Walk touring a series of 23 sculptures of quotations from New Zealand writers
The Wellington Writers Walk is made up of a series of 23 quotations from New Zealand writers, including poets, novelists, and playwrights. The quotations are placed along the Wellington waterfront, from Kumutoto stream to Oriental Bay, in the form of contemporary concrete plaques or inlaid metal text on wooden 'benchmarks'.[1][2][3][4] They were designed by Catherine Griffiths and Fiona Christeller and installed to honour and celebrate the lives and works of these well-known writers, all of whom had (or have) some connection to Wellington.
The first series of 11 concrete plaques were designed by internationally renowned typographer Catherine Griffiths,[7][8] with each plaque having an individual sponsor. The Writers Walk was opened during New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, part of the International Festival of the Arts, on 11 March 2002.[9][10] Stage Two of the Walk was launched on 8 May 2004.[11] Catherine Griffiths was awarded the Terry Stringer Award at the BEST Design Awards in 2002 for her work on the sculptures.[12]
The quotations for Jack Lasenby, Joy Cowley, James McNeish and Elizabeth Knox were unveiled by the then patron, Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae,[13] in a ceremony on the waterfront on 20 March 2013.[14][15] These were designed by award-winning Wellington architect Fiona Christeller.[16]
The Writers Walk attracts a lot of attention from locals[17][18] as well as visitors, tourists, bloggers and photographers,[19][20][21] and is also a popular expedition for school groups.[22]
In 2008, the Wellington Writers Walk committee held the Wellington Sonnet Competition, sponsored by New Zealand Post, which attracted over 200 entries. The competition was judged by Harry Ricketts and won by Michele Amas, with Saradha Koirala and Richard Reeve in second and third place respectively.[23]
In 2012, New Zealand was Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and the Wellington Writers Walk played a starring role, with large decals of the quotations appearing alongside the River Main in Frankfurt.[24][25] It was launched there in September 2012 by New Zealand writers Hamish Clayton and Tina Makereti, both in residence at Frankfurt's Weltkulturen Museum.[26]
The Writers Walk featured in a 2015 Spectrum documentary when presenter Jack Perkins explored part of the walk with Rosemary Wildblood, Barbara Murison and Philippa Werry.[27]
In 2017, a project for the Wai-Te-Ata Press at Victoria University of Wellington, called the Literary Atlas of Wellington, was undertaken to create an augmented reality mobile application based on the Wellington Writers Walk.[28][29]
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed.
New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the use of the Māori language. Before the arrival and settlement of Europeans in New Zealand in the 19th century, Māori culture had a strong oral tradition. Early European settlers wrote about their experiences travelling and exploring New Zealand. The concept of a "New Zealand literature", as distinct from English literature, did not originate until the 20th century, when authors began exploring themes of landscape, isolation, and the emerging New Zealand national identity. Māori writers became more prominent in the latter half of the 20th century, and Māori language and culture have become an increasingly important part of New Zealand literature.
Wellington Harbour, officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of the western and southern sides of the harbour, and the suburban area of Lower Hutt is to the north and east.
Lambton Quay is the heart of the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.
Lieutenant General Sir Jeremiah Mateparae is a former New Zealand soldier who served as the 20th governor-general of New Zealand between 2011 and 2016, the second Māori person to hold the office, after Sir Paul Reeves. A former officer in the New Zealand Army, he was the Chief of the Defence Force from 2006 to 2011, and then served as the director of the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau for five months in 2011. Following his term as governor-general, Mateparae was the high commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom between 2017 and 2020.
Dame Fiona Judith Kidman is a New Zealand novelist, poet, scriptwriter and short story writer. She grew up in Northland, and worked as a librarian and a freelance journalist early in her career. She began writing novels in the late 1970s, with her works often featuring young women subverting society's expectations, inspired by her involvement in the women's liberation movement. Her first novel, A Breed of Women (1979), caused controversy for this reason but became a bestseller in New Zealand. Over the course of her career, Kidman has written eleven novels, seven short-story collections, two volumes of her memoirs and six collections of poetry. Her works explore women's lives and issues of social justice, and often feature historical settings.
Elizabeth Fiona Knox is a New Zealand writer. She has authored several novels for both adults and teenagers, autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. One of her best-known works is The Vintner's Luck (1998), which won several awards, has been published in ten languages, and was made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro in 2009. Knox is also known for her young adult literary fantasy series, Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire and Wake, both published in 2013, and The Absolute Book, published in 2019.
Frank Kitts Park is a public park situated between Jervois Quay and the Lambton Harbour waterfront in Wellington, New Zealand. It is named after Sir Frank Kitts, New Zealand politician and mayor of Wellington.
The New Zealand War Memorial in London is a memorial to the war dead of New Zealand in the First and Second World Wars, unveiled in 2006. Officially named "Southern Stand", the memorial was designed by architect John Hardwick-Smith and sculptor Paul Dibble, both from New Zealand.
Fergus Barrowman is a New Zealand publisher and literary commentator. He has been the publisher at Victoria University Press since 1985.
The following lists events that happened during 2014 in New Zealand.
Fiona Samuel is a New Zealand writer, actor and director who was raised Scotland from 1961 until the age of five. She moved to New Zealand and grew up in Christchurch before moving to Wellington to train as an actor at the New Zealand Drama School. She graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1980 with a Diploma in Acting. Samuel's award-winning career spans theatre, film, radio and television.
Robert Lord was the first New Zealand professional playwright. He was one of the first New Zealand playwrights to have plays produced abroad since Merton Hodge in the 1930s.
Catherine Robertson is a New Zealand novelist, reviewer, broadcaster and bookshop owner.
Lettering and Sculpture Limited is a sculpture studio in Ducklington, Oxfordshire. It was incorporated in 2008, and the directors are sculptors Alec and Fiona Peever, a married couple who create art in collaboration with each other, with other sculptors, and with writers. Before and during the life of this company, the two sculptors have shown work at many art exhibitions, executed many commissions, supported several institutions, and won several awards.
Eirlys Elisabeth Hunter is a writer and creative writing teacher in New Zealand. She was born in London, England.
John Millen Lasenby, commonly known as Jack Lasenby, was a New Zealand writer. He wrote over 30 books for children and young adults, many of which were shortlisted for or won prizes. He was also the recipient of numerous awards including the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in 2003 and the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement for Fiction in 2014.
Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows underpinned with a cooperative principle.
The Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival is a literary festival held in Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. Since its inception in 2014, there have been in total six festivals, including a special Celtic Noir event in 2019. The event is based mainly at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery but utilises Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, the Otago Pioneer Women's Memorial Hall, the Dunedin Central Library and in 2021 the central live music venue Dog with Two Tails. Festival events include talks, book launches, workshops, a storytrain or storybus, and in some years the unveiling of a new plaque on the Dunedin Writers' Walk.
The Wellington Sculpture Trust is an independent charitable trust which funds and advocates for public sculptures in Wellington, New Zealand. It is funded by private and corporate donations and works with the Wellington City Council. It has commissioned and bought sculptures sited in the Botanic Garden, Cobham Drive at the head of Evans Bay in Rongotai, the Wellington waterfront and Lambton Quay in the central city.
↑ Wellington Writers Walk. Wellington: Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN) Inc. 2002. p.28.
↑ Wellington Writers Walk: a project of the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN) Inc. Wellington Writers Walk committee. 2009.
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