Writing’s Role in Research

Thurs 6th. 12noon – 1pm

Room P152, Dunedin School of Art, Riego Street

Writing is an integral part of Matt Galloway’s and Hana Cadzow’s research at Otago Polytechnic. Matt Galloway is a Senior Lecturer teaching Design, whose research interweaves art and design practices. Hana Cadzow’s research unpacks the experiences of women in the workforce. She is a Senior Lecturer teaching engineering.

Presented by Otago Polytechnic School of Art Public Research Seminars

Once More With Feeling: A Writers’ Festival Opening

Thurs 6th. 6.30pm – 8pm

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Join us to celebrate the coming together of our annual gathering in the way in which we have become accustomed: the responsible enjoyment of your choice of beverages, and a hearty buffet of writers performing their work, with the rather brilliant Freya Daly Sadgrove flying in to serve as your Master of Ceremonies.

Sponsored by NZ Book Council.

Wake & Make: A Drop-In Centre for the Photocopier Inclined

Fri 7th. 10am – 4pm

Oxford Building, Moray Place

The day before this year’s Dunedin Zinefest, come along and put together a pile of lo-fi masterpieces of your very own. We’ll have pens and paper and people on board to give you a hand if you need it, and a trusty ol’ Xerox machine that’s your ticket to the literary underground.

Presented in association with Radio One 91 FM.

Craig Cliff’s Writing with Robots

Fri 7th. 10am – 12noon

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Registration required!

A poetry workshop using a range of online tools to mangle/generate text and then (if required) craft it into something meaningful. NB every participant needs to bring their own device that can connect to the internet.

Presented in association with the University of Otago English Programme’s Burns Fellowship 60th anniversary celebrations.

Victor Rodger Young Writers’ Workshop

Fri 7th. 3pm – 4pm

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Registration required!

Former Burns Fellow Victor Rodger has worked across stage and screen for more than twenty years, including over a decade of writing scripts for Shortland Street. Victor will lead students through several writing exercises and encourage participants to use material from their own lives.

Presented in association with the University of Otago English Programme’s Burns Fellowship 60th anniversary celebrations.

Science Writing – Authentic Yarns

Fri 7th. 5.30pm – 7pm

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Creative non-fiction writers grace the offices of the University of Otago’s Centre for Science Communication, honing their craft. Come along to hear some of them read some of their recent work and discuss their lives as young science writers.

Presented in association with the Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago.

Dunedin Zinefest 2018

Sat 8th. 10am – 4pm

Oxford Building, Moray Place

Does exactly what it says in the tin. Set up a table, show off your wares, and meet fellow travellers in the enduring DIY tradition. Or, if you’re more of a collector (hoarder) than maker, bring your money and fill your boots! If you want a space to showcase your work, let us know by emailing look@youngwritersfest.nz

Presented in association with Radio One 91 FM.

The Blaming of the Shrew: From the Frontlines of Contemporary Feminism

Sat 8th. 10.30am – 11.30am

Otago Pioneer Women’s Hall, Moray Place

125 years after women won the vote in Aotearoa New Zealand, we’ve got a hell of a long way to go. Journalists Sasha Borissenko and Eleanor Ainge Roy are joined by essayist Shirley Le (Sweatshop, Sydney) and columnist Miriama Aoake (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Mahuta, Tainui) to discuss pay equity, intersectional feminism, and the difficulties of balancing privacy and the public interest in the #MeToo era.

This event will be livestreamed on the NZ Young Writers Facebook page and available to download as a podcast via Otago Access Radio.

The Most Terrifying (Children’s) Book Ever Written

Sat 8th. 12noon – 1pm

DPAG Conference Room, Octagon

On this the 200th Anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, maybe it’s time to reflect on what are our greatest horror masterpieces. Craig Cliff and a group of overactive imaginations will argue that it’s not Mary Shelley, Anne Rice or Stephen King we should be most afraid of, but rather Maurice Sendak, Lynley Dodd or Margaret Wise Brown.

This event will be livestreamed on the NZ Young Writers Facebook page and available to download as a podcast via Otago Access Radio.

Presented in association with the University of Otago English Programme’s Burns Fellowship 60th anniversary celebrations.

Slam Poetry Workshop

Sat 8th. 1.30pm – 3.30pm

Otago Pioneer Women’s Hall, Moray Place

Registration required!

2017 NZ Slam Poetry Champion Daisy Lavea-Timo (Daisy Speaks) invites all writers and performers -regardless of experience- to dig out their notebooks of musings, lyrics or observations and turn these comedies, poetry or social commentaries into art forms. The workshop includes a brief overview of poetry slam, writing prompts, performance exercises and the opportunity to perform your piece during the session.

Sponsored by the University Book Shop.

Playreading: Pring It On

Sat 8th. 4pm – 5pm

DPAG Conference Room, Octagon

A reading of the contemporary Pasifika Play Pring It On by Leki Jackson-Bourke, brought to you in association with Robert Burns Fellow Victor Rodger’s theatre movement F.C.C.

Presented in association with the University of Otago English Programme’s Burns Fellowship 60th anniversary celebrations. Pring it On was developed with the assistance of the Todd Corporation’s 2017 Todd New Writer’s Bursary.

Tales from the Sweatshop: A Western Sydney Showcase

Sat 8th. 5.30pm – 6.30pm

Otago Pioneer Women’s Hall, Moray Place

Sweatshop is a literacy movement based in Western Sydney, devoted to empowering groups and individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds through training and employment in creative and critical writing. Join their NZYWF delegation Winnie Dunn, Phoebe Grainer and Shirley Le to hear the latest from their pens to the page.

This event will be livestreamed on the NZ Young Writers Facebook page and available to download as a podcast via Otago Access Radio.

Presented in association with The Australian High Commission

The Official Zinefest Afterparty

Sat 8th. 6pm – 1am

Dogs With Two Tails

Our good pals at Radio One 91FM understand that zine culture has great music stitched into its DNA. To wrap up a long day of writerly camaraderie, they’re putting on a top shelf line-up of musical shenanigans to soundtrack the late night ramblings of the writerly inclined.

Presented in association with Radio1 91FM.

Otago Regional Slam Poetry Competition

Sat 8th. 7.30pm – 9pm

Athenaeum Library, Octagon

Registration required!*

The best slam poets in the region battle it out for bragging rights and entrance to the National Slam Poetry Competition. No age restrictions but performers must register before 5 September to enter and numbers are limited – first in, first served.  Competition rules and format are as per nationals (www.newzealandpoetryslam.com/rules). Prizes include $250 cash, UBS vouchers and a return airfare to the 2018 national competition in Christchurch. Please note that as nationals are restricted to ages 18+, should a poet younger than this win the regional competition they will only receive bragging right and cash. The highest placed poet of qualifying age will then be awarded the airfare and right to represent the region.  To register or for more info: look@youngwritersfest.nz

Sponsored by the University Book Shop.

Writing Place: A Sweatshop Writing Workshop

Sun 9th. 10am – 12noon

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Registration required!

Sweatshop writers Phoebe Grainer, a Djungan woman from Far North Queensland; Winnie Dunn, a Tongan-Australian from Mt Druitt; and Shirley Le, a Vietnamese-Australian from Yagoona, will take participants through a series of exercises, giving new and realistic perspectives to writing place. This workshop is a chance for you to engage and empower your own space and identity through writing.

Presented in association with The Australian High Commission.

Colour Between The Lines: Decolonising Literature

Sun 9th. 1pm – 2pm

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

“Even in the face of powerful structures of domination, it remains possible for each of us … to define and determine alternative standards, to decide on the nature and extent of compromise” (bell hooks). This Trans-Tasman Talanoa includes Winnie Dunn and Phoebe Grainer from the Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement and the Auckland-based pair of Pasifika playwright Leki Jackson-Bourke, and columnist Miriama Aoake, who will korero about how their writing practices contribute to continuous acts of decolonisation.

This event will be livestreamed on the NZ Young Writers Facebook page and available to download as a podcast via Otago Access Radio.

Presented in association with The Australian High Commission

Bridging the Gap from Great Writing to Great Screen Production

Sun 9th. 3pm – 4pm

Fringe HQ, 26 Princes St.

Richard Bell, Creator/Producer/ Production Designer of hit Australian TV series ‘Wanted’ discusses the challenges of getting from great idea to great producible idea, with Short Film Otago Chair, Allan Baddock.

Presented in association with Short Film Otago.

Screenplay Storytelling

Sun 9th. 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Metro Cinema, Town Hall Building

Registration required!

Products of writing include the screenplay, an all important component that can make or break a film. Watch I’m Still Here and Genome, short documentaries created by Emma Schranz, and Rachel Anson, graduates from the University of Otago’s Centre for Science Communication, followed by a panel discussion of the crucial art of storytelling chaired by Neil Harraway, the Centre’s new Director of Filmmaking.

Presented in association with the Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago.