Kia ora koutou katoa​

Alexandra Bligh
Chair
Nau mai haere mai. Welcome to the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival 2019. The festival, our fourth, brings together local, national and international writers and thinkers to celebrate the pleasure of reading, ideas and the spoken word. This year we are joined by over 60 writers for four days of inspired programming that will challenge and entertain attendees.

Dunedin, Aotearoa’s only UNESCO City of Literature, has always been home to literary creators and patrons. The festival champions writers from near and far, while bringing the spotlight to our beautiful city.

I would like to thank the DWRF Board, as well as our brilliant and dedicated staff: Programme Director Claire Finlayson and Events and Communications Coordinator Laura Hewson. Together they have created a wide and varied programme that spans fiction, drama, poetry and non-fiction.

On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank our ever-expanding core of major funders, sponsors, partners and supporters who have all made this festival possible.

Lastly, thanks to all volunteers and Friends of the Festival – Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival is a testament to collaborative effort.
Claire Finlayson
Programme Director
Kia ora koutou. We’ve got a cracking good line-up for you this May. If the ink with which you circle your ‘top picks’ runs riot over these pages and makes an unruly, crowded mess on this booklet, you’ll hear a great squeak of joy from us.

We’re thrilled to welcome eight overseas guests to our corner: bestselling Irish novelist John Boyne; BAFTA and MOBO award-winning UK hip-hop artist and author Akala; charisma-blessed English writer/performer Rebecca Vaughan (back for a third time, no less); two immensely talented picture- book author-illustrators on loan from France, Eric Veillé and Clotilde Perrin; and three of Australia’s brightest minds, novelist Markus Zusak, feminist author Clementine Ford and Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman.

Pair that vibrant lot with a bounty of top-shelf New Zealand talent and you’ve got yourself four days of terrific talk across 36 events, with a cast of over 60 participants. Our writers, illustrators and performers will serve up a peppy range of topics: murder, feminism, villains and grannies, fake news, race, class, distraction, boydom, the Dunedin Sound, hip-hop, Shakespeare, poetry, off-grid living, te reo Māori, misbehaving costumes, gender bending, Scarfie flats, mental health, masculinity, humour, comics, Captain Cook’s one-handed cook, the writing process, comics, history’s scent and motherhood.

We hope you gorge yourself silly on these events. And thanks for picking this programme up – your festival keenness is our favourite thing. Now get that pen out and start circling...​
Dave Cull
Mayor of Dunedin
Kia ora koutou katoa. Welcome to Ōtepoti, Dunedin – a UNESCO City of Literature and proud host of the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival 2019.

Dunedin has long been a magnificent example of a city that lives, breathes and connects through its people, its culture and its intense love of literature.

The enhanced recognition brought about by our designation as a UNESCO City of Literature in 2014 is providing tremendous opportunities for all sorts of literary initiatives, relationships and events. We’ve collaborated with the likes of Krakow, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Shunde to present our creative mana and output to the world.

The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival celebrates those connections and allows us to demonstrate first-hand everything about our city that nurtures and inspires creative minds. From our prestigious university with a world-class reputation for teaching and research excellence, our stunning built and natural environments, to our cutting- edge tech businesses and bold plans to transform the city’s waterfront – creativity and innovation abound.

The festival organising committee have again gathered together a top-class array of international and local guests and this year’s programme promises to enhance, affirm and celebrate everything we value about our literary heritage and its future.

I welcome you to Dunedin to experience all of this for yourself. Enjoy the festival and enjoy your time in our wonderful city.