Tickets to Word Café Raglan 2017 are now on sale, and we’re kicking off the weekend with a Spoken Poetry Showcase.
American poetry slam champion Carrie Rudzinski (pictured), is joined by fellow award-winning poetry slammer, Michael Moore, local poet Wanda Barker and sometimes local Maris O’Rourke for an evening of emotion, wonder, laughter, and linguistic and syntactical mastery. This is a free community event, so we hope you’ll join us – the more the merrier when it comes to shared enjoyment of the spoken word.
We think the showcase is a fitting start to a weekend that we hope will be remembered for its inspiration and diversity. There are plenty of big writers and readers festivals. Word Café Raglan isn’t like that. Previous attendees have commented on how much they enjoyed the festival’s intimacy, its community feel, its inclusiveness and opportunities to chat and make connections, and the breadth of the presenters who entertained them.
This year’s festival will be the same. We’ve got international bestselling authors appearing next to locals who are launching their first books. We’ve got poets, novelists, memoirists, and non-fiction, children’s and short story writers. We’ve got readings, workshops, book launches, panel sessions, and of course a book stall (thanks Browsers).
We hope you’ll join us. Friday night will be a showcase, but it will be the first of many on offer throughout the weekend. New Zealand, and within that the Waikato, has extraordinary writing talent. We’re proud to be bringing that to our communities. And, as with the history of human stories, it will all start with the spoken word.
See our website for the full programme and to reserve tickets: www.wordcaferaglan.co.nz
