Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival

Posted: Thursday Sep 14, 2023

“Te Pūao - the place where the river meets the sea” is the theme for this year’s Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival.

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)

Booklovers in Aotearoa’s first UNESCO City of Literature are once again preparing to gather around the ancient fire of story.

The beloved Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival is a biannual three-day celebration of writers, readers, books, and poetry.

“Our team are thrilled to be presenting a programme bursting with talent and brilliant books,” festival director Kitty Brown (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe) says.

Authors like Coco Solid, Pip Adam, Ruth Shaw and Monty Soutar from all over Aotearoa will be converging on Ōtepoti Dunedin for the festival, bringing knowledge and enthusiasm for a range of topics, from foraging to gentrification and beyond.

Among the many highlights to this year’s festival are a huge Festival Gala Night at the Regent Theatre on Friday, October 13.

Celebrating the 50 year literary career of Witi Ihimaera, the evening will be hosted by Stacey Morrison and feature David Eggleton, Jacinta Ruru, Fiona Farrell, Emma Espiner, Chris Tse, and Ihimaera himself.

Then there’s the festival’s Inaugural Curator Māori Series, Toitū Tauraka Waka, by Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui) and Angela Wanhalla (Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki, Ngāi Tahu).

This will feature Witi Ihimaera, Monty Soutar, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and others.

“Māori writers help make sense of the past, create narratives for our future, and provide inspiration for the generations to come,” Ruru says.

Deep River Talk is a poetry series presented by the Hone Tuwhare Trust, that draws its korowai around big topics like activism, poetry, and politics

Radiant Revelry celebrates the timeless legacy of New Zealand’s boundary pushing literary giant Katherine Mansfield’s, on her birthday (and the centenary year of her death).

There will be a series of wild and wonderful children’s workshops held at the Dunedin City Library, where young authors and illustrators are invited to meet their heroes and enjoy stories.

That’s just a few of the highlight’s of this year’s festival. To explore the programme further, visit www.dunedinwritersfestival.co.nz

With a central hub in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, events will also be hosted at Te Whare o Rukutia, the Community Gallery, and other venues orbiting the Octagon.

“We all know the beauty of river mouths, where the restless river runs into the welcoming ocean,” Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival board chair Nicola McConnell says. “Our festival will move as a current, bringing ideas in and sending others on a voyage beyond.”

Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival: October 13-15.