Welcome to the 2022 Verb Readers & Writers Festival!
Wednesday 2 & Thursday 3 November
Pip Adam asks a clutch of writers what has made them laugh…
Friday 4 November
Coco Solid and Māni Dunlop discuss the radical possibilities in Coco’s acclaimed novel, How to Loiter in a Turf War.
Beth Brash talks with infamous foodie Albert Cho about his startling new memoir, along with delicious snacks from Chef Eom Jae Hoon.
Vincent O’Sullivan speaks with Noelle McCarthy about his electrifying new collection of stories, Mary’s Boy, Jean-Jacques.
Enjoy a delicious High Tea alongside a fascinating conversation with Dame Fiona Kidman about her latest book, So far for now.
Gaylene Preston talks with her friend and collaborator Nic Marshall about her extraordinary career.
These Māori writers are wielding words from beyond the gender binary, come and listen as they discuss the need for affirming narratives and boundary pushing within a sage environment.
Join Hinemoa Elder and Puawai Cairns for a kōrero about the faces of Hina, and what she can teach us.
One of Aotearoa’s best-selling writers talks with Jessie Bray Sharpin about her remarkable writing life.
Saturday 5 November
25 events. One night. Over 100 artists. Wellington’s original Crawl since 2014. All events are entry by donation with $5 suggested.
Emily Writers and Michèle A’Court have a well earned drink, and talk with radical honesty about the joys and challenges of parenting, and Emily’s funny sad inspiring thoughtful hopeful new book, Needs Adult Supervision.
Gina Cole and Arihia Latham discuss Gina’s latest book, Na Viro, pasifikafuturism and writing indigenous science fiction.
Noelle McCarthy and Kate Camp discuss Noelle’s bestselling memoir, Grand.
Nick Bollinger joins Melody Thomas to discuss counterculture and the radical ideas that shaped New Zealand’s cultural life for decades afterwards.
Join Australian writer Kate Mildenhall and Tracy Farr as they discuss the creative possibilities of dystopian fiction, and what it says about our hopes, fears and predictions for the future.
A perfect place to share a poem for the first time, this event will be bursting with Big Aunty Energy. There’s no need to pre-register if you’d like to read - just show up with your kupu!
The writers in her footsteps, whānau, friends and colleagues of the late, great writer Keri Hulme gather to share their letters to Keri, their memories and their gratitude for her life and work.
Chris Finlayson has had a storied political career. Join him and Māni Dunlop as they discuss his newly-released memoir…
Join Brad Smeele, pro-wakeboarder turned quadriplegic, and author of no- holds-barred memoir in his first ever appearance as a writer.
A series of fun events and activities for small readers!
Rangimarie Sophie Jolley sits down with writers Coco Solid and Nicole Titihuia Hawkins to chat about their creative rhythms, current preoccupations.
Laurence Fearnley and Pip Adam talk about returning to landscapes in writing in relation to Laurence’s beautiful new book.
Sunday 6 November
Fact and Fiction: Christine Leunens Join internationally acclaimed author Christine Leunens as she chats with Ken Duncum about her latest book, In Amber’s Wake.
Inspired by the artistic continuum of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata, this is an ode to the evolution of story and how overlapping art worlds kōrero and inspire.
Megan Dunn talks to Sarah Jane Barnett about how our personal journeys and reckonings can reverberate through our art, expanding the possibilities of the personal and transforming the things we create, including ourselves.
Susie Ferguson and Kate Camp talk about Kate’s ‘true stories’, You Probably Think This Song Is About You.
Crip the Lit writers Alice Mander, Erin Donohue and Robyn Hunt discuss their radical storytelling techniques to affirm authenticity and challenge tropes.
Catherine Chidgey and Maggie Tweedie discuss writing the relationship between humans and the natural world, the double-edged magic of fame, and the freedom of fables.
Join Michele A’Court as she talks to Louise Wallace and Anna Perry about the radical possibility of domestic mess, the great dishevelment of the idealized home and woman, the confluence of painting and language, and the comradeship of creatives and new mothers.
What can we offer reluctant readers? How can parents and caregivers support a lifelong interest in books and reading for pleasure? Join co-editors of Annual Ink, Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris, with Verb's Founder Claire Mabey, for a discussion about the breadth of literary opportunity for young readers.
Join Anke Richter and Michelle Duff for a conversation about power, abuse, belonging and leaving. And how Anke’s obsession was sparked by her own explorations which she is still coming to terms with.
Visit Newtown’s beautiful book shops and listen to kōrero, readings and more. Three events, one afternoon, lots of fun.
Kate De Goldi talks with Harry Ricketts about writing teenage characters that strike a chord with adult readers, stretching language and wordplay to fit around the contours of grief and anger, and portraying a city in the aftermath of devastation.
Join bestselling authors Nicky Pellegrino (To Italy With Love, Don’t Sweat It) and Niki Bezzant (This Changes Everything) as they talk to Sarah Connor, the force behind Menopause Over Martinis about the latest, hottest thing –– menopause and peri-menopause.
A series of fun events and activities for small readers!
Workshops
In this workshop, Gina Cole shares her methods on how to craft a world, what pitfalls to avoid, and what makes some settings believable and compelling.
Story sovereignty is a pivotal component of writing as tangata whenua. Work with some of our most groundbreaking authors to discover the ways in which they’ve navigated the sovereignty of the stories they tell.
Join award-winning novelist and non-fiction writer Laurence Fearnley for a workshop to explore ways in which paying attention to sight, sound, touch, smell and taste can add richness to your work.
In this four-hour workshop we’ll identify then test our beliefs around the shape of telling.
Demystify the challenging form of the short story with author of Kōhine, Colleen Maria Linehan.
Rūbarū Digital Series (available till 23 Dec, 2022)
From Rome, Claudia joins Māori writer from Aotearoa, Michelle Rahurahu, to talk about families and the myths that families make, translating Ocean Vuong and F. Scott Fitzgerald, writing about being a CODA, and how language makes and unmakes us.
From Chicago, the author of Severance and Bliss Montage, Ling Ma, joins Aotearoa writer and creative producer Rosabel Tan, to talk about craft, identity and the genre-bending nature of her work.
From Melbourne, Paige joins Aotearoa author Emma Sidnam to talk about short and long fiction, unnamed narrators, working on a book-length project without knowing what it will turn out to be, and other similarly heady things about being debut authors.
From Brisbane, Trent Dalton joins Melody Thomas to talk about the experience of collecting Brisbane’s love stories, the exuberant optimism of his characters against all odds, the propulsive nature of violence in his narratives, toxic masculinity and writing larger-than-life characters.
From Cork, Ireland, Sara Baume joins Catherine Chidgey for a conversation on writing, how they wrestle language on the page, what keeps a book going, and the radical possibility of ‘looking closely at the sublime’.
Exhibition
An exhibition of paintings by Anna Perry, responding to new poems from Louise Wallace at Bowen Galleries.