The sound of a harp drifted through the shelves and into the lobby. “I don’t read anything but romantasy,” one attendee, dressed in a cape, told me. Others bought dragon-themed stickers, sipped complimentary juice or wine, or checked out library books as part of a competition.
WORD Christchurch, a literary festival in the southern city, was held from 1-6 September, with a range of free and paid events throughout the city. One of the first was this free romantasy evening, where five New Zealand-based romance and fantasy authors discussed their work in the incredibly popular genre.
“We see it in library data - romantasy is always at the top of the list,” said Eamonn Redmond, a librarian who had helped curate the event. “We wanted to give the people what they want.”
The discussion between AJ Lancaster, Ashley Andersen, Darianne Schramm, H.G. Parry and Stacey Broadbent added nuance to that popularity. Is romantasy a label mostly applied to books written by women, which would be called “fantasy” if written by male authors? How has publishing pushed “romantasy” as a marketing term? Multiple authors said that while they write the story that they’re interested in, their publishers asked them for a list of tropes like “enemies to lovers” or “forced proximity” to market books with.
Of all the events I attended at WORD, this panel was particularly focused on the impact of social media. “Instagram and TikTok have driven the use of the term romantasy, and it’s created this reading community,” said Lancaster. Social media is a key driver of sales – Andersen, who started posting while at home with a newborn baby, now has over 200,000 followers – but also a limitation: energy and focus is needed for writing good books as well as marketing them. The audience, some in costumes, seemed keen either way: I sat next to someone who was thrilled to be hearing from Lancaster, who lives in the North Island, and knew all about the special editions.
WORD has a memorandum of understanding with Christchurch City Libraries, and uses the TSB event space in Tūranga for a lot of its programming, compared to the Auckland Writers Festival, which is centred on the town hall. “The library came to us with the romantasy event, they organised the harpist and merch stalls – we’re a small team, we can’t always pull that together, but for just one night, they can. And it was so great,” says festival director Steph Walker.
She loves that the festival brings people into Christchurch’s flagship library, as well as utilising other post-earthquake arts infrastructure in the centre city. Events are also held at The Piano, the art gallery and small theatre Little Andromeda. Next year, the festival’s 30th anniversary, Walker hopes to use the recently reconstructed Court Theatre.
Integrated with other local arts events
The festival makes an effort to be involved with other local arts events. The Canterbury Zinefest takes place in the Christchurch Art Gallery on the same weekend as the WORD festival. This year, the art gallery also had an event where Brannavan Gnanalingam spoke to Bryce Galloway, author of Zines NZ, about the history of zines as a form in New Zealand.
Many of the attendees at zinefest had come for the talk, but to get to it, they walked past dozens of stalls selling booklets, stickers and art – a living illustration of the ongoing story of zines Galloway documents. “I love seeing some of our more… life experienced attendees looking around and buying some artwork,” Walker says.
Similarly, the Ōtautahi Youth Poetry Slam was held on 2 September, where teams from schools around the city competed to perform their poems. The event would have happened anyway, but making it part of WORD gave a broader audience the chance to see and hear new poets.
Local and accessible
WORD has a commitment to keep 20%-30% of its programming free. A partnership with Ngāi Tahu meant that this year, all of the events focused on Māori writers and knowledge were free. “We want to make sure that everyone can come to a part of Word,” Walker says.
Walker also hopes WORD can offer an alternative to festival programmes focused on writers from Auckland and Wellington. She’s worked in arts programming in Auckland, Wellington and Australia, and noticed the difference when she moved back to Christchurch. “Once you come to Christchurch and work in Christchurch, you realize that there really does feel like a north-south divide. And we saw that in the [Creative NZ] funding, for better or for worse.”
With a limited festival budget, it’s easiest to cover domestic airfares, and almost all the writers who appear are from New Zealand. “This is an opportunity for local writers to meet artists from around the country,” Walker says. She dreams of having more international writers in the future, but most rooms at WORD were mostly full.
At an event discussing the short story, Ockham-winner Ingrid Horrocks spoke on a panel with Wellington-based Shariff Burke and Christchurch’s Laura Borrowdale, both published by independent Tender Press. It’s not the most commercial form, all three agreed, but Burke appreciated how short stories let writers spend a lot of time answering the same questions. Borrowdale considered how she’s trained herself to write short stories of around 3000 words, the same length most literary journals accept. Most stories in her collection had been previously published because “I don’t like writing to go to waste”. Horrocks and Burke, based in Wellington, referred to Kilbirnie and the Town Belt, while Borrowdale’s story featured the ghost of a mother who was “not dead, she just lives in Temuka.” The specific geographical references made the writing feel more relevant.
For other writers, now based in the North Island, Word is a kind of homecoming. Cabinet of Curiosities is an event where writers give short presentations on topics which are not their main expertise. This year, it was moved to Tūranga, almost doubling the size of the audience, and it was still packed. Erik Kennedy, mainstay of Christchurch’s poetry scene, discussed orcas attacking boats in the Strait of Gibraltar. Molly Crighton, an Otago writer who has just published a crime novel set in Dunedin, argued that the mythological minotaur is a lesbian. John Summers, who grew up in Christchurch before moving to Wellington, meditated on the city he remembered from his childhood with a journey along Barbadoes Street (featuring an extra e). The short story event, similarly, was hosted by Kate de Goldi, who is also from Christchurch, although she’s worked with schools to teach creative writing throughout New Zealand.
Beyond books
While there are lots of specifically-book focused events, Walker wants the focus to be words as a whole, not just ones printed on paper. There were multiple music and performance events, like Ā Mua, pairing writer Tina Makereti with musician Riki Pirihi, and Shihad lead singer Jon Toogood discussing writing and playing music with Booker winning writer Shehan Karunatilaka, who is now based in Christchurch. Another repeat event is Rangatahi Boogie, stories and songs with the Cubbin Theatre Company, taking place next to the Ōtākaro/Avon River. “We want to bring words to life in all their forms,” Walker says.
