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Programme

Programme

Welcome to WORD Christchurch Festival! Our goal? To bring us all together through the power of books, storytelling and ideas.

Events are listed chronologically; use the filters below to sort by date, author and genre.

Download a PDF version of our printed programme brochure here.

Date

Tuesday, 21 April

Monday, 11 May

Thursday, 21 May

Tuesday, 26 May

Writers

Karen Hao

Kate De Goldi

Louise Erdrich

Niall Williams

Nic Low

Rachael King

RF Kuang

Victoria Meakin

Genre

Fantasy

Fiction

In Conversation

Non-Fiction

Special Event

Venues

The Piano, 156 Armagh St

TSB Space, Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square

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Niall Williams(Ireland): Capturing Irish Life

Tuesday, 21 April 6:00 pm

A celebration of Irish storytelling with Booker Prize nominated writer Niall Williams (Ireland).

Karen Hao (USA): Empire of AI

Monday, 11 May 6:00 pm

Join one of the leading voices in the interactions between AI and us humans.

RF Kuang (USA): From Yellowface to Katabasis

Thursday, 21 May 7:00 pm

The #1 New York Times bestselling writer RF Kuang (USA) in conversation here in Ōtautahi Christchurch!

Louise Erdrich (USA): Land, Legacy and the Python’s Kiss

Tuesday, 26 May 6:00 pm

One of America's greatest living writers.

Social Feed

wordchch

📚 WORD Christchurch gets the city buzzing with books, ideas and kōrero.
Next festival: 1 - 6 September 2026
Watch out for events through the year!

Now living in Texas, Aotearoa author and friend of

Now living in Texas, Aotearoa author and friend of WORD Andrea Eames is coming back to kōrero about her first fantasy novel for adults. A Harvest of Hearts, is a Sunday Times bestseller and the Target Book Club Pick for March 2025.

Join Andrea at UBS on Thursday 23 April. You can find all the details at @universitybookshopcanterbury.

Steph tells it how it is: getting books by Louise

Steph tells it how it is: getting books by Louise Erdrich in the post is like Christmas!

Come and hear the Pulitzer prizewinner kōrero with us on Tue 26 May. Link in bio.

The @nzpoetrysociety's annual poetry competition i

The @nzpoetrysociety's annual poetry competition is open until the end of May.

Ōtautahi Christchurch’s own @islahuia is judging the young poet’s category! If you have young poets in your life, please encourage them to apply.

Poets of all ages can submit, with a category just for haiku if you are syllabically inclined.

We are crossing our fingers that Ōtautahi poets stack the winners’ circle this year, but will condone other regions sharing their talent too.

Attention published writers: the Michael King Writ

Attention published writers: the Michael King Writers' Centre is once again offering a residency with Varuna, The National Writers’ House across the ditch.

Stay in this incredible home in New South Wales, write up a storm over the three week residency, and be part of the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival.

Applications close on Monday 27 April, so head over to their website and apply!
#writersresidency #nzwriters

You heard it here first folks, florals are out, wr

You heard it here first folks, florals are out, writers are in! We have a unbe-leaf-able autumn line up, welcoming four award-winning writers from the Northern Hemisphere to kōrero with us.

These writers are worth braving the drizzle for, more information and tickets on the website. Link in bio!
#christchurchnz #booklover

Romance is taking the world by storm in 2026, with

Romance is taking the world by storm in 2026, with Heated Rivalry, Romantasy writ large, and a new season of Bridgerton saturating our scroll.

Forever abreast of the trends, we were there first! At the festival last year, Chris Tse (@chrisjtse) hosted a charming dating show featuring some of our favourite New Zealand poets and writers; Una Cruickshank, Erik Kennedy (@erikcurtiskennedy), Claudia Jardine (@uriel.septim.piercing) and Josiah Morgan (@josiahmorganartist).

You can see Josiah hosting a new version of the show at @featherstonbooktown's Karukatea Festival next month 💚

#poetrylovers #wordchch #romantasy #nzwriters

Come for a hīkoi (walk) with Steph as she becomes

Come for a hīkoi (walk) with Steph as she becomes immersed in @kiltumper's gorgeous novel, Time of the Child. What a sense of place!

Bleu’s kiwi read pales in comparison to Niall’s Irish brogue: get the real thing on Tue 21 April. Find tickets to our kōrero with Niall in the bio.

#IrishWriters

An immediate New York Times bestseller, Karen Hao’

An immediate New York Times bestseller, Karen Hao’s Empire of AI offers a generous peak into the dark and curious Silicon Valley. From the USA to Kenya to Chile, Karen’s compelling journalism integrates the abstraction of AI with the human stories embedded within.

Join us on Monday 11 May for a deep dive into Karen’s investigation. Ticket link in bio.

#AI #openai #christchurch

Head along to @lytteltoncoffeeco at 6pm this Thurs

Head along to @lytteltoncoffeeco at 6pm this Thursday 9 April to celebrate the launch of @richard.langston's oral history 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏: 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑵𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝑹𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍. This is the definitive story of the beloved Dunedin band The Clean who had a profound impact on music here and internationally.

Richard will be speaking about the book and there will be a very special musical treat that fans won't want to miss.

Entry is free and books will be available to purchase.

More info at our friend's page: @aucklanduniversitypress

WORD festival 2025 was a treat! How good it feels

WORD festival 2025 was a treat! How good it feels to reminisce.

We are delighted to be hosting internationally acc

We are delighted to be hosting internationally acclaimed investigative journalist, Karen Hao in May. Come along, get informed, leave feeling that sweet smug feeling of a nuanced technological outlook.

Grab your tickets from our website - link in bio!

#AI #aieducation #technews #techwriter

Louise Erdrich is coming to WORD in May, giving us

Louise Erdrich is coming to WORD in May, giving us an opportunity to uplift some of our shining writers from WORD festival 2025. This Indigenous Reading List includes books written by tāngata whenua and Indigenous writers from abroad.

See her for yourself on Tue 26 May in kōrero with Nic Low (Ngāi Tahu).

Tickets found in bio.

#indigenouswriters #readinglist #nzwriters

The dynamic duo turns terrific trio! Can you pick

The dynamic duo turns terrific trio! Can you pick the newbie on the force?
Learn about Team WORD, and let us know your favourite recent read in the comments.

Have you heard about the Ōtaki Storyteller Residen

Have you heard about the Ōtaki Storyteller Residency? Well, get your gummies on - you have until Sunday 5 April to apply!

Nestle yourself into the Kapiti Coast township of Ōtaki, write to the sound of the moana (sea), and connect with other writers and the community.

Known for it’s bilingualism and interest in education, this residency is for writers of all disciplines exploring new ways of thinking about people, community, and the taio (environment).

For more information head to their page here: @inotherwordsotaki

#nzwriter #writerresidency

We’ve been missing the @canterburymuseum, so we we

We’ve been missing the @canterburymuseum, so we were thrilled to see a collaborative exhibition with @christchurchlib at Tūranga. Our Insect Neighbours boasts a large collection of books and an interactive mini-museum full of bugs and stories. It’s hard to miss WORD author Lily Duval’s captivating illustrations.

Lily’s book, Six Legged Ghosts, explores the mysterious and oft-shrouded life of insects - both in their habitats, and in our culture.

The exhibition is free and runs until 12 May.

#insects #nzbooks #christchurchnz

How lovely, two free poetry events in one week! O

How lovely, two free poetry events in one week!

Our partner the University of Canterbury has a verdant and peaceful community garden - @waiutuutugarden. It’s a treasure.

This Thursday, the gardens and Ōtautahi Christchurch poet @hey.ray.shipley are running a free kai (meal) and tuhituhi (writing) session.

On Friday, Ray Shipley’s Late Night Poetry Hour will be at the earlier time of 6pm. If you’ve been meaning to go but don't fancy burning the midnight oil, head to @chchpride's website and register.

#poetry #christchurch

We already knew our community was awesome, but isn

We already knew our community was awesome, but isn’t it nice when someone else knows it too? Three of our WORD friends can be found on The Press' 2026 Power List:

💚 @@ladyhorrors, a WORD board member, University of Canterbury lecturer and Editor of the trusted @flatcityfieldnotes website.

💚 @nathaniel4heathcote , recently published author and city councilor. His wife, poet @uriel.septim.piercing, gets a notable mention.

💚 Michael Bell, owner of @littleandromedachch , Christchurch’s sweetest indie theatre, host to many a WORD event.

Our friends at the National Library of New Zealand

Our friends at the National Library of New Zealand have curated a bright and thoughtful lineup of librarians and archivists to shed light on the global impacts of current trends and disruptors. Harking from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA, this free livestream will be a scintillating watch.

Tune in on Wednesday 25 March at 5.30pm wherever you are around the motu! Find out all the details on the National Library of New Zealand's website: www.natlib.govt.nz

#nzbooks #supportlocal

The Christchurch City Libraries big book sale is o

The Christchurch City Libraries big book sale is on until 4pm at Pioneer stadium. Don’t forget your bag, by what we’ve seen you’ll need it!

Happy Pride, Ōtautahi! How are you celebrating?

Happy Pride, Ōtautahi! How are you celebrating?

We can't compete with the @christchurchlib reading guides, but we'll add our two cents. Here are the WORD team's top books by queer writers from our past year of reading.

ps - the Christchurch City Libraries reading guides and Pride events are very good. Check them out on their website. www.my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/reading-guide-lgbtqia/

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