New Zealand Young Writers Festival

These playwrights were once young and hungry, ‘before twenty-five,’ and heralded as the future of this country’s playwriting. What happened next, and where are they now? Examining the grey area between ‘emerging’ and ‘emerged’, award-winning playwrights Ben Wilson, Amy Wright, and Nathan Joe, who have come through Playmarket’s b425 competition, discuss the realities of being young playwrights. This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (29th October - 2nd November 2022)

As triplet sisters clear the family attic after a shared heartbreak, old memories, buried secrets, and deep-set grudges are forced to the surface. A new drama by local playwright Amy Wright, written for her Honours year at the University of Otago, with the assistance of Amanda Martin. This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (29th October - 2nd November 2022)

James Joyce’s perverse love letters reveal that the terms ‘literary genius’ and ‘smut peddler’ are far from mutually exclusive. What do Aotearoa’s new generation of young writers - Josiah Morgan, Essa May Ranapiri, Samuel Te Kani, and Rebecca Hawkes - have to say about the fine line between erotic and profane? This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (29th October - 2nd November 2022)

In this panel, art critics across different mediums - Mya Morrison-Middleton, Sinead Overbye, Essa May Ranapiri, and Samuel Te Kani - discuss the very nature of criticism. Who or what is criticism for? Who should critique who? And is Aotearoa too small for robust criticism? This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (29th October - 2nd November 2022)

Our country's finest slam champions - Nathan Joe, Sara Hirsch, and Eric Soakai share their winning poems and spill the hot behind the scenes tea of what goes on during slam off. Past winners gossip and rant about what makes such a community-driven but competitive sport so enticing. This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (29th October - 2nd November 2022)

In this episode, join a lively night of quick wits and even quicker verses as 12 contestants battle it out to become the 2021 Otago Poetry Slam Champion. MC’d by National Poetry Slam Champion Jordan Hamel. This event was sponsored by Morning Magpie and Motif Poetry. Content Warning - Mentions of Suicide, Self-Harm, Physical and Emotional Abuse, Eating Disorders and Trauma.

This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (28th - 31st October 2021) https://youngwritersfest.nz/

This NZYWF marks two whirlwind years since the launch of the Ōtepoti Writers Lab – making it high time for a birthday party! In this episode, join the celebration in a showcase extravaganza of writing in different formats, from prose to performance poetry and beyond. This event was sponsored by Ōtepoti Writers Lab.

This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (28th - 31st October 2021) https://youngwritersfest.nz/

How does society place limitations on the way we live in our bodies? How might we resist and refuse this through writing? In this episode, Emma Barnes, Whina Pomana, Hana Pera Aoake, and Kerry Lane share their work and discuss writing, fluidity, gender, and bodies. This event was sponsored by Auckland University Press.

This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (28th - 31st October 2021) https://youngwritersfest.nz/

In this episode, join Starling magazine editor Louise Wallace in conversation with Erin Gourley and Molly Crighton, two writers who undertook Starling micro-residencies in the Otago Museum during the festival. This event was sponsored by Starling Magazine and the Otago Museum.

This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (28th - 31st October 2021) https://youngwritersfest.nz/

What is ‘accessible’ theatre? How do we make work which is genuinely ‘authentic’? In this episode, playwright Dan Goodwin takes us through the ins and outs of writing mental health and disability theatre, deconstructing what it means to weave accessibility into narrative and ground our stories in the communities they emerge from.

This event was part of the New Zealand Young Writers Festival (28th - 31st October 2021) https://youngwritersfest.nz/