Win Tickets to Verb Wellington! – finished 05/11/2020

**UPDATE: this competition finished on 05 November 2020″**

The Wonderful Verb festival starts in just a few days’ time–and what a fabulous line up the Verb team have put together for us this year! To give you a flavour of what’s on offer, we’ve listed just a few of the many events that have caught our fancy. And to celebrate this literary cornucopia, we’ve got some Verb Wellington tickets to give away!

To go into the draw, simply tell us which Verb event excites you the most this year and why.

All answers need to be sent via enquiries@wcl.govt.nz. Winners will be picked on Thursday, 5 November and digital tickets will be sent out via email. Good luck!

Below are just a few of the events we are really excited about. For full details of all Verb events click here.


Sprigs: Brannavan Gnanalingam

We’re looking forward to a lively conversation between Wellington author Brannavan Gnanalingam and comedian James Nokise at Verb Festival 2020. They will be covering some of the huge and essential topics that come up in Brannavan’s brilliant new novel, Sprigs. (Click here for event details.)

Sprigs / Gnanalingam, Brannavan
“It is Saturday afternoon and two boys’ schools are locked in battle for college rugby supremacy. Priya – a fifteen year old who barely belongs – watches from the sidelines. Then it is Saturday night and the team is partying. Priya’s friends have evaporated and she isn’t sure what to do. In the weeks after ‘the incident’ life seems to go on. But when whispers turn to confrontation, the institutions of wealth and privilege circle the wagons.” (Adapted from catalogue Catalogue)


Finding Adventure with Jonathan King

Film maker and comics writer Jonathan King is running a workshop to help you create your adventure story! Limited places so get in quick for this Verb Festival event. (Click here for event details.)


Movement & Poetry with Rata Gordon

Get your body and brain moving in this creative writing workshop with poet Rata Gordon! (Click here for event details.)

Second person / Gordon, Rata
“The only thing to bring this frozen world to life is an imagination. Who has one? Do I? Let me check. Rata Gordon’s first poetry collection is both graceful and restless, sorrowful and witty. In poems about childhood, travelling, the body and the earth, Gordon describes the freedom and disorientation we find in unfamilar places, and the way that our longings and imaginings animate our lives.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Not that I’d Kiss a Girl: Lil O’Brien

Emily Writes is going to talk with writer Lil O’Brien about her brilliant memoir of her coming out journey: funny, frank and refreshing! (Click here for event details.)


Spontaneous Storytelling Workshop for Families

Bring the whānau young and old for this interactive storytelling workshop with Derek & Michi! (Click here for event details.)


Dara McAnulty: Diary of a Young Naturalist

Calling all young nature lovers! At the age of 16 Dara McAnulty is an international nature writing superstar. Join Dara for a digital conversation about this life as a writer, conservationist and teenager with Asperger’s. (Click here for event details.)

Diary of a young naturalist / McAnulty, Dara
“An astonishing, evocative exploration of the natural world and all its wonders, by 15-year-old conservationist and rising literary star Dara McAnulty Diary of a Young Naturalistchronicles the turning of 15-year-old Dara McAnulty’s world. From spring and through a year in his home patch in Northern Ireland, Dara spent the seasons writing. These vivid, evocative and moving diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees the world are raw in their telling.'” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Wild at Heart: Miriam Lancewood

Miriam’s Lancewood’s wild life is adventurous and inspiring. Join Susie Ferguson (RNZ) and Miriam for an hour of entertaining stories of living in the wilderness of Aotearoa. (Click here for event details.)

Wild at heart / Lancewood, Miriam
“Gripping sequel to the international bestseller Woman in the Wilderness, Miriam Lancewood’s story of the quest for a simple life, unfettered by society’s norms.” (Catalogue)

 

 


Hiakai: Monque Fiso

Come and hear Chef Monique Fiso talk about her stunning new book, Hiakai, celebrating kai Māori, at Verb Festival 2020! (Click here for event details.)

Hiakai = Modern Maori cuisine / Fiso, Monique
“Monique Fiso is a modern-day food warrior, taking Maori cuisine to the world. After years overseas in Michelin-star restaurants, Monique returned to Aotearoa to begin Hiakai, an innovative pop-up venture that’s now a revered, award-winning restaurant in Wellington. This book is Monique’s personal journey of self-discovery, it tells the story of kai Maori, provides foraging and usage notes, an illustrated ingredient directory, and over 30 breathtaking recipes that give this ancient knowledge new life. Hiakai offers up food to behold, to savour, to celebrate.” (Adapted from Catalogue)


Rules for entry

  1. This competition is open to all Wellington City Libraries’ adult members.
  2. Only one entry per person will be accepted.
  3. Entries close on Thursday 5 November 2020. Only entries received before this date will be considered.
  4. Wellington City Libraries will make reasonable attempts to contact the winner. Another winner will be drawn if contact cannot be made.
  5. Judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  6. Libraries’ staff are not permitted to enter this competition.

LitCrawl is back at WCL!

LitCrawl is back and this year they are celebrating five years of the crawl! From 8 – 11 November you can get involved in over 50 events featuring writers, illustrators, storytellers, musicians, historians, taxidermists, performance artists and more! LitCrawl features the famous crawl on Saturday 10 November from 6pm to 9.15pm, during which there are 25 events in as many locations in Wellington’s CBD. The LitCrawl Extended programme is running again this year between Thursday 8th and Sunday 11th November and is a mixture of free and ticketed events, so make sure you mark your diaries and take a good look at the programme! There is something for everyone at LitCrawl! For the full programme see www.litcrawl.co.nz 

We have two very exciting events at Central this year!

True Stories Told Live is back! LitCrawl and the New Zealand Book Council are bringing True Stories Told Live back to Central on Saturday 10 November as part of Phase 1 of the crawl. From 6pm – 6.45pm an epic line up of writers deliver true stories on the theme of age. Featuring Victor Rodger, Eirlys Hunter, Lizzie Marvelly, Raymond Antrobus, Helen Heath and Kate Spencer. Hosted by Penny Ashton. To plan out the rest of your crawl, check out the full programme online.

And something for the kids! Earlier on Saturday 10 November bring the kids along to the first ever KidsCrawl. LitCrawl has joined forces with the amazing Annual (edited by Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris) to create an adventure for the whole family. From 10-11am at the Central Library, you will be given a story map that takes you all over the library in search of Annual authors who have a story to tell… KidsCrawl is free but registration is essential so make sure you send an email to kidscrawl@litcrawl.co.nz to register your storyhunters. For more information check out the website.

Read before you crawl…

The programme is out, you’ve seen then line up, now it’s time to get reading! Search the catalogue and place those reserves for the authors you are most excited to see and keep an eye out for our special Read Before You Crawl blogs which will be coming out weekly as we countdown to the big weekend!

Read before you crawl… Fiction Choices
Read before you crawl… a Poetry Showcase
Read before you crawl – KidsCrawl Edition

 

Did someone say prizes?

In the lead up to LitCrawl we will have some tickets and books to give away! Make sure you keep an eye on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts to be in it to win it!

LitCrawl 2016 at the Central Library

LitCrawl 2016 Cenral Library

A literary injection straight to the heart of the city

LITCRAWL is a celebration of new works of literature by over 100 writers; local, national and international. It’s held in twenty of Wellington’s best loved venues, from tiny book stores to the large space of the Central Library. Intimate. Real. Anything goes. The writers step across the threshold and go unscripted and unsupported by notes, lecterns or audio-visual equipment. This is storytelling at its unabashed best. Come and witness unique stories on the theme of ‘metamorphosis’ as they are shaped in the moment.

Featuring Mayor Justin Lester, Paula Morris, Emily Perkins, Khalid Warsame and Anahera Gildea. In partnership with the New Zealand Book Council.

Find LitCrawl on EventFinda

View the full 2016 programme here