WORD Christchurch Festival 2023

WORD Christchurch was on from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 August 2023.

Find out about WORD Christchurch, and the writers and books featured in the festival, and explore our coverage of WORD events and sessions.

Festival coverage

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Whaia te ara o te Kareao

Maatakiwi was interested to find out stories behind some taonga from the Ngāi Tahu Archives, told by the people charged with their care.

maatakiwi

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Battle for the Buildings

Moata reports on an event in which 5 Ōtautahians share their favourite existing and imaginary buildings in a battle for structural supremacy

Moata

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WORD Christchurch 2023: 50 years of Witi Ihimaera

Maatakiwi reports back on a session celebrating 50 years of Witi Ihimaera's writing career.

maatakiwi

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Lost and Found in Translation

Hong reports back from a session about the art of translation, with Ross Calman and Polly Barton.

hongwangccl

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Tusiata has spoken

Nora gets inspired by Tusiata Avia whose chosen career came about because “... brown girls like me from Aranui didn’t become writers.”

cclstaff

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WORD Christchurch 2023: The Importance of Queer Joy

Arwen's favourite point brought up at this panel was “There’s nothing hard about being queer until heterosexuals show up".

arwenccl

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Last WORD goes to reviewers

Four reviewers talk BookTok, capitalism, and what happens when someone at a party confronts you about a negative review.

fionaccl

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WORD Christchurch 2023: The hungry ghosts of history

Moata reports back from a session with Kevin Jared Hosein, a discussion of Trinidad history, division, and colonisation.

Moata

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Writing on the margins

A wide-ranging discussion at WORD about "re-indigenising through our words, decolonising and re-indigenising the page".

Donna R

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Emily Perkins, Lioness of Literature

Angela reports back from an engaging session with Emily Perkins on Lioness, philanthropy, privilege and inertia.

cclstaff

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Fresh flows at Confluence

Nora enjoys this "meeting of cultures, flowing and mixing, highlighting our strong oral traditions and the importance of whānau."

cclstaff

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Summoning whakapapa

Hong reports back from a session at Tūranga with Kai Tahu writers and musicians Ruby Solly and Ariana Tikao.

hongwangccl

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Political podcast with laughs

Teresa reports back from the live recording of the Gone by Lunchtime podcast, with special guest, Lianne Dalziel.

teresareadsccl

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WORD Chch 2023: Roy Montgomery & Clementine Valentine

The theme is absence, essence, death, and endurance. Roy Montgomery and Clementine Valentine play music, & Roy reads poems from his new book

Donna R

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WORD Christchurch 2023: Run For Your Life

Josie Shapiro, Guyon Espiner and Jessica Howland Kany talk with Alex Casey from The Spinoff about the trials & joys of being a runner.

takeclare

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WORD Christchurch 2023: The Quiet Hero: Andrew Bagshaw

Philip Matthews and Sue & Phil Bagshaw explore the life of Andrew Bagshaw - heroism, life, death, and doing the right thing.

Donna R

See more WORD Christchurch Festival 2023 blog posts