2018 Programme Details will be announced in July
2017 Programme:
Thu.7th
Pantograph Punch x Blue Oyster Arts Writing Workshop (Part I)
A conversation about critical art writing and reviewing with Lana Lopesi & Rosabel Tan from Pantograph Punch. What purpose does it serve? What does good art writing look like? Or for artists, how do you pitch your work to the critics? Registration required! See Blue Oyster website for more details.
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12pm - 3pm Blue Oyster Art Project Space |
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A Toast To The Written Word: Festival Launch
Join us to welcome visiting authors from around the country, and some of the sharpest young local literary minds, as we formally open the 2017 NZ Young Writers Festival. There will be previews of the programme to come and, if that’s not enough, there will also be live music and canapes.
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5:30pm - 7pm Writers Block |
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Pleasure & Pain: Writing About Sex & Sexuality
Laura Borrowdale, editor of Aotearotica, talks to Pantograph Punch’s Lana Lopesi and young adult author Karen Healey about the presentation of sex and sexuality. In erotica, critical writing and fiction, the same issues of consent, assumption, power and privilege are played out over and over again, and have ramifications for society at large.
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7pm - 8pm Writers Block |
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Dunedin High Schools' Poetry Slam
Founded in 2015, the Slam event works as a vehicle for the expression and poetic experience of our local high school students. It’s a gratifying evening which doesn’t take itself too seriously. For those wishing to perform, please email dunedinpoetryslam@gmail.com with your name, school and year level. Winning prizes donated by UBS.
7pm - 9pm
Athenaeum Library
Fri.8th
Pantograph Punch x Blue Oyster Arts Writing Workshop (Part II)
As a practical output from the day before, Pt II offers the opportunity for feedback from others in the room, participants and facilitators from Pantograph Punch and Blue Oyster. Considering the points of conversation from Pt I, this workshop will see practical editing and skill-sharing as a way to realise recent writing. Participants will need to submit a short, recent text on registration for this part of the workshop. For more information, please visit the Blue Oyster website. Registration required! See Blue Oyster website for more details.
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9am - 12pm Blue Oyster Art Project Space |
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Media Industry Survival 101
Join Sasha Borissenko, Eleanor Ainge Roy (The Guardian) & Annabel Hawkins as they share their insights into the scandal and glory of the fourth estate in an age of digital disruption, conflicts of interest, redundancies, shift work & more!
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1pm - 2pm Writers Block |
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Dairy Farm Dystopia on Rhydian Thomas’ Milk Island
As the 2023 election approaches, four cruel & unusual stories expose the inner workings at the heart of Milk Island (former South Island), where patriotism and prosperity trumps all else and life matters little unless you’re Milky Moo, the nation’s favourite cow. Join author Rhydian Thomas to talk about his absurd debut novel.
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3pm - 4pm Writers Block |
Presented By |
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Blue Oyster Library Launch
Please join us for the launch of the Blue Oyster Library, a community site for research and relaxation, conversation and critique. Utilising a diverse collection of artist books, publications, essay books and graphic novels, Blue Oyster Library acts as a community resource, seeking to share and provide space for deeper understanding and quiet contemplation. The Library will exist as an ever-evolving site, expanding with time and in conversations with our Annual Exhibition Programme.
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5:30pm - 7pm Blue Oyster Art Project Space |
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New Adventures In Performance Poetry
Spend an hour traversing broad poetic territory Live On Stage, with Chris Tse, Faith Wilson, Annabel Hawkins, Laura Borrowdale, Emer Lyons, James McCulloch and friends.
7pm - 8pm
Dog with Two Tails
The NZYWF Big Book Quiz
From the ivory tower to the gutter press, assemble your team of learned notables for the return of the NZYWF Big Book Quiz. Teams of up to four humans welcome. Did someone say University Book Shop vouchers galore? Register your team! (See ABOUT section)
8pm - 10pm
Dog with Two Tails
Sat.9th
Poetry as Resistance
How do poetry and political/social resistance intersect? How has poetry been used as a tool of resistance? This workshop with Kyra Gillies covers both practical writing stuff as well as some open yarns for talking about poetry. People are encouraged to bring their own poems, art, ideas, and friends. Registration required! (See ABOUT section)
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10am - 12pm Writers Block |
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The Speculative Young Adult Fiction of Karen Healey
Karen Healey writes books and short stories about smart girls with tough problems and angry boys with secrets. She’s the award-winning author of Guardian of the Dead, The Shattering, When We Wake and While We Run. She is currently the Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence, and will be talking about her work with Jean Balchin.
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1pm - 2pm Writers Block |
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Feminism, Trolls & Daring To Have An Opinion with Lizzie Marvelly
Lizzie Marvelly is a musician, writer and activist. At the 2017 Canon Media Awards she won Best Opinion Writer (for her work in the NZ Herald) and Best Blog (for her young feminist platform The Villainesse). The internet can be a hostile place for Young Women With Opinions, though, so how does she cope?
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3pm - 4pm Writers Block |
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Myths! And Legends!
Myths of the world, modern and ancient; legends retold and fables re-imagined. Gods in disguise! Animals who turn out to be people when you kiss them! Join Jack Vening (Melbourne), David Large, Mel Ansell and company as they tell tales uncovering who we are, who we once were, and where we are going.
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7pm - 8pm Writers Block |
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Sun.10th
The Idea Factory Workshop
Join playwright, comedian and Snapchat star Tom Sainsbury for a couple of hours generating ideas, and shaping them into long form structures. BYO imagination. Registration required! (See ABOUT section)
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Midday - 2pm Writers Block |
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Tom Sainsbury’s Great Fan Fiction Salon
It’s no secret that the woeful 50 Shades ... empire started out as a Twilight fan fiction, but surely this can’t be the high-water mark for literary homage? Tom Sainsbury gathers a gaggle of scribes to share their favourite fan fiction escapades.
3pm - 4pm
Dog with Two Tails