Events

Tagata Atamai presents Words in Motion, three nights of Moana and Māori poetry at Basement Theatre.

Scorpio Books and Otago University Press warmly welcome you to the launch of A Day Like No Other: Selected poems by James Norcliffe.

Notable New Zealand authors Damien Wilkins, Liam McIllvannay, Tina Makereti, Laurence Fearnley, Steve Braunias, Naomi Arnold and others will take the stage at the RAWA festival for 2026. RAWA is a biennial festival that is hosted by a small group of volunteers who believe in the power of literature to influence lives in joyful and meaningful ways. Our aim is to bring together a community of readers and writers in an intimate regional festival where people can engage with, and learn from, the very best authors in Aotearoa. The spectacular programme is designed especially for readers and writers. A two-day registration provides the full RAWA experience, an enriching opportunity to meet all the wonderful speakers. Come and spend the weekend and enjoy the Open Mic Poetry Night on the Friday night at the Madeira Hotel. Open Mic is a free community event so come and enjoy. Also on offer are one-day registrations for the Saturday or Sunday programme. See https://www.rawafestival.com/2026-programme for more information and the full programme.

Join Judy L Mohr, selected as one of the inaugural New Voices of Aotearoa in 2025, for an author talk at Tūranga Library!

Scorpio Books and Otago University Press warmly welcome you to an author talk featuring Lynley Edmeades in conversation with Kiran Dass.

Scorpio Books and Grant Hodgson invite you to a special lunchtime author talk on Rangatiratanga and Gentlemanship: A conversation in 1825.

Scorpio Books warmly welcomes you to a special author talk with Peter Dowling and Takerei Norton.

Join us to launch a new book of poetry by the incredible Tusiata Avia. Giving Birth to My Father is about learning to live with a loss that seems simply too heavy to bear.

Do you have the best singing voice in the world? Unlikely. But do you have the WORST singing voice in the world? EQUALLY UNLIKELY

Come along for a morning storytime to celebrate the release of ‘Poppa’s Workshop’ by Chelsea Cresswell!

Scorpio Books warmly welcomes you to the launch of So Long; South America by local author Pat Barrett.

Scorpio Books and Peta Mathias warmly welcome you to a special book launch to celebrate Peta’s new book, It’s Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession: Essays on Life.

Scorpio Books and Te Herenga Waka University Press warmly welcome you to the Ōtautahi Christchurch launch of new poetry collection It’s What He Would’ve Wanted by Nick Ascroft.

Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival will be held from 17 to 19 October 2025.

KUPU Ngā Ringa Tuhituhi Māori Writers Festival — one of Aotearoa’s first and only Māori writers festivals — returns to Rotorua this year with a bold new line-up, a dedicated day in te reo Māori, and a continued commitment to the future of Māori literature.

Scorpio Books warmly welcomes you to a special author talk with Tina Makereti, chaired by Isla Huia.

The NZSA President of Honour, Charlotte Grimshaw, will deliver the prestigious annual NZSA Janet Frame Memorial Lecture, an event that comments on the literary sector, on October 14, 2025.

Scorpio Books and Catch Phrase Media warmly welcome you to the Ōtautahi Christchurch launch of Fire Stations of Aotearoa New Zealand by local author George Lockyer.

Scorpio Books and Canterbury University Press warmly welcome you to the launch of Eddie Sparkle’s Bridal Taxi by local author Frankie McMillan. .

Welcome to the launch of Dead Ends, an event full of stories, not speeches. Come in from the cold and sit by the fire awhile as Laura Borrowdale and friends present an evening of domestic dystopias, monster moments and beautiful books.