WORD Christchurch 2021 Programme Announced
MEDIA RELEASE 6 JULY 2021
WORD Christchurch announces programme of 80 events and over 150 speakers, there is something for everyone.
Visit the website, or pick up a programme from a library, cafe or bookshop near you.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
The WORD team is thrilled to bring you what they think may be their most exciting festival yet from 25 – 29 August. They announced their programme on 6 July:
”Yes, international travel is off, but that hasn't stopped us – in fact it has made us get busy and get innovative. We are bringing you a festival that celebrates the Near and Far – with a stunning line-up of New Zealand and international speakers and performers.
We go deep into global issues and local stories, bringing you the things that matter in books, storytelling and ideas.
We talk with Aotearoa legends Patricia Grace and Helen Clark. We link up LIVE with the Edinburgh International Book Festival which is on at the same time (4–30 August) to bring you Edinburgh's own crime master Ian Rankin. We bring you two original music collaborations: David Mitchell(Cloud Atlas) and Tiny Ruins in IF I WERE A STORY AND YOU WERE A SONG, and Marlon Williams, Ariana Tikao and Ruby Solly in KĀ WAI O TAHU, responding to the waters of Te Waipounamu.
In a royal first for the festival and in a New Zealand exclusive, we beam in Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York from her home in Windsor, to talk with Nicky Pellegrino about the new romance novel based on her story and that of her ancestor.
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!
We feature new books on climate change, Gavin Bishop on Māori gods, Megan Dunn's hilarious new memoir, Ngāi Tahu's Tā Mark Solomon, and international sensation Jacqueline Bublitz. Plus look out for book launches and journal launches in our New Regent Street Pop-Up Festival which will feature a short sharp
IT'S A CELEBRATION
We celebrate the achievements of arts laurate Tusiata Avia (MNZM); we welcome poet Karlo Mila; Sue Kedgley appears in conversation with Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalzielabout Fifty Years of Feminism.
On the Friday of the festival, we present the WORD GALA: THIS PLACE YOU RETURN TO IS HOME with five writers responding to the idea of home: Rick Gekoski, Sue Kedgley, Tayi Tibble, Kate Camp and Patricia Grace, hosted by Michèle A'Court. A night not to be missed.
We're bringing back ADVENTUROUS WOMEN with a brand new cohort of incredible women: Kyle Mewburn, Hinemoa Elder, Anjum Rahman, Emily Writes and Julie Zarifeh, hosted by Miriama Kamo.
We present a special fundraiser event for Aviva with Jackie Clark and The Aunties in HER SAY, and a conversation with the equally incredible Matt and Sarah Brown about their new book She Is Not Your Rehab and the movement it describes. literary blast on Friday 27 August with a dozen venues and more than 40 writers.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE
Abbas Nazari and Helen Clark reflect on twenty years since the Tampa with Mike McRoberts; we welcome recent Jann Medlicott Acorn Fiction Prize winner Airini Beautraiswith fellow short fiction master Tracey Slaughter, and Charlotte Grimshaw, whose The Mirror Book has everyone talking. We launch a new book on the art of the late great Bill Hammond, and celebrate new Asian voices in a special event for A Clear Dawn; Rebecca Macfie discusses the life and work of Helen Kelly with Morgan Godfery; Stephanie Johnson talks witty novels and leads a fiction writing workshop; we say hello to poet and taonga pūoro practioner Ruby Solly, Sprigs author Brannavan Gnanalingam and local crime legend Paul Cleave.; author Ross Calman and Ngāi Tūāhuriri Upoko Te Maire Tau on Te Rauparaha; a discussion on Ngāi Tahu's legal action over water; and Tā Tipene O'Regandiscusses The Living Mountains with Nic Low.”
PLUS MUCH, MUCH MORE.
