This year the WORD Christchurch Spring Festival celebrates the wealth of talented writers, speakers and thinkers from across Aotearoa New Zealand. The festival is centred on New Zealand writing and writers and features a glittering programme with 65 events and more than 100 of Aotearoa’s finest writers, poets, historians and entertainers. The four-day festival is firmly focused on community and many of the events will be free to attend. Whether your taste is literature, non-fiction, exploring new ideas or just enjoying some much-needed entertainment – there is something here for everyone to enjoy.
GUEST PROGRAMMER: Ray Shipley
Guest programmer Ray Shipley has created three WORD events that are a blend of the serious and playful – and all of them are perfect remedies for what’s been an unsettling 2020. In Bedtime Stories for Anxious Adults, guest writers attempt to create soothing stories, with live illustrations from Toby Morris. “It’s lighthearted, for sure,” they say, “but it’s also a genuine acknowledgment of how anxiety-inducing this year has been and speaks to how a good story can always see us through the night.” Stand Up Poetry: A Quiz Showcombines pub quizzes, comedy, panel shows, and poetry in what’s set to be a hilarious event, and Ray Shipley’s Late Night Poetry Hourintroduces late-night poetry with Mohamed Hassan, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Dominic Hoey, essa may ranapiri and more…
