Welcome to The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival 2010 – our biennial celebration of authors and books. The festival has come a long way since a dedicated group of Christchurch booklovers first had the vision for this event and as we celebrate, for the eleventh time, our heartfelt thanks must go to those early literary pioneers.

We are blessed with a strong management team in Jodi Wright (director) and Marianne Hargreaves (manager), ably supported by programme coordinators Ruth Todd and Morrin Rout, who have gathered together a rich diversity of international and New Zealand authors.

I am confident there will be something of interest for everyone in this year’s programme. From Barbara Trapido to Roger Hall, from Simon Winchester to Dave Dobbyn, and with themes that include history, biography, travel, crime, economics, fiction, language, sport and, of course, poetry, the four days of this year’s festival are packed with interesting and entertaining sessions.

Once again we’re also taking the festival out to the schools with our Read Aloud Programme and Speed Date an Author to ensure our future audience – and participants – are encouraged to keep reading and writing.

As ever, we are deeply grateful for the generous backing of our sponsors, without whom this festival would not happen. The enthusiastic support of our naming sponsor, The Press, continues unabated, and foundation sponsors the Christchurch City Council, The Canterbury Community Trust and Creative New Zealand continue to ensure the viability of the festival.

Once again this year we thank our bookshop hosts, University Bookshop Canterbury, as well as the session sponsors, who have made our programme possible. There are many other sponsors mentioned elsewhere in this programme – all have my personal appreciation for their support. I’d also like to thank the publishers who have assisted in bringing their writers to Christchurch, and the board of trustees, who have all worked so hard to make this festival a success.

Brian Phillips
Chair, The Christchurch Book Festival Trust

The Press is delighted to be the major sponsor of the Christchurch Writers’ Festival.

Words have been the heart of the newspaper’s life for 149 years, and as we approach the milestone of publishing for a century and a half, it is appropriate that we continue to support an event that celebrates the versatility of the written word.

Newspapers are often criticised for focusing too heavily on crime – I am afraid we are guilty as charged, now that this year’s festival launches a New Zealand Crime Writers’ Award! As always, though, the organisers have managed to provide a remarkable range of writing styles and subjects, including songwriting with Dave Dobbyn, and I am sure everyone who attends will thoroughly enjoy their time.

Andrew Holden
Editor of The Press