Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Acclaimed poet Tusiata Avia asks: what poetry is for, who it is for, and how to make it accessible to more of us?
When | Āhea
Mon 3 Aug 2026, 12.15 to 1.15
Where | Ki hea
Rongomaraeroa, the marae, Level 4
Cost | Te utu
Free, with museum entry
The iconic Tusiata Avia (MNZM, Arts Foundation Laureate and winner of a roll call of awards including the Prime Minister's Award for Poetry, a CNZ Senior Pacific Artist award, and a Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry) has been making poetic waves in Aotearoa since her debut collection Wild Dogs Under My Skirt (2004).
Her most recent volume, Giving Birth to My Father, is a rich poetic work of grief and renewal. Tusiata is Currently Writer in Residence at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML).
She joins Dr Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu in conversation about how to take poetry out of rarified spaces and make it accessible to more of us.
Tusiata Avia. Photo by The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi
Two brilliant writers discuss their funny and visceral memoirs that aren’t afraid to face up to their teenage selves, vampires, and the 1980s.
Mon 17 Aug 2026, 12.15 to 1.15
Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake
A selection of excellent poets read their work chosen for Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems in a warm-up for National Poetry Day.
Mon 24 Aug 2026, 12.15 to 1.15
Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake
The International Institute of Modern Letters presents a series of events highlighting the very latest work of Aotearoa New Zealand writers. A lively and stimulating way to begin the week.
From Mon 6 July
