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Words on Wheels

They'll be coming around the mountain

Five of New Zealand's top writers hit the road in February for another literary road-trip, this time to Taranaki.

On the bus this year is David Hill (Teen Fiction), Duncan Sarkies (Fiction), Briar Grace-Smith (Scriptwriting), Alison Wong (Poetry) and Janet Hunt (Non-fiction). They'll be travelling to Waitara, New Plymouth, Inglewood, Stratford, Eltham, Hawera, Waverley, and Opunake from 12-17 February, appearing at schools, libraries, and other local venues across the region.

• WOW 2010 Itinerary
• For any queries about WOW contact us at events@bookcouncil.org.nz

No Town Too Small to be WOWed

What has twelve legs, four wheels, and a pile of literary awards? The New Zealand Book Council's Words on Wheels or WOW tour that sends a wagon-load of top writers into rural New Zealand each year. Words on Wheels visits a different area of rural New Zealand each year.

• 2010 Taranaki
• 2009 Mackenzie and Selwyn Districts, central South Island
• 2008 East Coast
• 2007 East Coast, BoP
• 2005 top of the South Island
• 2006 Northland
• 2003 East Coast and Auckland City
• 2002 Waikato
• 2000 upper South Island
• 1999 Deep South
• 1998 the East Cape

Writer David Hill has taken part in three WOW tours and says it's something he loves. 'Words on Wheels tours reach the places that many other arts tours cannot. Every time I do a tour I hear people say how brilliant it is to see and hear writers in the flesh. This is the New Zealand part of the New Zealand Book Council in action.'

WOW 2010

Itinerary 2010:

Friday 12 February
10.30am (free public event)
Waitara Library Meeting Room, Queen St, Waitara
Bookings: Waitara Library, (06) 759 6060
2.00pm (school event)
Spotswood College, South Road, New Plymouth
6.00pm (public gala opening)
Gala opening for the Words on Wheels visit, presided over by Mayor Peter Tennent
Puke Ariki Museum Foyer, 1 Ariki St, New Plymouth
Bookings: Online registration, Puke Ariki Library

Saturday 13 February
11.00am (free public event)
Inglewood Library Meeting Room, 46 Rata St, Inglewood
Bookings: Inglewood Library, (06) 759 6060
7.00pm (free public event)
Where: Stratford Library, Prospero Place, Stratford
Bookings: Stratford Library, (06) 765 5403
 
Sunday 14 February
7.00pm (public event, fundraising for Hospice Taranaki)
Hawera Library Plus, 46 High Street, Hawera
Cost: $5 per person, Bookings: Online registration, or Hawera Library Plus, 0800 111 323

Monday 15 February
8.30am (school event)
Speed Date an Author event, Hawera Community Centre, Hawera
Information: Speed Date an Author page School registration: education@bookcouncil.org.nz
5.30pm (public event, fundraising for Waverley Playcentre)
Waverley Library Plus, 58 Weraroa Road, Waverley
Cost: $5 per person, Bookings: Online registration, or Waverley Library Plus, 0800 111 323

Tuesday 16 February
5.30pm (public event fundraising for the Eltham Village Gallery)
The Eltham Village Gallery, 166 High St, Eltham
Cost: $5 per person, Bookings: Eltham Village Gallery, between 10am-3pm

Wednesday 17 February
10.00am (school event)
Opunake High School, Tasman St, Opunake
5.30pm (public event, fundraising for Opunake Volunteer Fire Brigade
Bookings: Online registration, or Headlands Conference Centre (06) 761 8358

Thursday 18 February
10.00am (public event)
Western Institute of Technology in Taranaki, 20 Bell St, New Plymouth
Bookings: Online registration
 

WOW 2009

Screen and playwright David Geary, novelist Vanda Symon, poet Alison Wong, non-fiction writer Janet Hunt and young adults' writer David Hill visited the Selwyn and Mackenzie districts in March 2009.

WOW 2008

Screenwriter Victor Rodger, novelist Louise Wareham-Leonard, poet Michele Amas, non-fiction writer Paul Diamond and young adults' writer Ken Catran visited the East Coast in February 2008.

WOW 2007

Words on Wheels toured Waikato and the Bay of Plenty in February and March 2007 with internationally acclaimed fantasy novelist, Elizabeth Knox; bestselling historical novelist, Deborah Challinor; poet and playwright, Bernadette Hall; children's writer, Vince Ford, and performance poet, reviewer, and non-fiction writer, David Eggleton.

WOW 2006

In 2006 Words on Wheels celebrated its 15th birthday with a tour of Northland. On board for the tour were poet and novelist Elizabeth Smither, fiction writer and playwright Jo Randerson, novelist Paula Morris, young adult writer David Hill, poet Hinemoana Baker and fiction writer Richard Wolfe. Starting off at the North Shore on Saturday 25 February, WOW travelled as far north as Doubtless Bay and ended in Warkworth on Sunday 5 March.