Literary festivals are wonderfully educational things. If you open your ears and listen, seemingly the wisdom of the world will made available to you.
And some of it is quite pithy too. Now that the extended programme events have been completed we've gathered together our favourite quotes from the writers and thinkers of WORD Christchurch 2016. Read and receive their wit and/or wisdom.
On Writing
"To create Lena, I took elements from a wide range of … characters and sources. These were the disparate, disconnected limbs and organs I harvested and stitched together to make my monster. It was my job to add flesh and skin, and then to animate her." Tracy Farr
"You're writing fiction; take liberties." Tracy Farr
"We have over-simplified things for children. Children's sentences need to be longer. We need more semi-colons." Kate de Goldi on writing for children
"Writing is a form of changing energy into words." John Freeman
"The worst place for creativity is a desk. I need to be out-and-about stealing ideas!" Alice Canton on creativity
"I wanted to create a journal of stories that would silence a dinner party." John Freeman on his new journal Freeman's
"Do I have any chips for writers? No, I don't share my chips." Nobody can grab Andy Griffiths' ghost chips.
“My job as a writer is to stop my characters from solving problems.” Andy Griffiths
Politics
"You get tragedy and farce in all of life - and politics is a part of life" Peter S. Field on the US Presidential race.
“His plans for being president don’t seem like those of someone who thought about being president for more than an hour…” Steve Hely on Donald Trump.
"You want boring people in government. You want outrageous people on TV." Steve Hely on what makes a good politician.
"Politics doesn't just happen in parliament - it affects lives. Laws aren't made in a vacuum" Fiona Kidman
"A world without intelligent discourse gets you Trump and Brexit." Duncan Greive tells it like it is.
"It's like watching a political version of the O.J Simpson trial." Dr Amy Fletcher regarding the Trump/Clinton political situation and its polarizing effect.
“I venture to suggest that a man who dyes his hair is a man not to be trusted” Peter Bromhead referring to Prime Minister John Key
Womanhood
"I don't think men should read my book" Jodi Wright dismisses a male reviewer who used the words "sex slave".
"My body is not an apology" Tusiata Avia reads from her poem.
"There's not a lot of money in feminism." Debbie Stoller
"I find it hard to have respect for people who say they are not feminist" Debbie Stoller
"Because wanting equality as a human being is exactly like the Holocaust" Tara Moss on the term "feminazi"
That's different...
"Do what works for you, however weird it seems." Tracy Farr on weirdness
"Magazines smell really good; the Internet doesn't" James Dann is not wrong.
“I’ve watched a lot of porno on tape...” the start of an audience question at the No sex please we're teenagers session.
"New Regent Street - a time period that has never existed in New Zealand" The Unicorn
"I appreciate this dystopian polemic, sir, but is there a question?" Kim Hill to a persistently long-winded audience member.
"When it is someone you love, a bit of decomposition doesn't matter." Caitlin Doughty on dealing with our own dead.
"Being "othered" is something that pervades your daily life in New Zealand." Alice Canton
"I know it's after 10pm and Christchurch, emphasis on the Christ…" The Unicorn
Channelling Oprah
"Community is a social lifeboat..." Justin Cronin on disaster response and community
"A child is a deal you make with the future." Justin Cronin
“We raise our voices, not shouting but singing” David Levithan
"Use your powers for good" Ivan Coyote
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