WORD Christchurch Festival 2026 is on from 1 to 6 September. Ōtautahi Christchurch will be the place to be if you love writing, reading, or ideas!
WORD asked Festival writers and performers the question:
Where is the best place to think and write? Why?
"In my garden. Repetitive jobs quieten my mind and a much bigger perspective is possible. Time passes at a different speed here." Angela Clifford
"Anywhere, I reckon! I've been writing a lot in bed lately, but I get ideas out and about on walks, or sometimes in the middle of the night. I usually write first in a notebook before typing up drafts later, and then I'll tweak and edit them on the computer. So different places for different parts of the process. I sometimes get poem ideas at poetry events or even reading other people's poetry. You don't need the perfect writing studio or 'cottage by the sea' to write, you just need to give yourself permission to try it, and allow it to be messy at first." Ariana Tikao
"At my desk in the spare room at home with a cup of coffee, surrounded with documents and materials. Its peaceful and my safe space especially after extremely stressful times at work." Barbara Dreaver
"In my hanging basket chair in my garden, with a cat on my lap and chocolate within reach! I find that soaking in the senses helps with inspiration and breaking through writer’s block." Belinda O'Keefe
"Anywhere! I have no choice but to read when and where I can". Brannavan Gnanalingam
"My office/conservatory. Too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer." Breton Dukes
"Anywhere quiet, private and warm. I wrote my book in a tiny private office at work." Bryce Galloway
"Since becoming a mother, I’ve learned to snatch thinking and writing time whenever I can, and some of my breakthrough ideas come when I least expect them – whether it’s listening to a podcast while cooking dinner, out walking, or in the car waiting for one of my children to finish an after-school activity. Give me a keyboard or an iPhone Notes app these days, and I think as I write. But I also re-think, persistently, and I do this at times both convenient (like when I’m going for a walk) or inconvenient (like in the early hours of the morning when I should be asleep.) Last year, I had four major operations, and I was forced to think and write lying in a hospital bed and recovering on the couch at home." Charlotte Glennie
"My desk at home, with a coffee, guarded by my dog, Philip. This is how it works." Charlotte Grimshaw
"Doing monotonous tasks - driving on the open road / weeding a garden / walking by the harbour... something about the body being able to mechanically keep doing the task while the imagination soars." Cindy Diver
"At home in my little writing studio - I'm surrounded by books and things that inspire me and put me in a certain frame of lucid thinking."Claire Mabey
"The dining table. Usually has toast and coffee on it (for energy) and the daily paper (for inspiration). Can fit four or five large open books (for research purposes). Has a nice view of the neighbourhood and natural light. Guitar in reach, can zone out and consider my dried goods storage on the opposite wall. Try not to think about the abandoned desk upstairs in cold, dark room." Claudia Herz Jardine
"The best place to think is on the cusp of sleep, when the mind wanders and you can pull together ideas that otherwise get swallowed up by the needs of daily life. You just have to make sure to jot them down before you crash." Damien Levi
"My bed. I have a great view of the burger king". Dominic Hoey
"Best place to think is outside, in nature, whether planting trees or riding a bike, but best thinking is NOT at a desk, and the best place to write is anywhere. but home is where it mostly happens, Those people who write books in cafes, I do not know how they do that. Switching off from distractions is also vital and actually really hard to do, even when you like to think you have a certain amount of self control." Elisabeth Easther
"My room in our House in Mohua. I finally have a perfect set up in a sunny room. Though the late sun is a bit intense in summer so I'm going to have to figure that out." Elizabeth Knox
"Somewhere that evokes your memory and lifts your spirit." Grant Robertson
"While I'm working on a piece of writing, it's often when I'm out walking, or swimming, or when I wake up at 3am, that my brain magically comes up with ideas and solutions to problems. I'm a huge believer in letting my subconscious do the work for me, which it can only do once my conscious brain gets out of the way - which happens when I'm doing things unrelated to writing." Heather Haylock
"The changing waves of ideologies in education. I believe in balance and yet we swing like a pendulum. It's been a dizzying ride. Close to the sounds, movement and light of the ocean." Heather McQuillan
"My best place to think, write and draw is in the steady stillness of my private studio. It is soaked in my favourite things, I feel like I enter my own heart in that place, and I can be fully myself. In this sacred space, all the words and pictures come in their own time." Hilary Jean Tapper
"My happy place where I can think and write would be in the forest area or a place where there are trees and birds. Having that close connection to nature has always given me a perfect setting to be inspired. The area I come from in Niue is called Fatamanu, my mother hails from the island of Atiu that is known as Enuamanu so it is no surprise that I find the sounds of birds soothing and peaceful." Inangaro Vakaafi
"At the beach or away from the city and one with nature." Jason Tiatia
"Outdoors is the best place to think. by the sea, or the bush, or on a hill top. Writing can happen anywhere and everywhere but you sometimes have to shut things out around you." Jo Randerson
"You have no agency or choice in this. Writing happens where it happens, where you can grab the time: on trains or planes, at the dining table after the kids have gone to bed. Years ago I bought a handsome old rimu desk. I have used it approximately four times. More often than not, I write sitting up in bed." John Summers
"My home studio as it's where I feel most comfortable experimenting and making mistakes. Nature because it's a never-ending source of inspiration and perspective." Jon Toogood
"The best place to think is on paper, preferably with ink, longhand always. Keep a journal, letting my thoughts animate on the page." Joseph Trinidad
"I feel like, wherever I am sat, being in the zone, or even zoned out, is a good place to think. For me this is when I am aimlessly drawing/ dooling (often when I should be doing other things!). I do this a lot - kinda like free writing in a way, where I see where things take me, what characters I create and what situations I can land them in. It is a great way to warm up before tackling illustration roughs and it has helped me inadvertently solve illustration problems. We have just moved house, and we now have a fireplace. In these cold months I’ve been loving sitting in front of the fire, getting mesmerized by the flames and letting my mind wander off … there’s something quite primal about it all. I feel I’m going to solve a lot of story problems here." Josh Morgan
"I love thinking and writing on Kā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha | The Port Hills, Tūranga library and The Welder if I also want coffee and kai." Juanita Hepi
"Best place to think - in the ocean. Best place to write - at my desk, under the watchful eye of my picture of Anna Akhmatova, with no one else in the house." Kate Camp
"Anywhere that I can calm and still my mind. Usually, my office (which is at home)." Katharine Watson
"The best place to write is invaribly wherever you are when you have a pressing deadline for something else... inspiration hits when you're busy." Laura Borrowdale
"In bed at 2am, it's a terrible time and place but it's where it undeniably happens." Laura Vincent
"Toi Auaha, the community arts hub in the centre of Ōtautahi. Run by the council's Arts Team, it hosts an amazing bunch of writers, artists, and other creatives. It offers both the space to concentrate on my work and the chance to have fun conversations with brilliant people about storytelling and surviving in the arts." Lawrence Patchett
"I write theatre collaboratively, in community. It's a communal artform! Everything else, the best place is wherever you can simultaneously be comfy and panicked about an upcoming deadline." Lizzie Tollemache
"My whāre is my favourite place. Snuggled up on the couch with a cup of tea and my dog Paddington. I'm a Taurus so I feel as though this is self-explanatory." MahMah Timoteo
"My best ideas arrive in water — at the beach or in an outdoor bath under the stars … a hot tub with a view of the ocean would be perfect. (If you know of one, let me know!) " Melanie Koster
"Anywhere, there's no limits to creativity." Michal Dziwulski
"I like to think on walks by myself in nature. I'm easily distracted, so low-level motion and nice visual input (trees! Birdies!) turns my thinking on. My favourite place to write is at the dining room table with my partner writing by my side, and one or both of our cats trying to get on our computer keyboards to trade bitcoin on the dark web." Molly Crighton
"At our big table under the pergola looking out to Mauketere Mt Grey." Nick Gill
"Any place that i have not sanctioned to write and think in. 🙂 i do my best work playing hooky from my work. Tricking myself into writing by pretending i’m just playing or fooling about."pip adam
"Out at Te Whārangi Foxton Beach - because you can see for miles there's no-one to be seen." Richard Shaw
"My best place to think is on long walks up mountains. Failing that, urban streets full of faces. My best place to write is at a warm, rustic cafe in winter. Or in my workshop." Ruben Miller
"We’ve just moved into a new place with a dedicated office space, and yet I still find myself back at the kitchen table whenever I go to write. I love a cosy spot by a window, within close proximity to the tea, coffee and biscuit supplies! For me, I need quiet so that I can daydream and lose myself in my thoughts. I also prefer to be alone, because I frequently read my work out aloud." Sacha Cotter
"I rise at 4am urged on by my characters. Sometimes I fit in a quick ocean swim then I write by the hearth, the heart of my small cottage, looking out on a wilderness of garden and trees. In the afternoons I take either a siesta or a fiesta. I call it a fiesta when I read, listen to music, or walk in nature." Saige England
"Whatever worksbest for you. I like being in tranquil and inspiring spaces." Shariff Burke
"Home, in my pjs because I am safe." Tania Roxborogh
"For me, inspiration rarely strikes when I'm sitting in front of a computer. It usually comes while I'm on the move, watching people go about their everyday lives. Out of nowhere, an idea or memory will pop into my head, and I have to write it down immediately before it disappears into the grey matter. When I get home, I retreat to a small room where it's just me and the keyboard. That's where those hastily scribbled notes from the day begin to take shape, gradually evolving into the real life stories that eventually find their way onto the page." Thomas Coyle
"I come up with a lot of my ideas while I'm out walking my dog Alba - outside, in fresh air and around nature is my favourite place to think!" Toby Morris
"In a comfortable garret in the Latin quarter of Paris because it is my favourite city, with a deep history of creativity and also a pain au chocolat is never far away if I get hungry." Victor Rodger
More about WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
- Paper copies of the festival programme are available at libraries, grab a copy or check it out online.
- Visit our WORD Christchurch 2026 page
- Explore WORD Christchurch's website
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