It's here!
The launch of WORD Christchurch's programme for its 2026 festival, coming 1-6 September, was last night and like a greedy child with their Halloween haul I have been perusing said programme, picking out the most delicious (to my eyes) looking morsels.
As always it's been a trial to whittle it down to an even dozen, and what appeals to me is not necessarily the event or session that you'll gravitate towards but that's the great thing about there being a whole festival of goodness - there's sure to be something that tickles your curiosity or interest.
Can't attend in person? There is a selection of sessions with a livestreaming option. Can't afford to pay much? There are free or "pay what you wish" sessions too.
With the festival theme of "making waves" there's so much scope for interpretation. Sound waves? Brain waves? Light waves? A wave of greeting or farewell. A social or cultural movement. But it's certainly suggestive of the bucking of trends, or the creation of ripples. Maybe one of these will drop a pebble in your pond and send little waves through your life in great ways!
Moata's delicious dozen - picks of the festival
Hereby presented, in chronological order are the sessions that are on my dream schedule for this year.
All Things Romantasy, Wednesday 2 September, 6.30pm to 7.30pm Tautoru/TSB Space, Tūranga
Authors and fans Ashley Andersen, AJ Lancaster, HG Parry, Stacey Broadbent and Darianne Schramm will be in conversation with Lizzie Tollemache. Bring your burning questions and best costumes for an engaging, all-things-romantasy discussion.
Romantasy continues to be the hot genre in more ways than one! This session should be a great opportunity to learn about more authors and series to read and I really do hope that people wear interesting things - costume-wearing is encouraged! A free event, be quick to book your tickets.
Letters Out Loud, Thursday 3 September, 8pm to 9.15pm, The Piano
Papers past, read by some of our favourite voices in the festival including Elisabeth Easther, Josiah Morgan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto), Hannah Wheeler and Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu). From heartfelt tearjerkers to laugh-out-loud funny, these letters from the archives bring history to life through the private correspondence of remarkable historical figures and everyday heroes alike. A special night of storytelling via scrawled messages and typewriter ink, hosted by Jo Randerson.
This is very specifically a "me" thing but Elisabeth Easther has one of the best, most velvety voices. I could listen to her read a phone book (though I'm only mostly sure that won't be happening here).
Shortland Pounamu, Friday 4 September, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Tautoru/TSB Space, Tūranga
Taonga are potent connectors travelling across space, time, and generations. Imbued with the whakapapa of our tīpuna, they connect our past, present, and future. Join Ngāi Tahu Archive panellists and historians Atholl Anderson (Ngāi Tahu), Helen Brown (Ngā Tahu), Takerei Norton (Ngāi Tahu), and Michael Stevens (Ngāi Tahu), as they share the story of the Shortland Pounamu and its namesake, friend of Ngāi Tahu, Edward Shortland.
Pounamu as an object, as a material, has long been a fascination for me. The way it light moves through it. Its strength and intrinsic value. The combination of aura and mystique whilst also being the material you'd make tools from. In this session the discussion is on a particular set of taonga pounamu that was returned to Ngāi Tahu after sitting in a shoebox in England for a number of years.
Mortified: Pax Assadi, Friday 4 September, 4.30pm to 5.30pm, Tautoru/TSB Space, Tūranga
The hilarious Pax Assadi has herded ducks in West Auckland, experienced catastrophic culture shock in Pakistan, and been catfished, conned, heartbroken and humbled. The award-winning comedian, TV writer and Taskmaster NZ competitor joins pip adam to discuss his joyfully chaotic and painfully honest memoir, Mortified, and what we gain by embracing our shameful moments.
A regular on the Kiwi comedy scene, Assadi's autobiographical sit-com in which he played his own father "Raised by refugees" was a brilliant combination of coming of age cringe, comical culture clash, and serious family drama. I haven't had a chance to read his memoir yet but am keen.
Mana: Tāme Iti, Saturday 5 September, 12pm to 1pm, The Piano
Iconic Māori activist, artist and performer Tāme Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe) sits down with Delaney Davidson to share tales from his extraordinary life of resistance, resilience and rangatiratanga. After being silenced from speaking te reo Māori as a child, Tāme went on to champion its revitalisation. He shares how he discovered the power of protest and what it means to live with mana in a world that often tries to strip it away.
The Press made a beautiful interactive retrospective about Tāme and his mahi.
It's not many people who get to have the title of "Living Legend" but Tāme Iti is one of them. For many Iti is the face of Māori activism. I wonder how he feels about that? Maybe we'll find out?
Working Class Heroes, Saturday 5 September, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Dominic Hoey (1985) and pip adam (Kluge) discuss and celebrate the importance of seeing working class characters and stories on the page. In conversation with Juanita Hepi (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi) they talk about how work, class, and real life collide in literature.
Dominic's most recent novel, 1985 is reviewed on the Spinoff.
Literary festivals have a reputation as being a product made for and by the "cultural elite" and to be fair, there's usually a fairly middle class and up vibe (my working class and welfare class roots still twinge a bit in these environments), but things are changing and literary festivals are broadening their audience. I enjoyed the grim comedy of Hoey's Poor people with money, and 1985 is very much on my TBR.
Stakes, Saturday 5 September, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Tautoru/TSB Space, Tūranga
Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy was captivated by the fantasy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a risk-free alternative to the fraught realities of desire. Twenty years later, in her memoir Stakes, Noelle returns to Dracula, reckoning with her own history and a changing world: generation-spanning shame and trauma given voice by the #MeToo movement and the horrors emerging from Irish soil. She joins Claire Mabey in conversation.
Read about Stakes in the NZ Herald.
Unity Books did an interview with Noelle.
Stakes is my current read and it's hitting all the same sensory notes as her earlier memoir, Grand. Plus, who doesn't love Dracula?
Home Again: Jon Toogood, Saturday 5 September, 6pm to 7pm, The Piano
With over 35 years in the music industry, Shihad’s Jon Toogood is a legend of local hard rock. Named after the iconic single ‘Home Again’, Jon’s memoir covers a lot of ground – some of which he’ll discuss with the Booker prize-winning music-lover Shehan Karunatilaka, with a few songs played along the way.
Jon Toogood might be partly responsible for my deteriorating hearing now that I'm in my 50s but I'm not holding it against him. Nobody forced me into those mosh pits. Home Again was both the song I listened to on my Sony Discman in my bedroom over a pub in NW London on my first Christmas morning away from home, and the one that reminds me which direction to turn my clock when Daylight Saving Time ends (put your clock back for the winter). Such a wide range of associations is befitting a local music legend. Can't wait.
Home Again: The Life and Times of Shihad Rock Legend
I Wish I Wrote That, Saturday 5 September, 8pm to 9pm, The Piano
Writers share a favourite song or book that they adore. Join Grant Robertson, Shehan Karunatilaka, pip adam, Jon Toogood, and Elizabeth Knox, as they each present a love letter to a work that has had an indelible impact on their lives. Be introduced to new musical and literary gems or gain new ways of looking at old favourites. Hosted by Lizzie Tollemache.
"I wish I wrote that" is a sentiment I've expressed to myself a lot over the years. And I'm just curious to hear what writing has inspired feelings of envy in other people.
New Aotearoa Gothic, Sunday 6 September, 12.30pm to 1.30pm, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Aotearoa has a long-held gothic tradition in our literature, art, film and music. There’s a fresh take rising, from the rural gothic of Laura Vincent’s Hood’s Landing, the gothic grandeur of Dunedin’s St Paul’s Cathedral in Molly Crighton’s The Body and the Blood, to the gothic underbelly of domestic life in Laura Borrowdale’s Dead Ends. They sit down with Dracula obsessive Noelle McCarthy (Stakes) to discuss.
What's better than a goth-girl? Four of them.
Pātahi: Re-storying the life of a wāhine matātoa, Sunday 6 September, 2pm to 3pm, The Piano
Join wāhine Kāi Tahu Angela Wanhalla, Helen Brown and Cindy Diver in conversation as they discuss their own connection with the compelling life story of their tīpuna Pātahi, a legendary South Island storyteller, adventurer, gold prospector and pounamu fossicker. From archival record to thesis, to biography, to a recent stage-play at the Court Theatre, and digital animation, hear how the re-storying of Pātahi has illuminated the life of this nineteenth century wāhine matātoa.
I recently went to the Court Theatre play that forms part of the discussion in this session and it was outrageously good so I'm intrigued as to the process of how you adapt a life story of this kind. This is someone's tipuna but also a character - what difficulties lie in that? And what sources of information do you use? And what happens when they conflict? So many pātai!
Songwriter Speaks: Dave Dobbyn, Sunday 6 September, 4pm to 5pm, The Piano
Dave Dobbyn has written the soundtrack to kiwi lives. Beside You, Be Mine Tonight, Language, Outlook for Thursday, It Dawned On Me, Slice of Heaven, Welcome Home.…the list goes on. He’s a true ‘songwriter’s songwriter’, and in this special conversation Dave will be sharing tales of his career, as well as the stories behind some of his favourite work, and the inspiration of Aotearoa – the people and the place.
I think Dave Dobbyn gets a rough trot sometimes because of his longevity and continued popularity. It's hard to be cool when you're consistently popular amongst mainstream audiences for several decades, but to me it's a popularity built on solid songwriting. There are pieces of Dave Dobbyn's lyrics that just hit, you know? I would fully expect this one to sell out so get in quick, I reckon.
In conclusion...
This festival has so many legitimate legends in it! And I haven't even mentioned perennial festival faves Risky Women, or The Quiz, or Cabinet of Curiosities!
Find out more
- Paper copies of the festival programme should be turning up in libraries soon, so grab a copy or check it out online.
- WORD Christchurch's website
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