We are asking quick questions of writers and thinkers coming to the WORD Christchurch Festival 2025 (Wednesday 27 August to Sunday 31 August).
Here are some quick answers from Una Cruickshank, author of The Chthonic Cycle.
What are you looking forward to doing in Ōtautahi Christchurch?
This will be my first visit to Christchurch, and I'm really excited about it! I've heard so much about what a cool and liveable city it's becoming. My first stop will be the Botanical Gardens, to take a long walk and see something called a bat flower (tacca chantrieri). I'll also be attending other writer's sessions each day, and am especially looking forward to Brannavan Gnanalingam's lecture on political satire.
What do you think about libraries?
Libraries are a treasure, they are among my absolute favourite places in the world. I've lived in quite a few cities and one of the first things I do on moving to a new place is get a library card - I use them heavily both for researching my essays and for entertainment. In Wellington I have an alumni membership to my old University library plus a public library card, so I always have a shocking backlog of books and movies and periodicals that I swear I'm going to get through 'any day now, honest'. If you don't currently have a library card, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Una at WORD Christchurch
You can hear Una at the following sessions:
- The Cabinet of Curiosities. Sold out.
- The Precipice of Possibility: The Art of the Essay Sunday, 31 August 12.30 pm - 1.30 pm. Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
More about Una
Una Cruickshank has an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, and another earlier MA that she doesn’t talk about as much. She was born in Tamaki Mākaurau Auckland and now lives in Pōneke Wellington. She works at an audiovisual archive and haunts the city’s cinemas and libraries, and that one karaoke place that smells like boiled meat. Una was announced as one of the 2025 New Voices of Aotearoa by the Coalition of Books. The Chthonic Cycle (Te Herenga Waka Press, 2024) is her first book and won the E.H. McCormick Prize for General Non-Fiction at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
More Quick questions with WORD Christchurch guests
More WORD
Check the programme online or pick up a printed copy from your library.
- WORD Christchurch website
- Follow WORD Christchurch on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
- Our WORD Christchurch 2025 page - Find books by writers coming to this year's festival
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