News

WORD Christchurch is looking for new trustees to join the board of the South Island’s largest festival of words, stories and ideas.

We're publishing Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador Kate De Goldi's impassioned plea for us all to read, which she shared at our WORD Christchurch Festival Programme Launch on Wednesday 15 July 2026.

Enjoy images from our 2026 programme launch event at Te Puna o Waiwhetū Christchurch Art Gallery.

We’ve put together a reading list based on each whetū (star) in the Matariki cluster. Jump into timeless favourites, learn a bit more about te ao Māori, and enjoy some illustrated treasures.

Winter Warmers - WORD-y events in Ōtautahi

Herald the first week of spring with WORD this year

The WORD team share their Summer reading piles

Friend of WORD and festival trustee Dr Erin Harrington has shared with us this neat listicle of haunted, spooky books in time for Halloween. Read on, boils and ghouls!

Brush up on your reo Māori with these online resources...

Festival highlights, across the internet

Keen to see as much of WORD as possible? Get yourself a Festival Pass!

The book awards season is here and many WORD Christchurch writers are in the running.

Tayi Tibble and Jordan Tricklebank bring their excellence to Ōtautahi Christchurch

Executive Director Steph Walker and Programme Director Kiran Dass offer up their tips for holiday consumption

Check out some of the great coverage WORD artists got in 2023.

If you have festival FOMO or want to relive the joy, fear not, we've got you covered. You can now enjoy a handful of WORD festival events in the comfort of your own living room, with your preferred refreshments and company at hand

Catarina shares her sessions and fills us in on her must-book events.

Our Programmer at Large Melanie tells us about her sessions, and lets us know the other unmissable sessions.

Audrey runs us through the sessions she's programmed, plus her other picks not to miss.

We are thrilled to introduce you to our three new Programmers-at-Large who will each bring their own perspectives and ideas to the WORD Christchurch programme. Nau mai, haere mai!

We farewell Nic Low and say kia ora to a new way of collective programming - exciting!

NEEDLES AND PLASTIC: FLYING NUN RECORDS, 1981–1988 by Matthew Goody fittingly focuses on the Christchurch years of the infamous label

Jacqueline Bublitz's debut novel released in the United States

It was so great to have a full, real-life festival experience with you all

Books exploring subjects from wartime nationalism to sexual violence, terrorism to one of New Zealand’s most infamous cases, scooped the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards on Saturday night.

Safety is paramount in these unsettling times, and we want to offer our audience, writers, volunteers and staff peace of mind. We have a number of policies in place because we care about our community, and that means looking after our most vulnerable and all doing our bit. READ ON...

From journalists hunting justice to communities upturned by sudden violence, the authors of the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards finalists explore the motives and impacts of some of the starkest criminal justice issues facing Aotearoa. Check out the finalists here. 

The WORD Christchurch Festival, due to take place in August, has been rescheduled. New dates have just been announced: 10 – 13 November. Watch this space for the revised programme, out soon!

Kia ora. It's Rachael here. I am going to tell you about something that got me through Lockdown last year, and I hope it will help make the next few days better. Read on...

The programme for the Cheltenham Literature Festival in England has been launched and we are thrilled that WORD is participating!

We couldn't be more pleased to once again be partnering with the University of Canterbury with our shared vision of telling stories and highlighting important issues. We invited one of UC's many staff who are appearing at the festival, Jeanette King,  to tell us what she's reading and what she's looking forward to at the festival.

It's been a week of literary awards in New Zealand, with the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror and the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. We are thrilled to announce that WORD writers took out some of the top award categories in each.

WORD Christchurch is keeping a close eye on updates from the Ministry of Health and will be following all alert level protocols.  We will keep you updated via newsletter, our website and social media. Our thoughts are with those affected by the latest COVID announcement.

WORD Christchurch Festival 2021 offers a range of exciting events for all of you writers out there, from aspiring to experienced, including poetry, fiction, memoir and editing workshops, and the chance to see yourself in print with our magazine in residence, takahē.

Te Papa Tupu is The Māori Literature Trust's mentoring programme for aspiring Māori writers, awarded biennially to six people who have a complete manuscript and are working towards publication. It offers editorial guidance and mentorship, a stipend, and a community of writers. WORD extends a very warm nau mai, haere mai ki Ōtautahi to this year's rōpū.

We welcome two talented Christchurch writers as guest curators – who bring their knowledge of festivals and the New Zealand literary landscape, and their unique voices, to add some extra spice to the programme. Read their 'what and why' here.

Introducing The Faraway Near: our custom digital venue that has the intimacy of a night at the pub with friends – and a favourite writer. Featuring international guests Helen Garner, Ruth Ozeki, Helen Macdonald, Hari Kunzru, Tommy Orange, Ava Homa & Behrouz Boochani; A. C. Grayling and Mark O'Connell. Don't miss your chance to experience these innovative events!