Join Catherine Robertson and a panel of writers as they find words for the books that have found them speechless.

Sri Lankan Australian author, Michelle de Kretser (Theory & Practice), will share the stage with esteemed, award-winning Aotearoa writers; Ingrid Horrocks (All Her Lives); publisher of Spoor Books, Balamohan Shingade; and Chris Tse (Dance-Floor Romance).

Perfect for book clubs, curious readers, and anyone looking for their next literary obsession. Come away with a stack of recommendations to add to your bedside table.

How do we write other people’s stories? What do we leave in and what remains unseen?

Asher Emanuel and Aaron Smale capture the stories of others by using fiction writing techniques: creating arcs, characterising people, unfurling facts – somehow without blurring the line of truth?

In conversation with writer and journalist, Māni Dunlop, they discuss the influence of fiction on their work, and how narrative can drive new ways of understanding facts.

Inhabiting a mind or body that society often refuses to accommodate is a life’s work. Fighting the prejudices that make that difficult is an act of political rebellion, one that is capable of unleashing great joy. Join Deaf and disabled writers for readings and kōrero that will annihilate the ableist tropes between them and their good times.

Emcee Olivia Shivas, editor of The D*List, will lead a panel including writer/librarians Riah Tahana-Dawson and Bee Trudgeon, and writer/actor/filmmaker Jared Flitcroft.

This event will be NZSL interpreted.

Step into the chamber and imagine the future we could build. Drawing on their recent books, four formidable writers - Kaeden Watts, Lucy O’Hagan, Carwyn Jones, and Trish Harris - deliver their own maiden speeches, sharing hopeful visions of possibility, followed by a conversation with Toby Manhire.

This event will be NZSL interpreted.

Described by Ali Smith as ‘one of the finest writers alive’ Michelle de Kretser is among Australia’s most acclaimed authors, celebrated for her genre-defying, socially astute fiction. A multiple winner of Australia’s top literary awards, her work is renowned for its sharp intelligence and wit.

Kate Duignan joins Michelle de Kretser to discuss a celebrated writing career and her triumphant new work.

Two teams take to the stage to thrash it out in Don’t Worry, Tech will Save Us! A fast-paced, big-thinking debate where wild hypotheticals and genuine insight collide. Expect sharp arguments, questionable statistics and plenty of laughs.

Adjudicated by comedian Jerome Chandrahasen and featuring Chlöe Swarbrick, Toby Manhire, James Nokise, pip adam, Samantha Hannah and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith.

Legendary frontman of Shihad and The Adults, Jon Toogood, pulls back the curtain on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the roar of international stages, this is a life driven by sound.

Nick Bollinger joins him to explore the sounds and stories that forged an astounding career. This is more than a rock story.

In the city of Cork lies the former Victorian mental asylum known as Our Lady’s, now transformed into modern apartments. The building and its stories are a haunting presence in both Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s Said the Dead and Noelle McCarthy’s Stakes.

In conversation with Claire Mabey, these Irish authors discuss the building’s hold on their lives, its violence and legacy, and how the dead continue to speak through archives, memory and storytelling.

Award-winning author Brannavan Gnanalingam returns with his ninth novel, U.X.O., an intergenerational exploration of memory and the lingering consequences of war.

Drawing on histories connected to his Sri Lankan heritage, Gnanalingam discusses how fiction can open up conversations that history alone cannot resolve. In conversation with Balamohan Shingade.

Memory is both precious and precarious. What does it take to access memories that are buried deep in the past, still being made sense of in the present, and to share them with care, responsibility, and imagination?

Ingrid Horrocks‍ and ‍Joseph Trinidad work across different forms, generously opening up intimate worlds. Emma Ng joins them to discuss the ethics of writing memory, capturing real lives into art, and the slippery, abstract nature of memory itself.

Dismissed as a feminist disruptor and accused of leading a witch-hunt, Dame Silvia Cartwright’s work heading the 1988 Cervical Cancer Inquiry is now recognised as a turning point in public health accountability, exposing medical malpractice and igniting national controversy.

In her memoir, That Woman, she threads personal story with national history. Anna Fifield joins her to discuss courage, reform, and the enduring fight for justice.

Looking to the past to better understand the present, three authors explore how colonisation and environmental change reverberate across generations binding the past, present and future.

Hana Buchanan, Lauren Keenan, and Terri Te Tau in conversation with Matariki Williams discuss the connections between whakapapa, whenua and history, and the ways these relationships continue to shape the present.

At the age of 80 novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera Smiler chose to immerse himself in te reo Māori during a year of full-time study at Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa.

The journey proved no small undertaking—wading through shame, loss and disconnection, the beloved author found fulfilment, reconnection and joy in the reo of his tīpuna.

This electric poetry event invites poets to respond to the line: ‘pleasure and pain share a heart’.

Where longing meets euphoria, and nostalgia pulses through the body like the beat of your favourite pop ballad, Hinemoana Baker, Simon Sweetman, Jackson McCarthy, Helen Rickerby, and Nafanua Purcell Kersel take to the stage with poems that shimmer, sting and seduce.

Hosted by award-winning playwright and Arts Laureate Victor Rodger.

Seven writers write a letter to a reader they will never meet, sending their words into the future in the hope they’ll find someone waiting on the other side. Through curiosity and speculation, they contemplate the future, our place within it and who is ahead of us.

Featuring Witi Ihimaera Smiler (Te Whānau A Kai, Te Aitanga A Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ira, Ngāti Porou), John Summers, Tīhema Baker (Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), Terri Te Tau (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa), Pip Adam, Mia Farlane and Shariff Burke.

Fresh Off The Page returns to Pōneke with new play readings from Asian playwrights. Be the first to see brand-new scripts in development, as presented by the best and brightest Te Whanganui-a-Tara talent.

Link in Bio by Matthew Loveranes

Amalia returns home to Wellington to surprise her family. She’s got a secret to confess. One that could make them all very wealthy and get freedoms and access which immigrants work lifetimes to achieve.

Get to know Anita Wigl'it in this kooky, hilarious and tell-all one-woman show.

Travel back in time to 1989 when a little boy with a big personality was born. Then follow him as he grows up into the glamorous drag queen that we all know and love.

MOTHERED is a new theatre work in development exploring the complex and essential relationship we have with our mothers and motherhood.

Lace up your boots… Grass Roots is back by popular demand for TAHI 2026!

his energetic solo show tackles queerness, masculinity, and our national obsession with the game we love.

After a SOLD-OUT January showcase, more of Pōneke’s best professional comics come together for an epic night of laughs!

A compilation of their best sets, this is a celebration of Wellington comedy at its finest.

The capital's premier comedy competition. Witness the rising stars in stand-up comedy before they hit the big time.

See the top 10 new comedians in the capital battle it out for a spot in the national Grand Final!

Known for their irreverent comedy and cabaret antics, The Crimson Club’s dynamic line up of vocals and violin, accordion and high-hat, cello, alto flute and kick drum (simultaneously), with a splash of theremin brings a truly original take on some great classic tunes.

Fresh Off The Page returns to Pōneke with new play readings from Asian playwrights. Be the first to see brand-new scripts in development, as presented by the best and brightest Te Whanganui-a-Tara talent. First up:

Clay Pigeons by Nadia Freeman

A local community faces an influx of sinister invaders: pigeons! An anti-pigeon task force forms to deal with the avian scourge. But how should the committee combat these rats with wings? It's up to the audience to decide in this interactive satirical comedy.

Join Jaedyn Randell, NAIA Awatea, and Makayla Purcell-Manini for an intimate evening of music, storytelling and soul in an intimate theatre setting.

Election year’s hottest ticket, with voices from opposite sides of the political aisle giving an insider’s guide to the big moments.

Former Labour Leader Phil Goff and former National Attorney General Chris Finlayson co-host Cross Party Lines: A weekly podcast about the political landscape in New Zealand and around the world - LIVE!

A showing of explorations. A new mini-opera in development.

You! Who? is a new monodrama with songs. Composed by Antony Ritchie, set to poems by renowned New Zealand writer Fiona Farrell.

A free workshop showing with Q&A. You can shape the future of this new NZ work.