WORD Christchurch

09/06/2026

04/06/2026

Join Marcus (Director of The Piano) and Steph (Executive Director of WORD) for the house tour. The Piano has been WORD’s home base since it opened 10 years ago, and we love it. 💚

03/06/2026

There’s nothing warmer than an evening of poetry from local legends and first time readers alike. Don your coats and scarves and enjoy the spoken word this June. Ngā mihi to Claudia Hertz-Jardine for collating these events in her monthly digital Lit Scene Zine.

02/06/2026

Featuring some WORD friends (and potentially a Traitor?!), June is an chocka month for readers and book lovers. Find more details about each event by googling the author or following the tags.

28/05/2026

“There’s always a sense of curiosity here, we’ve never wanted to be a bookshop that only stocks the obvious titles. People come here because they know they’ll find books they didn’t even know they were looking for.”

If you’ve ever as much as window shopped, or regularly find yourself luxuriating in Scorpio Books' thoughtfully curated shelves, you will resonate with Scorpio’s head book buyer, Bel Monypenny’s kōrero.

Happy, happy, happy 50 years, Scorpio! We can’t wait to celebrate with you over King's Birthday weekend and beyond. Make sure to keep an eye on their socials so you don’t miss any of the goodness!

Images: First slide: B&W image from The Press 1983. Second slide: Colour image: Alex Adank, B&W Image, photographer unknown: 1989.

28/05/2026

Ngā mihi nui to Louise Erdrich for joining us for a special evening of storytelling, humour and warmth.

Louise said being in Aotearoa New Zealand felt very special, and being here she felt that “every story of colonisation anywhere is the same when it comes to Indigenous people”.

Kiran got goosebumps and the audience was totally enthralled when Louise treated us to a reading from her new collection of short stories, The Python’s Kiss.

26/05/2026

Hari Marama Puoro o Aotearoa! It’s time for our annual-ish band tee team pic.

Kiran wears an AK79 tee - a definitive compilation of 1970s Tāmaki Makaurau punk bands. Steph wears a long sleeve from Earth Tongue - a psych rock duo who will blow your socks off. Bleu wears a Port Noise tee, championing Ōhinehou Lyttelton’s beloved indie music festival.

This month, awhi (support) your favourite Aotearoa musicians by listening to their music and donning your band tees, tote bags and best badges.

26/05/2026

Last week, WORD hosted the insightful RF Kuang and Aotearoa’s best RFK, Rachael F King at The Piano. Rebecca spoke about the aesthetic of dark academia, philosophy, her award-winning pukapuka (of which there are multiple!) and how empathy and the act of close reading are skills that will keep us alive. Thank you for joining us, Rebecca!

24/05/2026

FINAL TICKETS for tomorrow’s author kōrero with multi-award-winning author Louise Erdrich. Louise will be in conversation with Nic Low (Ngāi Tahu), after spending a number of days under the manaaki of mana whenua here in Waitaha Canterbury. Ray Shipley shares that “Erdrich puts community and connectedness at the heart,” and we know this conversation will be rich with this kaupapa.

There will be very limited door sales, so get your ticket now: https://wordchristchurch.co.nz/programme/louise-erdrich-usa-land-legacy-and-the-pythons-kiss/