional Maori myths for the twenty-first century. From Hawaiki to Aotearoa, the ancient navigators brought their myths, while looking to the stars — bright with gods, ancestors and stories — to guide the way. Telling tales from the book and from his latest memoir Native Son, the sequel to his award-winning Māori Boy, Ihimaera will be accompanied by sound artist and musical polymath Kingsley Spargo. This will be a very special evening indeed.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival ‘In this landscape we invent as it invents us.’ Dramatic, sublime, fragile, work-a-day, the landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand, and in particular the landscape of Te Waipounamu, is all of these, and more. We grow out of the places we live in as organically as any other living thing. How do poets, our most sensitive communicators, perceive and make meaningful the spirit of the places where they reside? Poet Laureate David Eggleton has invited poets who live in Te Waipounamu — Kay McKenzie Cooke, Bernadette Hall, Cilla McQueen, Owen Marshall and James Norcliffe — to present poems exploring that question.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival In Laura Jean McKay‘s visceral and eerily topical novel, The Animals in That Country, a pandemic is sweeping Australia. This is no ordinary flu though – the virus enables humans to communicate with animals. But protagonist Jean, ‘hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit’ is no Dr Dolittle. Philip Armstrong‘s debut poetry collection, Sinking Lessons, also features lots of animals, from dogs to eels to hares to leaf-cutter ants, drawing on his academic work in human-animal studies. Both writers appear in conversation with each other about their books and ask: what would the animals say if they could talk to us?

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Pip Adam has writen one of the most talked about novels of 2020, Nothing to See, which follows mysterious doppelgängers Peggy and Greta. Philip Matthews described it as ‘a novel about shame, loneliness, about wanting to do good and hoping for second chances’, ‘a real achievement’ that is ‘deeply affecting’ and ‘[pushes] the traditional limits of fiction.’ Her last book, The New Animals, won the 2018 Acorn Foundation Prize, and the judges called it ‘the book with the most blood on the page.’ She discusses her work, and her unique world view, with fellow novelist Carl Shuker.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Two novels take medical mishaps as a starting point. In Carl Shuker‘s acclaimed A Mistake, surgeon Elizabeth Taylor, a ‘gifted, driven woman excelling in a male-dominated culture’, deals with the fallout from an operation that goes gravely wrong. Eileen Merriman‘s new novel for adults, The Silence of Snow, explores life under pressure for an Anaesthetic Fellow and a first year doctor. Both authors know their stuff: Shuker is a former editor at the British Medical Journal and Merriman is consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital. They talk to writer, medical student and podcast host Emma Espiner.

30 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival You can’t choose your family, or can you? Two new novels from Christchurch writers explore the bonds of family. In Carl Nixon‘s gripping thriller The Tally Stick, three children are left stranded in the bush after their parents die in a car accident. In Chloe Lane‘s debut novel, The Swimmers, a daughter is faced with an unimaginable task when her mother, suffering from motor neurone disease decides to take her fate into her own hands. As well as exploring complex themes, the two authors talk with Kirsten McDougall about the craft of writing, and the infinite choices a writer has to make to tell their story well.

1 November 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Elizabeth Knox has one of the most singular voices in New Zealand fiction. In The Absolute Book, she once again pulls off the undefinable, with an urgently relevant novel that is part fantasy, part thriller, and part meditation on books, libraries and the environment. Don’t miss her conversation with Noelle McCarthy in our own library, Tūranga, and witness this incredible mind at work.

31 October 2020 | WORD Christchurch Spring Festival Bill Manhire is not only one of our leading poets but was a mentor to hundreds through the International Institute of Modern Letters, where he established the MA in Creative Writing, which for a long time was simply known as ‘Bill Manhire’s writing course.’ American writer Teju Cole says of Manhire, ‘… he’s unquestionably world-class. As with Seamus Heaney, you get a sense of someone with a steady hand on the tiller, and both the will and the craft to take your breath away.’ In the title poem of Manhire’s new collection, we hear a baby say Wow to life. Join the poet and his ex-student of Modern Poetry, John Campbell, for readings and conversation, featuring Manhire’s signature wordplay and humour.

26 August 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View In his first book, 'The Other Side of Freedom: Race and justice in a divided America', Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson lays down the intellectual, pragmatic, and political framework for a new liberation movement. Mckesson places an idea of shared hope for a better future at the core of his activism. He encourages us to take responsibility for imagining, then building, the world we want to live in. Mckesson appears in conversation with Victor Rodger, followed by audience Q&A, where among other wisdom, he offers advice to white people on how to become a better ally.

Verb Wellington and WORD Christchurch, in association with Amnesty International, present Behrouz Boochani: No Friend but the Mountains. In December 2019, WORD Christchurch and Verb Wellington joined together to present a very special event in Wellington with Behrouz Boochani and novelist Lloyd Jones, whose novel, The Cage, is a parable inspired by the plight of refugees worldwide. Boochani’s book, No Friend but the Mountains, laboriously tapped out on a mobile phone and translated from Farsi, is a voice of witness, an act of survival. A lyrical first-hand account. A cry of resistance. A vivid portrait through five years of incarceration and exile. Boochani and Jones discussed the craft of writing the book and the extraordinary story of the Australian literary community that rallied around him to secure his freedom. With special thanks to the National Library of New Zealand | Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, and The Park Hotel for their support of this event.

Recorded at the 2018 WORD Christchurch Festival, 1 September 2018 We welcome Yaba Badoe, award-winning documentary filmmaker and author of A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars, a powerful, haunting story that steps seamlessly from the horrors of people-trafficking to the magic of African folklore. In 2014 Badoe was nominated for a Distinguished Woman of African Cinema Award, and her documentaries include The Witches of Gambaga, which tells the extraordinary story of a community of women condemned to live as witches in Northern Ghana, and The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo,about the life and work of the iconic African feminist writer. Yaba Badoe appears in conversation with Sionainn Byrnes. Supported by: Edinburgh International Book Festival

31 August 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View The New Zealand Wars profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nation’s history. Fought between the Crown and various groups of Māori between 1845 and 1872, remnants and reminders from these conflicts and their aftermath can be found all over the country. The wars are an integral part of the New Zealand story but we have not always cared to remember or acknowledge them. Vincent O’Malley will deliver a lecture related to his latest book on the causes, events and consequences of the New Zealand Wars (Ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa). Supported by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

13 September 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View To kick off a weekend celebrating the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Awards, we welcome the charismatic Val McDermid, formidable Scottish crime writer. Val’s new book, How the Dead Speak, is a shocking, masterfully plotted novel that will leave both long-time fans and new readers breathless. She talks with crime fiction aficionado, and Bookenz host, Ruth Todd.

31 August 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View Marilyn Waring’s new book The Political Years looks at her extraordinary years in parliament. She tells the story of her journey from being elected as a new National Party MP in a conservative rural seat to being publicly decried by the Robert Muldoon for her ‘feminist anti-nuclear stance’ that threatened to bring down his government. Her tale of life in a male-dominated and relentlessly demanding political world is both uniquely of its time and still of pressing relevance today. Waring’s other new book, Still Counting, follows up on her ground-breaking work Counting for Nothing, in which she explained, through meticulous economic analysis, how the success of the global economy rests on women’s unpaid work. Today, many people hope that the shift to a wellbeing approach will mean women’s work is finally valued fairly. But what does Marilyn Waring make of it? In this unmissable session, Waring talks politics, women, and wellbeing economics with Bronwyn Hayward.

13 September 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View From Billy T. James to Rose Matafeo, Fred Dagg to Flight of the Conchords, New Zealanders have made each other laugh in ways distinctive to these islands. The recent documentary series Funny As is a loving and hilarious tribute to the people who have made the scene what it is today. Join its producer Paul Horan and writer Philip Matthews, authors of the companion book Funny As, along with movers and shakers of the New Zealand comedy scene, Madeleine Sami and Justine Smith* to hear the stories, share the laughs, and watch outtakes that for one reason or another didn’t quite make the show

31 August 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View Simon Winchester, the distinguished and bestselling author of Pacific, The Map That Changed the World and The Surgeon of Crowthorne among many others, knows how to tell a good story. His latest book, Exactly: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World is a magnificent history of the pioneering engineers who developed precision machinery to allow us to see as far as the moon and as close as the Higgs boson. He joins Kim Hill in wide-ranging conversation about his adventurous life and the big ideas that have made an impact on the world as we know it.

31 August 2019 | WORD Christchurch Shifting Points of View How can we see where we’re going, if we don’t know where we’ve been? In his recent Michael King Memorial Lecture, historian Vincent O’Malley stressed the importance of teaching the bloody story of the New Zealand Wars in our schools, to understand today’s society, and recently gave historical context to the Ihumātao dispute in The Spinoff. Simon Winchester has spent his career bringing to life stories from the past, and Jessica Maclean’s research interests lie in Māori futures, which are inextricably linked to history. Join them for a lively conversation about the importance of owning our history, the good and the bad, in order to look to the future. Chaired by Peter Field.

In Dead People I Have Known, the legendary New Zealand musician Shayne Carter tells the story of a life in music, taking us deep behind the scenes and songs of his riotous teenage bands Bored Games and the Doublehappys, his best-known bands Straitjacket Fits and Dimmer. Carter appears live in conversation with WORD Programme Director Rachael King about the writing of the book – often poetic, often hilarious, always engaging – and the stories within, which feature bands, women, family and friends.

Grab a drink from the bar and head into the Heartland Chamber to warm up for the evening ahead. Five writers who really know how to take a page to the stage are: poet and stand-up comedian Ray Shipley as your MC; Erik Kennedy, with his newly launched collection, There’s No Place Like the Internet in Springtime; Megan Dunn, with the brilliant memoir, Tinderbox, about working in a failing bookstore while failing to write a novel; Annaleese Jochems, whose novel Baby is about ‘naked, open female want’, and Chris Tse, whose poetry collection He’s So MASC is ‘acerbic, acid-bright, yet unapologetically sentimental’.

Join two writers whose innate sense of curiosity produces insightful works of fiction and essay. Paula Morris’s accolades include the New Zealand Post Book Award for her novel, Rangatira, and her latest book, False River, gathers a bouquet of internationally acclaimed short stories and essays. Tina Makereti’s first book Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings is a favourite of book clubs and her new novel, The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke, like Rangatira, grapples with the challenging subject of Māori exhibited in Victorian England. Both are outspoken and energetic advocates for books and writers, especially Māori and Pasifika writers. They talk to writer Nic Low.

When the Guardian described Hollie McNish’s award-winning ‘poetic memoir’ Nobody Told Me as ‘diary entries, poems jotted in the dead of night and during nap-times, breathless musings on breastfeeding, sex after giving birth, and the state of the world’, it could have just as easily been describing The Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes’ Rants in the Dark. Both write wryly, honestly and with humour and warmth about pregnancy and motherhood. In a session sure to be full of laughs and a few tears, they read and discuss their books, including the new anthology Is It Bedtime Yet?, with Catherine Robertson, and with a bonus appearance by Brannavan Gnanalingam, giving a glimpse of the view from ‘the other side’.

In turbulent times, in a fractured society, fiction can provide comfort and escape. But it can also fulfil another role. It can shake us out of our complacency, make us think, push us to question the status quo, and open a window onto people and societies different from our own. Recent Ockham award-winner Pip Adam, and Rajorshi Chakraborti, who both teach creative writing to people living in prisons, join Brannavan Gnanalingam to discuss with Julie Hill the politics of writing fiction, and how it can become a tool to create empathy across divides.

Few write with as much passion and fascination about the sea as British author Philip Hoare, who swims in the ocean every day, regardless of the season. His hugely acclaimed Leviathan, or the Whale won the Samuel Johnson Prize and introduced us to Hoare’s eclectic style of biography, literary criticism, social history and nature writing, which carried through to The Sea Inside. His latest book, RisingTideFallingStar, includes ‘fantastical stories of drowned poets, eccentric artists and magical animals, slipping between species and gender, all bound by the profound ocean’. Philip chats with Kim Hill in a not-to-missed conversation.

In 2003, Robin Robertson challenged some of the world’s finest writers to open up and share their stories of embarrassment for the collection, Mortification: Writers’ Stories of their Public Shame. The result was both horrifying and hilarious.We gave four New Zealand writers, Jarrod Gilbert, Paula Morris, Steve Braunias and Megan Dunn, the same challenge, and invited them to read their stories aloud, alongside Irvine Welsh* (via prerecorded video), who contributed to the original book. This session will have strong language and is not for the faint of heart or easily offended. We recommend you buy a stiff drink beforehand. *Please note that due to personal circumstances, Irvine Welsh will no longer be able to attend WORD Christchurch Festival in person. For more information please see our announcement here.

Spend an hour with one of New Zealand’s favourite figures as he discusses with Michele A’Court his best-selling memoir, Drawn Out. Tom Scott is a political commentator and cartoonist, satirist, scriptwriter, playwright, raconteur and funny man. Famously banned from the Press Gallery by Rob Muldoon, he’s observed David Lange, Mike Moore and Helen Clark. His memoir, which covers his childhood, his university days, his parliamentary career, his work with close friend Ed Hillary and much more, is both multi-layered and a ripping good yarn.

Lloyd Jones is one of New Zealand’s most internationally successful contemporary writers, perhaps best known for the Booker Prize-shortlisted Mister Pip and his lyrical take on the All Blacks’ 1905 international tour, The Book of Fame. Constantly pushing boundaries, and never one to shy away from difficult subjects, he is back with his first novel in seven years, The Cage, a powerful allegorical tale about humanity and dignity and the ease with which we can justify brutality. Lloyd appears in a wide-ranging discussion with broadcaster John Campbell about his work, the topics that draw him in and what pushes his storytelling buttons.

Hard Brexit? Soft Brexit? Brexit of champions or Brexit of losers? We hope that Scottish crime writer and regular BBC presenter, Denise Mina and former Islamist radical turned anti-extremist Ed Husain can explain to chair, columnist David Slack, and us why more than half of British voters opted to quit the European Union in 2016 and whether it was just a spectacular own goal by David Cameron. And what, if anything, does it mean for the long-term project of Scottish independence that the British voted to leave the EU but Scotland prefers to stay?

The judges of the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards described Driving to Treblinka as ‘not just a beautifully written book, but an important book, too’ and gave it two non-fiction prizes. Readers know Diana Wichtel as a Listener journalist whose TV reviews and interviews are a consistent highlight of the magazine. Driving to Treblinka is a compassionate, wise memoir about her father, a Holocaust survivor who escaped to Canada and whose life remained a mystery to his estranged children. The truth can set you free but there is always a cost. Diana talks to journalist Philip Matthews.

Supported by the British Council, Creative Scotland and Bloody Scotland A favourite at literary festivals the world over for her engaging and entertaining conversation, acclaimed and best-selling Glasgow-born author Denise Mina is a must-see for fiction fans of all stripes. Gripping, gritty and superbly written crime novels are her signature, but she has turned her hand to everything from short stories, to comics, to documentaries – and she has always scorned the conventional. Her latest book, the award-winning The Long Drop, is based on the true story of Peter Manuel, a serial killer operating in 1950s Glasgow. Mina talks to journalist Charlotte Graham-McLay.

1 September 2018 | WORD Christchurch Festival Presented by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Tāngata Ngāi Tahu: People of Ngāi Tahu, a book celebrating the rich and diverse lives of 50 Ngāi Tahu people, was published by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Bridget Williams Books in 2017. Edited by Helen Brown (Ngāi Tahu) and Takerei Norton (Ngāi Tahu) from the Ngāi Tahu Archive team, the biographies in Tāngata Ngāi Tahuspan 200 years of tribal history, shining new light on some old faces and bringing others into the light for the first time. Join Helen and others from the project team as they explore tribal history through the lens of biography. #suffrage125 #WhakatuWahine #SuffrageDay

31 August 2018 | WORD Christchurch Festival Presented by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kā Huru Manu is a Ngāi Tahu digital atlas dedicated to recording and mapping traditional Māori place names and associated histories in the Ngāi Tahu rohe (tribal area). In November 2017 Kā Huru Manu was launched online (www.kahurumanu.co.nz), making this traditional knowledge readily accessible to Ngāi Tahu whānui and the wider public for the first time. Hear Takerei Norton, Helen Brown and David Higgins (Ngāi Tahu) from the Ngāi Tahu cultural mapping team talk about the atlas, its development and their aspirations for the future.