The Dunedin Writers' Walk is a series of 25 commemorative plaques in the upper Octagon area of the city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. The plaques were installed to honour and celebrate the lives and works of writers with a Dunedin connection, many of whom were Robert Burns Fellows at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

. Each plaque includes a quote from the writer's work and brief biographical details. The walk was the idea of local writer

Lynley Hood Lynley Hood (born 1942) is an author from New Zealand. Biography Hood was born in 1942 in Hamilton, New Zealand. She has an MSc in Physiology, and LittD from University of Otago. She currently lives in Dunedin. Hood worked in medical researc ...

, and was installed in 1993, with an initial eleven plaques. Only writers who had mentioned Dunedin in their work were considered in the initial list. There is a time capsule buried underneath the plaque for Jean de Hamel. A plaque to

Dan Davin Daniel Marcus Davin (1 September 1913 – 28 September 1990), generally known as Dan Davin, was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press. The themes o ...

was added in during the 2015

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival (abbreviated as DWRF) is a literary festival held in Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. Since its inception in 2014, there have been in total six festivals, including a special Celtic Noir event i ...

. The twenty-fourth plaque, for playwright Robert Lord, was unveiled during the 2017 festival. During the 2021 festival, a plaque was added for romance writer

Essie Summers Essie Summers (born Ethel Snelson Summers, 24 July 1912 – 27 August 1998) was a New Zealand writer whose romance novels sold more than 19 million copies in 105 countries. She was known as New Zealand's "Queen of Romance." Writing Despite th ...

. In February 2022, two plaques were added for poet Peter Olds and short story writer O.E. Middleton. Janet Frame has two plaques in the Writers' Walk, one in the Octagon and a second at the "unofficial extension" of the walk at the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

List

References

{{reflist The Octagon, Dunedin New Zealand writers