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Philip Matthews

Philip Matthews

Philip Matthews

Philip Matthews is a senior journalist with The Press. He won Reviewer of the Year in the 2022 Voyager Media Awards and is the author of The Quiet Hero (Allen & Unwin, 2023).

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📚 WORD Christchurch gets the city buzzing with books, ideas and kōrero.
🎟️ Festival on now! 27-31 August 2025
👇🏻 Get your tickets here

It's Bookshop Day tomorrow! Go support your local

It's Bookshop Day tomorrow! Go support your local - get some sweet deals, hear some readings, find a golden ticket and relish in reading. Our local favourites include @universitybookshopcanterbury, @scorpiobooks, @theclocksbookshop, Hornby @paperplusnz, @paperplusbarrington @emmasatoxford and @paperpluskaiapoi.

#bookstagramnz #wordchch #nzbookstagram #buylocal #NZBookshopDay #ShopLocal #audiobooks #GoldenTicket

Terrific interview in this week’s @nzlistenermag

Announcing BLUE SKY DREAMING: a call out for write

Announcing BLUE SKY DREAMING: a call out for writers of all ages and stages.

It’s 2125, and you’ve magically stayed the same age you were in 2025. What does your everyday life look like?

Think creatively about how you might still be able to live here with the effects of a changing climate. We’re seeking a series of super-short pieces of writing by anyone with ideas to share, to be featured on posters throughout the city this Summer. It could be microfiction (a very short story), poetry, or creative nonfiction. Your piece should be up to 150 words and in English and/ or te reo Māori.

Submissions open now until 5pm Wednesday 5 November 2025.
Find out more on our website - check out the link in our bio for more reading and inspiration, as well as the terms & conditions.

A collaboration between WORD Christchurch and the Christchurch City Council.

#microfiction #bookstagramnz #chch #ōtautahi #nzlit #christchurchnz #nzauthor #amwriting #nzpoetry

Need a book recommendation? At @thomassainsbury's

Need a book recommendation? At @thomassainsbury's Reading Enthusiast's Soiree WORD friends @kaitlinsunday, @rachelparisauthor and @jjosiah.jj shared quite the list!

Luckily the Christchurch City Libraries bloggers have collated these top picks for us on their website - the link is in our bio.

📷: Petra Mingneau Photography
🛋: @noodnz

#nzbookcommunity #wordchch #nzbookstagram #nzbooks #nzbookclub #bookstagramnz #tbrpile

Amazing writers incoming - we're so excited that @

Amazing writers incoming - we're so excited that @shehankarubooks and @bexmana are coming to our city as the 2026 @ucnz @creativenz Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence!

There's a couple of big awards between them - the 2022 @thebookerprizes for Shehan Karunatalika and the 2020 @newzealandbookawards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction for Becky (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe, Waitaha) - so we can't think of better writers to join the UC English Department as they launch their new majors and minors in writing... and we're looking forward to hosting them at WORD events too.

#nzlit #christchurchnz #wordchch

#nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #chch #ōtautahi

The deadliest books in the country have been annou

The deadliest books in the country have been announced - the 2025 @ngaiomarshawards winners! Crime and Thriller fans, here is what to add to your book pile:

Best non-fiction: THE CREWE MURDERS by @kirstyjohnston_nz and James Hollings
Best first novel: THE DEFIANCE OF FRANCES DICKINSON by @wendyparkinswriter
Best novel: RETURN TO BLOOD by Michael Bennett

Congratulations to all the winners, and all the finalists too - we hear the judges had a hard time deciding on the winners.

Simon & Schuster AU Massey University Pressseyuniversitypress
#nzlit #nzbookstagram #nzbooks #bookawardsnz #wordchch #whodunnit #yeahnoir

Your annual reminder that you CAN judge a book by

Your annual reminder that you CAN judge a book by its cover.

The @publishersassociationnz Book Design Award winners have been announced, here's our gallery of pukapuka from the awards that have been highlighted at WORD over the past year or two:

1: Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa by Kirsty Baker won the Gerard Reid Award for Best Book and the @penguinbooksnz Award for Best Illustrated Book
2: Amma by @saraiddesilva won the @allenandunwinnz Award for Best Commercial Book for Adults

And on the shortlist:
3: Feijoa by @feijoafellowship
4: The Grand Glacier Hotel by Lawrence Fearnley
5: The Witch of Maketū by Anika Moa

Massive congrats to the designers and the publishers!
@aucklanduniversitypress @moapress @penguinbooksnz

#bookawardsnz #bookcovers #nzbooks #nzlit #nzbookstagram

Our cozy crime fighters Ciaran and Brendon from @c

Our cozy crime fighters Ciaran and Brendon from @courttheatrenz are ready to solve the great mystery of just who will win the @ngaiomarshawards this Thursday night. Tickets are still available to join us for this deadly event!

#yeahnoir #wordchch #nzbookstagram #ticketsavailablenow #nzlit #whodunnit #truecrime #crimefiction #crimewriting #truecrimenz

Hari huritau Kiran! @steelydass is our Programme D

Hari huritau Kiran! @steelydass is our Programme Director and it is her birthday today. We're wishing her a sun-filled day with many a good read/listen/watch on hand.

📷: @petramingneau

#virgoszn

From Historical fiction to Climate stories - Jenny

From Historical fiction to Climate stories - Jenny Pattrick has written it all!

Joins us to hear the beloved Jenny Pattrick kōrero with @morrinrout on her tremendous writing career, from Denniston Rose to her latest book, Sea Change.

🗓 Thursday 23 October, 6pm
📍 Tautoru TSB Space, Tūranga
🎟 $25 full, $20 concession

Tickets available on our website now.
See you there.

@batemanbooks

#thejoyofwords #wordchch #ticketsavailablenow #nzlit #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #livinglegend #chch

It's Te Wiki o te Reo Maōri, so of course we've g

It's Te Wiki o te Reo Maōri, so of course we've gone straight to the bookshelf! This release from @kotahi_rau_pukapuka - a trust with the goal of producing 100 great books in te reo Māori - shows Maya Angelou's ruri/poems in both te reo Māori and English.

Check out their pukapuka/books and add them to your own bookshelf as a wonderful way to learn more te reo Māori.

#thejoyofwords #reomāori #tewikiotereomāori

Check out these mugshots - who is your pick to ste

Check out these mugshots - who is your pick to steal the @ngaiomarshawards this year?

All will be revealed in two weeks with a murder mystery event where the @courttheatrenz gumshoes will solve it for us. Get your tickets from our website now.

#yeahnoir #wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzauthor #whodunnit #crimewriting #whowillwin #ticketsavailablenow #crimefiction #truecrimenz #truecrime #ōtautahi

Did WORD stir a story inside you? Keen to write bu

Did WORD stir a story inside you? Keen to write but not sure where to start? We were sad that @dominichoey couldn't make it to the festival this year, but here's your chance to learn from him on Saturday 13 September. Dominic says the workshop is "designed for beginners or anyone who wants to learn how I turn my stupid thoughts into stories and poems."

Find out more at @te_waa_the_space, one of the most exciting new spaces in the city.

#amwriting #wordchch #thejoyofwords #learntowrite

💰 David McWilliams is to economics what David A

💰 David McWilliams is to economics what David Attenborough is to the natural sciences and Brian Cox is to physics.

We're delighted to host this renowned economist in Ōtautahi Christchurch in October - join us to hear him unlock the mysteries of money and its grip on our lives.

🗓 Tuesday 14 October, 7.30pm
📍 @thepiano.nz
🎟 buy tickets on our website (the link is in our bio)

@simonandschuster

#christchurchnz #wordchch #thejoyofwords #thejoyofmoney #economicsnz

One of our amazing volunteers turned journalist fo

One of our amazing volunteers turned journalist for @thespinofftv, @paperbackloop dispatched a scene report on the festival covering chip packets, Polkinghorne, astute students and more. Check out the link in our bio to have a read!

📷: @duncan.sarkies at Cabinet of Curiosities, taken by Daniella Judge,

#thejoyofwords #wordchch

Thinking about how incredible this year’s festiv

Thinking about how incredible this year’s festival has been!

How about you? What was your favourite event? 🤔📚

#wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzlit #bookstagramnz #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #litfest #christchurchnz

It’s impossible to summarise days of joy in just

It’s impossible to summarise days of joy in just 10 seconds!

But here are a few incredible moments we’ve snapped along the way.

Did this year’s festival remind you how powerful the joy of words can be? ✏️

#wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzlit #bookstagramnz #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #litfest #christchurchnz

Sunday at WORD 💚 Our final day of the festival

Sunday at WORD 💚

Our final day of the festival was full to the brim with joyful kōrero and connection.

Whichever sessions you made it to, we hope you had a great day to round out your festival experience.

Any moments bring you extra joy yesterday?

#wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzlit #bookstagramnz #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #litfest #christchurchnz

Hands up if you’ve learnt something new during W

Hands up if you’ve learnt something new during WORD festival this year? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Yesterday we had the chance to learn a new skill with @christchurchlib at Tūranga: book binding!

You can learn so many incredible things at the library, thanks to the helpful and knowledgeable team. They can show you how to 3D print, find the perfect book, or get started with your research, just to name a few!

And if you get the chance to learn bookbinding at the library, don’t miss it! You can make something just like this to celebrate the joy of words in your own hand-made notebook!

#wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzlit #bookstagramnz #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #litfest #christchurchnz #bookbinding #bookbindingclass #libraries

What a joy-filled Saturday at WORD 🥳 Yesterday

What a joy-filled Saturday at WORD 🥳

Yesterday was stacked with so many great sessions and there truly was something for everyone!

Today is no different, so we hope you’re enjoying the final day of the festival and making the most of everything on offer.

What brought you the most joy yesterday? 🤔💚

#wordchch #thejoyofwords #nzlit #bookstagramnz #nzbookstagram #nzbookcommunity #nzbookclub #litfest #christchurchnz

📸 by @petramingneau & @itssamnz

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