The world of WORD: Dan’s picks of the 2018 festival

WORD Christchurch is back for 2018 and the programme is full of quality experiences of the written word!

Once again there's everything from poetry sessions, confessional sessions, author and book-related panels, and even a whale-watching tour to beautiful Kaikōura!

But for me, the biggest excitement surrounds the sheer diversity of options available to us, the reader/audience...

• As stated above, you can take a Whale Watching (Tues 28 Aug) trip to Kaikōura. Hosted by authors Philip Hoare and David Neiwert, and travelling from Christchurch to rendezvous with Whale Watch Kaikōura for an early afternoon cruise out into the mighty ocean, you can encounter the ocean giants first hand, all the while having the author/hosts regale you with knowledge and stories. 

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  Then there's A Cabinet of Curiosities: Tiny Lectures on the Weird and Wonderful. (Fri 31 Aug - Sun 2 Sept) A series of quickfire 20min lectures on some of the more unusual aspects of our world; UFO's, sexbots, mermaids.... you get the idea! These will be a great way to fill in some downtime between bigger events, such as...

• Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting to Dead Men's Trousers. (Fri 31 Aug) What an exciting opportunity to hear from the mind of the man who burst onto the scene in 1993 with what is now a modern classic! Welsh has written quite a few books centred on the characters featured in Trainspotting, but is this to be the last one...?!? He's also a highly opinionated and politically-minded individual so there's sure to be some Brexit talk during his talk.
• Diary of a Bookseller (Sat 1 Sept) gives us an insight into the highs and lows in the life of a Scottish second-hand bookshop. It's hosted by Shaun Bythell who will also be running Book Collectors Old and New (Fri 31 Aug) - a 3 hour interactive workshop on all things book collecting. Shaun co-hosts with Brian Phillips as they will impart all the knowledge you could want on the world of book collecting.
• And how about a panel discussion with authors presenting readings of new writing on the music that has shaped them as artists and people. Soundtrack or, Dancing About Architecture (Sun 2 Sept) will see authors Philip Hoare, Pip Adam, Chris Tse, and Nic Low do just that. Musical styles and experiences will be as wide and varied as the work of the authors presenting.
• And finally, the story of the editor-turned-bestselling author. A.J. Finn: The Woman in the Window (Sun 2 Sept) introduces us to the next big thing in thriller writing. Dan Mallory, writing under a pseudonym, is getting huge accolades from some big names in the genre and The Woman in the Window is already getting the silver-screen treatment. This will fascinating to hear him speak about how his years of editing set him up for the best possible crack at his own bestseller!

So there are my pics for this year's festival - wide, rich, and varied. See you there for literary-themed goodness!
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