WORD Christchurch Festival Celebrates Books, Storytelling and Ideas 31 August – 4 September

WORD Christchurch has launched its 2022 festival programme, with an array of events to challenge, excite and entertain the city from 31 August – 4 September. This year’s events tackle both the near and the far – with an intensely local flavour and by popular demand, comes the return of our innovative international component The Faraway Near.

Programme Director Nic Low (Ngāi Tahu) and Programme Manager Kiran Dass have worked together to create an exciting schedule of close to 80 events featuring over 140 speakers and performers.

Expect live and lively conversations from Liane Moriarty, Kate De Goldi, Clementine Ford, Val McDermid, Whiti Hereaka, J.P. Pomare, Coco Solid, Michael Robotham, Noelle McCarthy, Sue Orr, Nick Bollinger. Mohamed Hassan, Dame Fiona Kidman and Lloyd Jones.

The extraordinary Keri Hulme will be celebrated in a vibrant special event with the blessing of her whānau. The WORD exclusive collaboration between  Tiny Ruins and David Mitchell, the exquisite If I Were a Story and You Were a Song will be a special moment, curated by former WORD Programme Director, Rachael King. Māori and Pasifika musicians and poets come together for another joyous Confluence, and the landmark Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa will be celebrated.

The Faraway Near has the intimacy of a dinner party with friends – and a favourite writer. Tūranga’s TSB Space will be transformed to create our very own dining space and lounge,  a pop-up bar with tables where you can grab a drink, and settle in for a session of deep storytelling and conversation with a special international guest – sitting life-sized at your table via freestanding FHD display.

International writers featured in the Faraway Near include: groundbreaking sci-fi novelist Emily St John Mandel, Guardian foreign correspondent Luke Harding, writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, historical novelist Heather Morris (of The Tattooist of Auschwitz fame), novelist David Mitchell, Indian feminist powerhouse Annie Zaidi, Sarah Krasnostein, New York’s unstoppable Queen of mordantly funny and dark fiction Ottessa Moshfegh, tenacious New Yorker investigative reporter Patrick Radden Keefe and author of word-of-mouth bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams.

And as always, we shine a light on Ngāi Tahu people and stories.

WORD brings back popular dynamic storytelling event ADVENTUROUS WOMEN with a stunning line-up of inspirational women: Ruth Shaw, Coco Solid, Jo Morgan, and the Two Raw Sisters, hosted by Miriama Kamo.

As well as these epic events, we’ve got workshops on all matter of literary skilling up; a Sunday session youth takeover of Tūranga, and a variety of free events, including our entire Schools programme.

For those who don’t feel comfortable with public settings, the majority of our events in The Piano have livestream digital tickets available so you can still engage with WORD in the comfort of your own home.

Tickets go on sale at 7pm, 20 July.

For tickets and more information, visit wordchristchurch.co.nz

The WORD Christchurch Festival programme is launched at 6pm Wednesday 20 July at Tūranga.