After seven years of writing and research and walks, and a baby, and a pandemic- my new book Uprising is done. I'm delighted (and tired!). Come walk with me into the Māori history and myth of The Southern Alps, out with @text_publishing 2 July.

Well hello Pōneke mountain people and my beloved whānau, I will be up your way Oct 14th talking Māori mountain exploration & Ngāi Tahu in the Southern Alps with @plainricedinner for the @NZAlpineClub's Wellington Section. It's free and y'all should come https://t.co/UCLiE1numq

Maatakiwi reports back from an inspiring hui on indigenous storytelling - "I left the wānaka believing the future is ours to write..." https://t.co/MI9DpKVYrY #WORDchch ^MT

Such fun being @WORDChCh for the weekend. Particularly loved the chance to see Kim Hill interviewing Chris Finlayson and she didn’t disappoint. When I grow up I want to be Kim Hill

What a blast making this wee pukapuka as mag in residence at the fab @WORDChCh. Hua/Manu bulges at its stapled seams with extraordinary gems. Thank you to those who submitted, to the contributors, the @ChristchurchLib team, the @takahemagazine team and @NicLow1 and crew. 1/2

This makes me happy. @WORDChCh

Look at that beautiful cover. The team at takahē, one of the country's best lit journals, have made a limited edition zine, live at @WORDChCh, featuring new writing from festival audiences and guests. Come celebrate its launch this afternoon.

Loved tonight, e mihi tonu ana ki te whānau Hulme 🙌🏼 even got to see Keri's Aranui High school (my old school too) exercise books, her brilliance was already evident at 14 @WORDChCh

The Faraway Near is back in business at @WORDChCh 2022. David Mitchell is joining us live from the multiverse right now. On scene setting as a screen writer: "Night, Christchurch, storm. I let the storm designer do the rest."

Our first session for WORD 2022 Te Piki o Tāwhaki is about to start! A very special performance combining kapa haka, taonga pūoro and storytelling which will activate the beautiful space of Tūranga library. #WordChch

Then there are Annie Zaidi's plays, poems and films, and her latest novel, City of Incident, a beautiful humanist portrait of her home city, Mumbai, told through a web of 12 interconnected lives. Missing travel? Like brilliant thinkers? Come!

@anniezaidi also wrote the compelling, theatrical novel Prelude to a Riot, asking where street violence comes from. The Guardian: "In this short novel Zaidi goes about assembling a bomb": one which won the 2020 Tata Literature Live! prize for fiction.

@anniezaidi is also the editor of Unbound, a collection of some of the most significant writing by Indian women over the past two thousand years, exploring everything from work and social and individual identity to battles, myths and fables, love, spirituality, children, death.

@anniezaidi set out to write a memoir, and ended up winning the $100,000 Nine Dots Prize for capturing the complexity of 20th and 21st century Indian life, with her book Bread, Cement, Cactus. https://t.co/g6tYUvPn39

Another Director's Pick from @WORDChCh festival 2022: Indian author @anniezaidi. I toured India by train with her on a roving writers festival called The Bookwallah, and she's an exceptional writer and thinker. Here are a few reasons why...

Also, friends who live in Apple world, Uprising is apparently a feature book this week in the Apple Book Store NZ. Can someone plz send me a link? Thanks!

It also honours all cultural narratives in Tūranga, & the exceptional work of Matapopore and Ngāi Tahu + Māori artists involved incl Ranui Ngarimu, Areta Wilkinson, Riki Manuel, Fayne & Caleb Robinson & Morgan Matthews-Hale. @NgaiTahu

The first time I walked into the epic four-storey high Tūranga atrium I thought: this would make an amazing theatre. Stoked that's happening-- we're using it to retell the 1000+ yr old story of Tāwhaki that's woven into the whole building.

Over the next few days I'll be posting a few Director's Picks. First our free opening event Te Piki o Tāwhaki w the brilliant @juanitahepi at the helm. https://t.co/jUHsIovhUq @WORDChCh @ChristchurchLib

I forgot to mention: I programmed a festival! With huge help from many, incl @SteelyDass and @el_stepho. ~80 events, ~160 artists, taking central Ōtautahi CHCH by storm this Weds-Sun, w books, storytelling, sharp ideas, gigs and mischief. https://t.co/CNZHmodHZe @WORDChCh

Tonight, Tonight! Join us at 6pm at beautiful Tūranga @ChristchurchLib to celebrate our 2022 programme launch with a twist. Come for a drink and hear about what WORD-filled delights we have in store for you. All will be revealed, all welcome! #WordChch