WORD Christchurch is an organisation which presents a variety of literary events, most notably the annual WORD Christchurch Festival, also known as WORD Festival, established in 1997. Until 2014 the festival was run as the Press Christchurch Writers Festival.
About the festival
The WORD Christchurch festival is the largest literary event in the
South Island of New Zealand, and partners with the
Auckland Writers Festival
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest annual literary festival in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1999. It has about 200 public events each year featuring local and international writers as guests.
History and staff
The inau ...
in the
North Island each year for an autumn season in May. its directors are Steph Walker (executive director) and Nic Low (programme director).
was the literary director between 2013 and 2021.
The
Ngaio Marsh Award
The Ngaio Marsh Awards (formerly Ngaio Marsh Award), popularly called the Ngaios, are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand to recognise excellence in crime fiction, mystery, and thriller writing. The Awards were established by jour ...
s are presented at the festival.
Until 2021, the festival was biennial. In the Festival off-year, WORD Christchurch partnered with the
Christchurch Arts Festival for a series of ideas-based events, and also presented events at KidsFest in those years. It also ran an annual schools programme showcasing the New Zealand Children's Book Award finalists.
History
The Festival has run under the WORD umbrella since 2014 but was established in 1997;
its predecessor was the Press Christchurch Writers Festival.
The 2018 event featured Australian writer and adventurer
Robyn Davidson
Robyn Davidson (born 6 September 1950) is an Australian writer best known for her 1980 book ''Tracks'', about her 2,700 km (1,700 miles) trek across the deserts of Western Australia using camels. Her career of travelling and writing about ...
, former
Islamist radical turned anti-extremist
Ed Husain
Ed Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a British author and academic. He is also a adjunct Professor, professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments acr ...
, Australian author, poet and hip-hop artist
Omar Musa
Omar bin Musa (born 9 January 1984) is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet, rapper and visual artist from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He has released three solo hip hop records (including ''Since Ali Died'') and three books of poetr ...
, British author
Juno Dawson
Juno Dawson (formerly James Dawson; born 10 June 1981) is a British author of young adult fiction and non-fiction. Dawson's notable works include ''This Book Is Gay'', ''Mind Your Head'', ''Margot & Me'', ''The Gender Games'', ''Clean'' and ''Me ...
, New Zealand politician
Margaret Austin
Margaret Elizabeth Austin (née Leonard; born 1 April 1933) is a former New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1984 to 1996, representing first the Labour Party and then briefly United New Zealand.
Life
Early life, family and career
Aust ...
, author and illustrator
Gavin Bishop and many others. On 29 November 2019 a special event was held featuring
Behrouz Boochani, the award-winning Iranian-Kurdish writer and film-maker who wrote about and filmed his experiences in the Australian offshore detention camp, the
Manus Island detention centre, where he was held for six years.
In September 2020, the festival was local and focussed on New Zealand writing, as the
COVID-19 travel bans in New Zealand made it difficult for international authors to attend. In 2021, the festival was postponed from September to November and its programme had to be downsized, with many events being run as virtual or live-streamed, due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.
References
{{reflist
Festivals in Christchurch
Literary festivals in New Zealand