WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
WORD Christchurch was on from 27 to 31 August 2025.
Find out about WORD Christchurch, and the writers and books featured in the festival, and explore our coverage of WORD events and sessions.
WORD Christchurch event reports
Event reports
The best New Zealand crime writing: Ngaio Marsh Awards 2025
Tanya reports back from a celebration of New Zealand crime writing - the Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art
An eager WORD Christchurch crowd heard details of Toi Te Mana, a landmark account of Māori art from authors Deidre Brown and Ngarino Ellis.
State of the Nation's Media: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Catherine reports on a WORD Christchurch panel session that sheds light on some of the toughest questions facing the media today.
Gavin Bishop: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Catherine reports back from a WORD Christchurch session with a legend of children's literature - author and illustrator Gavin Bishop.
Confluence: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Indigenous writers and performers exploring their connections across the Pacific at Confluence.
Charlotte Wood: Stone Yard Devotional
Oblates, Rabble-Rousers, and Mice - Cate reports back on a captivating WORD Christchurch session with Charlotte Wood.
Ray Shipley's Late Night Poetry Hour
Poppia reports back from WORD Christchurch on Ray Shipley's Late Night Poetry Hour at Little Andromeda.
The Fight for Freshwater - Mike Joy and Gabrielle Huria
Gabrielle Huria and Mike Joy talk with Ross Calman about dirty rivers and the fight for freshwater. Katrina reports from WORD Christchurch.
Pātaka Kai: Growing Kai Sovereignty with Jessica Hutchings
Katrina reports back from a WORD Christchurch session that encompasses kai, food sovereignty, decolonisation and more.
The Precipice Of Possibility: The Art Of The Essay
Katrina reports back from a WORD Christchurch event with Una Cruickshank, Tina Makereti, and Kate Camp in conversation with Kate De Goldi.
Book (Fight) Club: Teen Edition
Boy Swallows Universe v The Scorpio Races! Jemimah reveals who won the Book (Fight) Club Teens with El Jaguar at WORD Christchurch.
Tom Sainsbury’s Reading Enthusiast’s Soirée
Catherine reports from WORD Christchurch as avid readers Kate de Goldi, Rachel Paris, and Josiah Morgan tell all about their reading lives.
The Cabinet of Curiosities: tiny weird & wonderful lectures
Tanya spends an evening with Ariana Tikao, Catherine Chidgey, Chris Tse, Una Cruickshank, Duncan Sarkies, Kate Camp and Dr Erin Harrington.
"It's the history of half the country": Ngai Tahu history
Moata reports back from a panel about the new edition of Atholl Anderson's "The Welcome of Strangers", a tribal history of Ngāi Tahu.
Epic Adventures: Naomi Arnold and Kate Evans
Jemimah shares stories from WORD Christchurch of landscapes, communities, and how a country-long hike and feijoa can connect us.
So much laughter, so much pain: Indigi-joy at WORD
Katie reports back from WORD Christchurch where Juanita Hepi, Tina Makereti, Dominic Guerrera, and Ariana Tikao explored Indigi-Joy.
WORD Christchurch information
- Visit the WORD Christchurch website
- Follow @WORDChCh on X
- Follow WORDchch on Instagram
- Follow @WORDchch on Tik Tok
- Like WORD Christchurch on Facebook
- Listen to WORD Christchurch podcasts
WORD Christchurch coverage
Listen to Bookenz on Plains FM for interviews with WORD authors.
Previous WORD Coverage
Visit our WORD Christchurch page for coverage of previous festivals and events.
What's on at Tūranga
Pay for bookable events at Tūranga
WORD Christchurch Festival 2025 photos
Find works by WORD writers in our collection
WORD Christchurch titles
WORD writers and entertainers in the catalogue
Quick questions
WORD Christchurch Festival 2025 guests answer quick questions on what they think about libraries. They also share their desert island books, reveal surprising facts about themselves, and tell us what sparks JOY.
Staff picks of the festival
Borrow a book bundle and win!
For the duration of WORD Christchurch, we ran a competition at Tūranga. Throughout the building there were entry forms and entry boxes at self check kiosks and other prominent places.
- Any customer who borrows a book bundle and puts their name and phone number on the entry form goes in a draw.
- Customers can enter multiple times by borrowing multiple book bundles and placing a completed form in a box.
- Winners will be drawn at random after WORD Christchurch Festival 2025 ends.
- Prizes include one $100 UBS book voucher and three $20 Riverside Market vouchers.
- This competition is exclusive to Tūranga and ran from Monday 25 August to Sunday 31 August.
Staff Festival picks
Staff picks of the festival
What is a Book (Fight) Club?: WORD Christchurch 2025
Ky ponders the mysteries of a Book (Fight) Club ahead of a "literati Thunderdome" at Cloisters Studio, The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora.
Te Tiriti 101: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Roimata Smail's book is an accessible overview of the Treaty of Waitangi. Daniel is looking forward to her Te Tiriti session at WORD.
Indigi-Joy: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Katie looks forward to being inspired to creativity by a WORD session with Dominic Guerrera, Ariana Tikao, Juanita Hepi, and Tina Makereti.
Living Books: The Voices of Hip-Hop: WORD Chch 2025
Sit down and kōrero with emerging and established Hip-hop artists from Aotearoa New Zealand. Thursday 28 August 6pm to 8pm at Tūranga.
What is a Book (Fight) Club?: WORD Christchurch 2025
Ky ponders the mysteries of a Book (Fight) Club ahead of a "literati Thunderdome" at Cloisters Studio, The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora.
Te Tiriti 101: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Roimata Smail's book is an accessible overview of the Treaty of Waitangi. Daniel is looking forward to her Te Tiriti session at WORD.
Indigi-Joy: WORD Christchurch Festival 2025
Katie looks forward to being inspired to creativity by a WORD session with Dominic Guerrera, Ariana Tikao, Juanita Hepi, and Tina Makereti.
Living Books: The Voices of Hip-Hop: WORD Chch 2025
Sit down and kōrero with emerging and established Hip-hop artists from Aotearoa New Zealand. Thursday 28 August 6pm to 8pm at Tūranga.
WORD Christchurch Festival and Events
Discover WORD Christchurch festival and events, and read our coverage.