Te Wāhi Toi/The Arts Place exists to connect the creative community of Queenstown and Wānaka with audiences, students, teachers, spaces and each other. We are a not-for-profit organisation powered by Three Lakes Cultural Trust and inspired by local arts and culture.
Queenstown Writers Festival 2024: Celebrating the Power of Words
The story of Queenstown Writers Festival began in 2019 when a group of friends brazenly decided that our place of paradise needed a writers’ festival. The vision was for an event where readers and writers would come together to celebrate stories, to promote New Zealand writing and to support literacy.
After a successful pilot festival...
The story of Queenstown Writers Festival began in 2019 when a group of friends brazenly decided that our place of paradise needed a writers’ festival. The vision was for an event where readers and writers would come together to celebrate stories, to promote New Zealand writing and to support literacy.
After a successful pilot festival held at the Sherwood attended by 200 people, the Festival has continued to thrive and grow. Five years later, the team is presenting its biggest ever festival of 32 events and anticipating an audience of over 1,000 people to head to Te Atamira on the first weekend of November.
In bringing the magic of storytelling and the joy of words to Queenstown, the Festival has become a cornerstone of the arts calendar in the region.
Despite its name, the Festival is not just for bookworms. It’s about listening to stories and celebrating the magic that comes from storytelling. Through the centuries stories have been shared between families, friends and communities. Everyone enjoys a good story whether it be in a novel, a short story, a poem or a memoir. You certainly don’t have to have read the books before coming along, or even be an avid reader.
It’s all about the ideas and conversation that stem from a writer’s work. At its best, a writers festival talk is like listening to a live podcast. Words have the power to inspire, enlighten, persuade and educate. Words can change the course of history. Or simply bring people together. That’s what the Festival wants to celebrate.
Queenstown Writers Festival is a charitable trust managed by volunteers. The team who set up the festival were passionate about reading and writing but knew little about running a literary festival. However, their enthusiasm was unbridled and they learnt fast. Founding Chairperson Tanya Surrey looks back now and is proud of what the team has achieved since its inception. The current trustees include teacher Chris Fitzpatrick, journalist Debbie Jamieson and creative consultant Jennifer Smart, all of whom are passionate about reading, writing and the conversations that are sparked by literature.
The team is especially delighted to have been short-listed for the Arts and Culture section of the 2024 Spirit of the Wakatipu Awards.
The festival is held over the first weekend of November but the planning and preparation began back in January. There are many hours of meetings talking about new books coming out, and what’s on the horizon in publishing. The team considered dozens of books and recommendations with the goal of curating a programme that appeals to a wide range of people. There are many heated discussions before the final programme is confirmed. After the programme is set, the team works closely with our venue and contractors to ensure the festival runs smoothly as well as planning an extensive marketing campaign and fundraising strategy. There are many aspects to producing a festival and it takes a lot of mahi.
Every festival is different with new ideas to introduce and new challenges to navigate.
One of the Trust’s objectives is to encourage local writers and their work and we found the perfect partner in Anna-Marie Chin Architects who are again sponsoring this burst of creativity as part of the Festival. There are sections for tamariki and rangatahi, as well as an open category. Instructions for rangatahi and tamariki are live now, and the prompts for the open category will be released on the Friday of the festival at 5.00pm.
Entrants have 48 hours to write up to 800 words. New Zealand writer and previous winner of the Ockham Award for Fiction, Pip Adam will judge the competition. The winner will receive $500 and the opportunity to be published in 1964 magazine.
This year the Festival has expanded to include events in partnership with Te Atamira and with local libraries. There will be children’s author talks with leading children’s writer Gavin Bishop in Frankton and Wānaka Libraries; and a session with novelist Rachael King who will talk about the craft of writing.
Te Atamira is bringing four renowned poets to the stage in Voices and Verses while Remarkable Theatre is presenting two one-act plays as part of the programme. There will be an event in Wānaka with support from Next Chapter Bookshop. These exciting new collaborations bring a fresh element to the festival and we hope to see some new faces in the audience as a result.
For more information on how to get involved, donate, or volunteer, check out the website www.qtwritersfestival.nz; follow Queenstown Writers Festival on Facebook and Instagram, or contact the festival at [email protected].
Or just turn up at Te Atamira on the first weekend of November and listen to the conversations, meet an author, or buy a book.
Photo credit: Supplied by Queenstown Writers Festival.
