Last night was Quiz night at WORD Christchurch. Booklovers, booksellers, writers, librarians, and anyone with the slightest interest in books and quizzes had a go. Our team was Wording 9 to 5 (thanks to team member Ned for the killer combo of Dolly and WORD).
Host Claudia Herz Jardine (poet and Scorpio Books star) was both quizmaster and the maker of the quiz questions and did a rather brilliant job of both.
There were rounds on book trivia, adaptations, and te ao Māori. We tried to guess which books the 1-star reviews were describing, revisited kids books, and pondered a round of the titular N or M - Is it a Ngaio Marsh book or a Marlon Williams song.
Political books (our nightmare round) revealed this unexpectedly jazzy book on tax by Paul Goldsmith as well as the revelation that David Seymour, Judith Collins, and Simon Bridges have all written books. And that Jim Bolger's memoir is called ... Bolger on Bolger.
The last round tested how well we knew the books by WORD authors. Turns out not THAT well when kids from ages seven to two are drawing the cover.
Here are the teams who made it the podium (drum roll please):
3rd: School Librarians
2nd: Lit Misfits
some of the team pictured here:
and Wording 9 to 5won! Huzzah!
Congrats to everyone who made the night such a success - the WORD team, Claudia, and the volunteers.
Reporting from past quizzes
- Beyond the Literati Thunderdome: The WORD Quiz Night: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
- Kiwi Quiz Night and the Ngaio Marsh Awards 2023: Yeah Noir
- WORD Christchurch 2023: Lost the plot! The WORD quiz night
- The Great Ngaio Marsh Game Show and Awards – Saturday 14 September 2019
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
- Follow our WORD coverage
- Get a copy of the WORD programme at libraries or check it out online
- Visit our WORD Christchurch 2026 page
- WORD Christchurch's website
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