READ NZ are thrilled to announce that Lyttelton poet Ben Brown (Ngāti Māhuta, Ngāti Koroki, Ngāti Pāoa) will deliver our 2020 Read NZ Te Pou Muramura Pānui (formerly the Book Council Lecture) at the National Library auditorium in Wellington on November 18.

His compelling talk If Nobody Listens, Then No One Will Know, will explore the complex concept of youth justice in Aotearoa.

Brown recently taught a writing workshop at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo, the Oranga Tamariki Youth Justice Residence facility at Rolleston near Christchurch, as part of our Writers in Communities programme.

This workshop resulted in an anthology of poetry by the YPs (Young People) who took part titled How the F*** Did I Get Here, edited by Brown and soon to be reissued by The Cuba Press.

We hope you’ll join us for this powerful address, delivered with the author’s distinctive flair, humour and hope. Entry will be free, but bookings essential. Online bookings will open to the public on October 20. As always, we will publish the talk as a free e-book after the event.

Read NZ Te Pou Muramura members will be given access to priority booking, and also receive a published Pānui book in the post.