Verb Readers and Writers Festival 2023
Verb Wellington support and nurture our literary arts community. Each year they put on a Festival that celebrates books, reading, ideas, information and conversation.
Promoting intersectionality and inclusion
In 2023 the NZ National Commission for UNESCO supported events within the Verb Readers and Writers Festival that showcased and amplified the voices of Māori and LGBTQI+ writers and promoted intersectionality and inclusion.
The guest writers supported were Matariki Williams, Shaneel Lal and Jordan Trickleback who each presented on their work to a captive audience.
We also supported Māori-led initiatives in the festival through Verb’s new co-programming model which offered audiences new connections to writers across many communities.
The Festivals’ Te Tiriti partner (Te Hā o Ngā Pou Kaituhi Māori) created a series of Māori-led events that supported a number of emerging Māori writers. All events promoted the links between language, writing, people and place from a kaupapa Māori-led perspective.
Overall, the festival brought writers, artists and audiences together for meaningful conversations and ideas exchanges, providing the audience with inspiration and hope.
