Nine Events.
Curated by Verb Wellington, presented in partnership with Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts
Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2026
Diary our new dates: 11, 12 & 13 September!
LitCrawl 2026
LitCrawl returns on Saturday 14 November!
RESIDENCIES
Children’s Writers Residency
A creative residency offering time, space, and support for writers developing stories for children.
Verb Wellington Writer’s Residency with Katherine Mansfield House & Garden
Verb Wellington and Katherine Mansfield House & Garden have come together to offer an opportunity to spend time in one of the world’s most vibrant literary cities to focus on your writing.
Home-based Writers Residency
A flexible, home-based residency providing writers with dedicated time and resources to focus on their creative work.
Previous Verb Wellington Events
Join us for Verb's final event of the year, where we mark International Day of Disabled People with literary flair – and a nod to the past.
Join Ali to hear about her extraordinary memoir, No words for this. With host, Michelle Duff.
Poets and the moon: it’s a love affair as old as language! Ft. Nick Ascroft, Harry Ricketts, Stacey Teague, Jake Arthur, Kate Camp, Sylvan Spring and Ashleigh Young.
In her 2025 NZSA Janet Frame Memorial Lecture, Charlotte Grimshaw will report from the frontlines of fiction and memoir, discuss veracity, integrity and clarity in a so-called “post-truth world,” and share ideas she’s formed about authenticity after a whole life lived in fiction.
Award-winning journalist Naomi Arnold spent nearly nine months solo walking the length of New Zealand on Te Araroa, fulfilling a 20-year dream.
Join Naomi to hear about the colourful locals and travellers she met who inspired her, and how she turned 1000 voice notes into a dazzling book.
Stacy Gregg (Ngāti Mahuta/Ngāti Pukeko/Ngāti Maru Hauraki) is the acclaimed writer of Nine Girls which won the supreme Margaret Mahy Award at the NZ children's book awards in 2024.
Verb Wellington is thrilled to present bestselling American writer Neal Shusterman, in town for just one night.
Join us for a special event as part of the Vivienne Westwood & Jewellery exhibition at Te Papa. Ticket price includes a delicious High Tea with hot beverages.
Join us for a guilt-free spot of reading, surrounded by like-minded book enthusiasts, hosted by RNZ Afternoons presenter Jesse Mulligan. BYO book!
A Verb Community members special event! Hosted by GOOD BOOKS, this will be a warm discussion of books on a cold Winter’s night, hosted by Claire Mabey.
We are thrilled to welcome Eleanor Catton to Wellington for a discussion on all things Birnam Wood, May 23 at Embassy Theatre.
Join the 2022 Booker Prize winner for a special, one-off event in Wellington.
UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage joins with a host of stunning local poets to perform work on the subject of nature, climate change and our relationship to the environment.
UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage talks with Aotearoa Poet Laureate Chris Tse about the place of literature in our personal and political lives.
For one night only we have one of the world's most acclaimed historians in town. Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Agent Sonya, SAS: Rogue Heroes, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends.
Join us for our ninth annual Verb Readers & Writers Festival in beautiful Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington!
Photo: Rebecca Macmillan Photography
Award-winning writer Mohamed Hassan maps the experience of being a Muslim in the twenty-first century in this stunning collection of essays, How To Be A Bad Muslim. Join Mohamed for this timely and important conversation about life, loss, Islamophobia, and hope.
Join us for an evening with Sarah Winman, author of beloved novel, Still Life.
Join three of the world’s biggest crime writers with our own Brannavan Gnanalingam (author of Slow Down, You’re Here, and Sprigs) for a night of crime…
Join us to celebrate Clementine and her latest book, How We Love is: Notes on Life, with a live, in-person event with the author herself. Venue and ticket details released in July.
Award-winning British podcaster Helen Zaltzman, aka The Allusionist, returns to the stage to wrestle with language with infectious verve and humour. Join her and house band Martin Austwick for a fun, fascinating and irreverent adventure into the world we make with words.
Join the Queer Arts Festival for a special event in which five fabulous writers read aloud fan mail to their queer idols!
Come along to this free launch event to celebrate the seven astounding women who we are honouring with our Aotearoa Literary Coven Cards. Enjoy drinks, nibbles and readings and stories from local authors and whānau of the writers. Plus a handy time to do some Christmas shopping!
Verb Readers & Writers Festival
Featuring LitCrawl, our annual festival has been held in the second week of November every year since 2014.
DeRay Mckesson
Human Rights Activist (US) talks with Laura O’Connell-Rapira about mobilising the power of the people.
Behrouz Boochani
Journalist, author and Kurdish refugee, Behrouz Boochani, speaks with Lloyd Jones about writing for his life.
Shaun Bythell
Diary of a Bookseller was a smash hit insight into the daily trials of a second-hand bookshop. Its author tells us the truth about customers, sales and those finds that make it all worth it.
Robin Robertson
Booker shortlisted poet, Robin Robertson (Scotland), talks about his epic narrative poem, The Long Take.
Denise Mina
Crime queen Denis Mina talks Glasgow, true crime, building suspense and being a writer.
Andy Griffiths and
Terry Denton
Bring the kids for chaos of the best kind.
Clementine Ford
The author of Fight Like A Girl joins us to discuss her latest Boys Will Be Boys.