About Verb Wellington
We need stories in our lives. At every stage there are ideas and experiences that surprise us, energise us and enable us to get so much more out of the everyday. Here at Verb we’re all about making space for stories to inspire curious people: with writers, with books, with gatherings, with collaboration and with the sharing of ideas.
Our mission is to support and nurture our arts community so we can together move through a future filled with experiences that sustain the spirit and grow empathy.
Our Work
Verb Events
Our latest event series is Politics in Pubs with our friends at The Spinoff. Since March we’ve gathered in Meow (our fave indie venue) with politicians and journalists to talk through key election issues. Our latest event is 23 September, details here.
Our other events include presenting live Podcasts, conversations with authors and all sorts of ideas, celebrations with poets, workshops and digital discussions.
Verb Festival & LitCrawl
Every year we have a big party. Over several days we gather, roam and talk together. Writers and artists from all over the world and Aotearoa share their ideas and their stories.
LitCrawl Wellington is always the centrepiece of our party with 26 events in one Saturday night, with over 160 artists, and 26 of Wellington’s indie businesses and public spaces. See our Verb Festival 2020 programme here.
Verb Residencies
We can’t live without creativity in our lives. Our mission is to connect the eco-system between you dear reader, and the writers and artists who create the work that inspires us. Our residencies provide opportunities for young artists to take time (supported by space and money) to make work. We run a series of micro-residencies in partnership with Wellington indie art galleries throughout our Festival every year (on hold in 2020). We also run the Verb Wellington Residency with Katherine Mansfield House & Garden and Park Hotel: this is three weeks of writing time (with a $1000 stipend) at Katherine Mansfield’s place, while you stay in the lovely Park Hotel on the Terrace.
We want to make Wellington one of the world’s most supportive creative cities. We’re working on creating more residency opportunities. Watch this space.
Verb Commissions
Publishing: Nothing else gives us as much joy as being able to pay an artist to create something new. We commission and publish essay series, book reviews and short fiction for you to enjoy. Our members help us pay the writers for their thoughts and their service to our internal lives! Read the work we’ve commissioned from incredible writers here.
Verb Collaborations
We love Wellington’s arts community and love working with our friends at NZ Festival of the Arts to present a bi-annual writers programme; we work with City Gallery Wellington to cook up events looking at that ever-evolving intersection between visual art and writing; and we team up with other organisations across Wellington and Aotearoa to make creative spaces and experiences together.
Verb for Wellington
Pōneke, Te Whanganui-a-tara is our beloved home. We are committed to keeping our creative community safe, nurtured and vibrant. Our work has been recognised internationally by our peers as an innovative and welcoming. We look to a bright future, a radical one, where the creative work that keeps people and communities going is at the centre of national and international conversation.
Advocacy
We advocate for the work of our creative community to make sure our City and Central leaders are valuing that mahi. Claire is on the Board of Arts Wellington and Pirate & Queen together speak up for our artists and independent arts community.
Who we are
Claire Mabey: Director & Curator
Claire is a book nerd from way back. Claire will talk about books to anyone at anytime, anywhere. She loves Tarot, sea swimming, running, and having a transformative experience thanks to an artist whether a human one or a nature-powered one. That’s what life is all about. Her work has been in the arts festival industry, and in publishing, for her entire career. In 2014 she joined forces in work and in life with Andrew Laking and together they formed Pirate & Queen, the tiny production house behind Verb, LitCrawl and Lōemis (their dark festival baby). She is mum to Charlie and would love to be a good gardener but is a crummy gardener.
Andrew Laking: Director & Maker
Andrew is a musician and spent a big chunk of his life touring the world with Irish folk group, Gráda. Andrew is now the production muscle behind a lot of Verb’s work and is the creator and director of Lōemis Festival, a Solstice-timed dark moth that creates a series of bespoke productions with musicians, prop-makers, sculptors, fire artists, designers and his own musical energy.