Verb Wellington

Last updated

Verb Wellington is an organisation that since 2014 has run an annual literary festival in Wellington, New Zealand called Verb Writers and Readers Festival. [1] It was founded by Claire Mabey. [2] Part of the festival is an event called LitCrawl which is like a pub crawl, across many venues (20 in 2022). [2] In addition to the festival, Verb Wellington run other events; for example, it partnered with the British Council in 2023 to bring together Chris Tse (the New Zealand Poet Laureate) and Simon Armitage (the United Kingdom Poet Laureate) at an event called Does Literature Matter? at the National Library of New Zealand. [3] [4]

Contents

Background

Andrew Laking and Claire Mabey created the first Verb Wellington event in 2014. [5] Laking's background was as a musician and Mabey had been at the Tauranga Arts Festival and has a diploma in publishing from Whitireia Polytechnic. Mabey brought forward the concept of LitCrawl which grew into the bigger festival. [5] [6] Verb Wellington works in partnership with the New Zealand Arts Festival every two years to deliver their literary festival programme. [6] Verb Wellington's festival and events were disrupted in 2020, like many, by COVID-19. [6]

Wellington Treasure Trust is a registered charity that supports Verb Wellington. Board members in 2023 were Emma Marr, Catherine Robertson, Bhranavan Gnanalingam, Andrew Laking and Claire Mabey. [7] [8]

I think Wellington is a leading literary city, globally. When you look at the history of book production and writing here, it’s amazing. Patricia Grace, Bill Manhire, Elizabeth Knox. (Claire Mabey 2020) [6]

In 2023 the festival programmers are Rangimarie Sophie Jolley, Trinity Thompson-Browne, Damien Levi, Rosabel Tan and Chris Tse. Melanie Hamilton is the executive director. Claire Mabey has left to pursue writing. [9]

Verb Writers and Readers Festival

LitCrawl was the start of the annual festivals. The format is a number of short events for example in 2019 there were free events in three time slots, 6pm – 6.45pm, 7.15pm – 8pm, 8.30pm – 9.15pm with time to move between venues. [10] LitCrawl in 2014 included The Bat Show at Arty Bees bookshop with Abby Howells and Daniel Pengelly, Writing Tunes and Playing Poetry at a music shop (Alistair's Music) on Cuba Street with Ebony Lamb and Nick Bollinger and Little Beasties with writer from the Modern Institute of Letters including Damien Wilkins, Helen Heath, and Chris Price. [11]

The programme in 2015 featured Jacinda Adern in the event Women of Letters. [12]

In 2017 the Women of Letters event included Georgina Beyer, Gaylene Preston and Ashleigh Young. Also in 2017 were Joy Cowley, Witi Ihimaera, Emily Perkins and Hēmi Kelly, it was the biggest LitCrawl so far with 25 events. [12]

The 2018 LitCrawl was the first one to utilise guest curators for the programming. [12] One event organised by writing group Crip the Lit attended by 200 people was a debate with Mandy Hager, Paula Tesoriero and Henrietta Bollinger on the negative and Trish Harris, Steff Green and Alisha Tyson on the affirmative. They were debating “There’s no such thing as a disabled writer. We are all just writers.” [13]

In 2019 the festival featured a family programme with a KidsCrawl at Porirua Library and a session at Polhill Reserve with author Robert Vennell, Paul Ward and expert Arihia Latham. [14] Of the 2019 programme writer Nina Mingya Powles described a panel that included three writers of Chinese heritage (poets Gregory Kan and Chen Chen and founding editor of The Pantograph Punch, Rosabel Tan) as a significant event, 'solidifying a growing feeling that there is indeed a small but strong community of New Zealand Chinese writers'. [15]

In 2021 an event was A Clear Dawn: New Asian Voices from Aotearoa New Zealand with writers Rupa Maitra, Mikee Sto Domingo, Rose Lu and Chris Tse. [16]

The 2022 festival had a theme called Radical Possibility. Rijula Das was a festival programmer. Featured writers included Hinemoa Elder, Coco Solid, Albert Cho, Vincent O’Sullivan and Gaylene Preston. Also Jenny Pattrick and Fiona Kidman. [2]

Residencies

Verb Wellington have a number of writers residencies including a three-week paid writing time with Katherine Mansfield House & Garden that started in 2020. [9] [17] The inaugural resident of this programme was Himali McInnes, [18] then Iona Winter (2021), Himali McInnes again in 2022 and Jack Remiel Cottrell in 2023. [19] The patron is John Ormiston in memory of his wife, Diana (Dinny) Lennon who died in 2018. [20]

Related Research Articles

The New Zealand Writers Guild (NZWG) is a New Zealand trade union which represents writers in the fields of film, television, radio, theatre, video and multi-media. The guild's name in Māori language is Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa. It provides services, events, networks, lobbying, and legal advice to writers mostly in the film and television industry. The Guild is affiliated to three major union organisations, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds and the Union Network International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tusiata Avia</span> New Zealand poet and childrens author

Donna Tusiata Avia is a New Zealand poet and children's author. She has been recognised for her work through receiving a 2020 Queen's Birthday Honour and in 2021 her collection The Savage Coloniser won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Savage Coloniser and her previous work Wild Dogs Under My Skirt have been turned into live stage plays presented in a number of locations.

Saradha Koirala is a New Zealand poet and writer based in Melbourne, Australia. She is the author of three poetry collections and two Young Adult novels. Koirala also writes literature reviews and has interviewed international authors and covered events such as the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival. She was the convening judge for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry in the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Barbara Helen Else, also known as Barbara Neale, is a New Zealand writer, editor, and playwright. She has written novels for adults and children, plays, short stories and articles and has edited anthologies of children's stories. She has received a number of awards and fellowships including the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature, the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and the Victoria University of Wellington's Writer's Fellowship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Mackenzie (writer)</span> New Zealand writer

Anna Mackenzie is a New Zealand writer of contemporary, historic and speculative fiction for adult and young adult audiences. She has won numerous awards for her writing and also works as an editor, mentor, teacher of creative writing programmes and public speaker at festivals and in schools.

Janice Marriott is a writer, editor, audio producer, screenwriter, creative writing tutor and mentor, manuscript assessor, poet and gardener. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards and she has also been the recipient of a number of writing residencies, as well as the prestigious Margaret Mahy Medal in 2018. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Melinda Szymanik, born 1963, is an author from New Zealand. She writes picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults and lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

The NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship is an annual literary fellowship in New Zealand established by Peter and Dianne Beatson in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Makereti</span> New Zealand writer

Tina Makereti is a New Zealand novelist, essayist, and short story writer, editor and creative writing teacher. Her work has been widely published and she has been the recipient of writing residencies in New Zealand and overseas. Her book Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa won the inaugural fiction prize at the Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards in 2011, and Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings won the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Award for Fiction in 2014. She lives on the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand.

James Norcliffe is a novelist, short story writer, poet, editor, teacher and educator. His work has been widely published and he has been the recipient of a number of writing residencies. Several of his books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including The Loblolly Boy which won the New Zealand Post Junior Fiction Award in 2010. He lives at Church Bay, Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiti Hereaka</span> New Zealand writer (born 1978)

Whiti Hereaka is a New Zealand playwright, novelist and screenwriter and a barrister and solicitor. She has held a number of writing residencies and appeared at literary festivals in New Zealand and overseas, and several of her books and plays have been shortlisted for or won awards. In 2022 her book Kurangaituku won the prize for fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and Bugs won an Honour Award in the 2014 New Zealand Post Awards for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Maggie Rainey-Smith is a novelist, poet, short story writer, essayist and book reviewer. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Robertson</span> New Zealand novelist

Catherine Robertson is a New Zealand novelist, reviewer, broadcaster and bookshop owner.

Laurence Fearnley is a New Zealand short-story writer, novelist and non-fiction writer. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, both in New Zealand and overseas, including The Hut Builder, which won the fiction category of the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards. She has also been the recipient of a number of writing awards and residencies including the Robert Burns Fellowship, the Janet Frame Memorial Award and the Artists to Antarctica Programme.

The NZSA Janet Frame Memorial Award was an award for mid-career fiction or poetry writers. It was named after New Zealand writer Janet Frame, who died in 2004, and funded by a gift from the Janet Frame Literary Trust. It was awarded biennially from 2008 to 2016.

The NZSA Waitangi Day Literary Honours are awarded each year to one or more New Zealand writers. They are an initiative of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa and were first given out in 2014.

Janis Freegard is a poet and fiction writer. Her work has been widely published in books, anthologies and literary magazines. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Shirley Corlett is a writer of fiction for children and adults. She lives in Masterton, New Zealand.

AotearoaNew Zealand Festival is a multi-arts biennial festival based in Wellington New Zealand that started in 1986. Previous names are the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, New Zealand International Arts Festival, New Zealand Arts Festival and New Zealand Festival of the Arts. The festival is produced every two years and runs across three weeks in venues in Wellington City and outreach programmes in the region. The festival features both international and national acts from performing arts and music with a literary programme also.

The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize is an award for published and unpublished New Zealand writers. It is named after New Zealand writer Laura Solomon, who died in 2019, and funded by a gift from her family. It was first awarded in 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "Verb Wellington". Verb Wellington. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Verb Wellington's celebration has started". Scoop. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage comes to Wellington". British Council. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Does Literature Matter? Simon Armitage & Chris Tse | Humanitix". Humanitix. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  5. 1 2 Jones, Bridget (23 October 2020). "The story of the couple behind Verb Wellington". Stuff. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Langstone, Michelle (24 October 2020). "Wellington, words and nuns: Meet Claire Mabey, festival maker". The Spinoff. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "Home - Wellington Treasure Trust". treasuretrust.org.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Charities Services | Home". register.charities.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  9. 1 2 "About Verb". Verb Wellington. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "LitCrawl Wellington". New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "LitCrawl + Programme 2014".
  12. 1 2 3 McDonald, Dani (22 September 2017). "LitCrawl: Wellington to become mecca of literature lovers". Stuff. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "LitCrawl celebrates diversity in Wellington". Arts Access Aotearoa. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Verb Festival and LitCrawl – Wellington | New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa" . Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Twinned Roots". Landfall. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "Three writers on stereotypes, identity and the Asian-Kiwi experience". RNZ. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Verb Wellington Writer's Residency 2023 - applications open". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "The Verb Wellington Writer's Residency". The Mātātuhi Foundation. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "Verb Writer's Residency". Verb Wellington. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "Verb Wellington Writer's Residency with Katherine Mansfield House & Garden". New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.