Nelson Arts Festival Pukapuka Talks

A once-in-a-lifetime storytelling experience, featuring a star-studded line up of Aotearoa New Zealand's best writers, presenting in both English and te reo Māori.

Join former cage fighter-turned-writer Airana Ngarewa; award-winning journalist, broadcaster and survivor advocate Ali Mau; esteemed author Elizabeth Knox CNZM; renowned mental health advocate Dr Hinemoa Elder MNZM; Poetry Slam champion and filmmaker Matariki Bennett; academic and award-winning memoirist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku MNZM; and artist and activist Tāme Iti, as they respond to the provocation, ‘Any Last Words?’ MCed by Johny O’Donnell.

Step inside the minds of three masterful storytellers  – Michael Bennett, Fiona Sussman and Rachel Paris – as they explore the social, psychological, cultural, and political contexts driving their page-turning stories: Carved in Blood (the third book in the Hana Westerman series), Hooked Up (the second book in the Bandara/Stark Novels series) and See How They Fall (the bestselling debut). . Facilitated by Sylvan Thomson. 

Tiahuia: A Karanga to My Mother is artistic director and choreographer Merenia Gray’s tribute to her mother Tiahuia Te Puea Hērangi, the whāngai daughter of Princess Te Puea. This Pukapuka Talks session features a deep and insightful kōrero between Merenia and Donna McLeod about Tiahuia’s life.

In 2025, Damien Wilkins won the prestigious Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Delirious, a captivating tale about families and ageing, which follows ex-cop Mary and her husband Pete, a retired librarian, as they navigate life’s big transitions. In this intimate story, Wilkins blends astute observations about life’s biggest challenges, endearing characters, emotional depth and rueful humour.  He chats with Elizabeth Knox.

Iconic Māori activist, artist, and performer Tāme Iti shares his extraordinary life, defined by resistance, resilience, and rangatiratanga. From land marches to performance art, police raids to prison cells, his voice has challenged New Zealand to reckon with its colonial legacy. Once branded as a dangerous and extreme activist, now hailed as a national treasure, Tāme has lived the contradictions and realities of standing with mana motuhake in a modern world.

Hosted by Naomi Aporo and Hamuera Manihera.

In this Pukapuka Talks, Samantha Gee from Radio New Zealand quizzes Naomi Arnold about her 2026 Ockham NZ Book Award longlisted book, Northbound, and Rebecca Hayter about High Heels & Gumboots, her hilarious and heartwarming memoir set in Golden Bay,.

When award-winning journalist and author Naomi Arnold set off to walk from Bluff to Cape Reinga she soon discovered that heading north meant she would spend long periods completely on her own.  

Yachting enthusiast Rebecca Hayter – also an award-winning journalist – initially planned a seachange with her partner but found herself the ‘accidental’ sole owner of a 10-acre beachfront ‘lifestyle’ property in Golden Bay.

While these two award-winning journalists and authors embarked on two very different journeys, they were both yearning to reconnect with the landscape of Aotearoa and themselves.

Ali Mau (author of No Words for This) and Sonia Orchard (author of Groomed) examine what happens when the people you trust most betray you and shine the light on what needs to change for justice to prevail. This kōrero was facilitated by Dr Nikki Evans, who is manager of Hikitia! RISE’s Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention mahi (work)

Discover how a restless working-class girl from the pā became a founding member of Ngā Tamatoa, the Women’s and Gay Liberation movements, and an essential voice in protests across Aotearoa. The kōrero with Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku is facilitated by Donna McLeod.

What is it really like to work in the news media? Join Ali Mau and Michelle Duff, two of Aotearoa’s most highly regarded journalists, as they speak candidly about the shifting landscape of journalism in an age of misinformation, outrage, and fragile business models.

Led by fellow journalist Naomi Arnold, this timely conversation considers the inherent structural challenges in the media, the role of advocacy in journalism, and how we can establish which media to trust.

Dr Hinemoa Elder’s new book, Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind, is a quest through the caves of Hinengaro (mental health) and a resource for anyone seeking comfort and ease amid the chaos of life. This kōrero is facilitated by Annie Fay.