Ruapehu Writers Festival

The inspiration behind the Ruapehu Writers Festival came from wanting to take literary festivals out of the metropolitan cities and into small town New Zealand. Our rural towns, mountains, rivers and landscapes have inspired some remarkable writing and we want these words to be heard in the places that inspired them. We want to give people living in this small rural community the opportunity to discuss literature and writing, and to encourage more people to visit the area. Ruapehu itself has inspired many writers and we want to celebrate the area, the mountain, its history and the people who live there.

The festival will be a long weekend from 17-20th March, based in and around ?hakune. There will be readings, talks, panel discussions, a workshop, a poetry slam, sessions for children and some more unusual events such as a literary waterfall walk, a bike ride and a pony trek. We have a fantastic line-up of over 30 established writers booked to take part - you can read more about the writers and the sessions they are appearing in on the festival's website.

The festival will be fun and informal. We've kept ticket prices low, because we want to make it accessible for as many people to attend as we can.

We invite you to make the festival happen. The organisers and participating writers are all giving their time for free, but we need to pay for venue hire, travel and accommodation for the writers, shuttles and other administrative costs. The lovely folk at Creative New Zealand have given us a small grant and the ticket sales from the festival will cover some costs, but this won't cover everything.

Please help us make the festival a huge success. Every donation, big or small, will make a huge difference. And please help us spread the word by sharing on social media and telling your friends and family, and of course buy your tickets to come along with a group of your favourite bookish people!

You can read more about the festival and buy tickets on our website: ruapehuwritersfestival.nz.