An Ode to the Gothic
When the candles flicker, the wind howls and the supernatural starts to seep through the windows, the writers read. Dracula queen Noelle McCarthy hosts a line-up reading aloud from their most loved gothic literature.
Scenes to Make Your Mouth Water
Three writers share delectable scenes from their work where food takes centre stage, and discuss how food is a key ingredient in their storytelling — the tastes and smells that have left lasting impressions.
Human Touch: A Sweet Mammalian Reading
In an era when robots can spill out endless tracts of rhyming text, what in the word can bring us back to our living breath? Six Sweet Mammalian poets bring their best hot-blooded verse to sing the body electric.
Lawrence & Gibson Turns 21
This year the small-but-mighty publishing collective turns 21. As with any good 21st, expect rambling stories, unearthed secrets, and a few too many drinks in hand. Arrive with one of L&G's books already in tow and gain yourself free entry.
Late Night Fairytales
Ever wondered what happens to your favourite characters beyond the pages of a fairytale? How saucy, steamy and sexy do their stories get? Let your fantasies run wild in this smutted-up session hearing new work from local writers.
A Word of Advice
Romance and fantasy heroes are forever making terrible choices. What advice would the writers of these books give to their characters? Three writers offer some essential counsel to the characters they created.
Bad Diaries Salon
Four courageous writers read from their unpublished diaries, journals and notebooks, with salon host Tracy Farr. This year's theme is THREE — three threes for our ninth Verb salon. What happens in salon stays in salon.
More than Murder
Murder in a gothic Dunedin cathedral. Mystery disappearances in Wellington. Two thrilling new voices in crime fiction shake up the genre by breaking traditional tropes and centring queer voices.