Nelson Arts Festival Pukapuka Talks
Episodes
2025 Pukapuka Talks Gala Night
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A once-in-a-lifetime storytelling experience, featuring a star-studded line up of Aotearoa New Zealand's best writers, presenting in both English ...
Crime in Context Pukapuka Talks featuring Michael Bennett, Rachel Paris and Fiona Sussman at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Step inside the minds of three masterful storytellers – Michael Bennett, Fiona Sussman and Rachel Paris – as they explore th...
Tiahuia: A Karanga to My Mother Pukapuka Talks featuring Merenia Gray at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tiahuia: A Karanga to My Mother is artistic director and choreographer Merenia Gray’s tribute to her mother Tiahuia Te Puea Hērangi, the whāngai...
Delirious Pukapuka Talks featuring Damien Wilkins at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 2025, Damien Wilkins won the prestigious Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Delirious, a captivatin...
Mana featuring Tāme Iti at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Iconic Māori activist, artist, and performer Tāme Iti shares his extraordinary life, defined by resistance, resilience, and rangatiratanga. From l...
Lives Less Ordinary Pukapuka Talks with Naomi Arnold and Rebecca Hayter at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this Pukapuka Talks, Samantha Gee from Radio New Zealand quizzes Naomi Arnold about her 2026 Ockham NZ Book Award longlisted book, Northbound, and ...
MeToo Downunder Pukapuka Talks featuring Ali Mau and Sonia Orchard at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Mau (author of No Words for This) and Sonia Orchard (author of Groomed) examine what happens when the people you trust most betray you and shine t...
Hine Toa Pukapuka Talks featuring Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Discover how a restless working-class girl from the pā became a founding member of Ngā Tamatoa, the Women’s and Gay Liberation movements, and an e...
Inside the Media Pukapuka Talks featuring Ali Mau and Michelle Duff at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What is it really like to work in the news media? Join Ali Mau and Michelle Duff, two of Aotearoa’s most highly regarded journalists, as they sp...
Ara: A Māori Guidebook for the Mind Pukapuka Talks featuring Hinemoa Elder at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Hinemoa Elder’s new book, Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind, is a quest through the caves of Hinengaro (mental health) and a resource for anyo...
Chidgey on Fire Pukapuka Talks at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
26 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Set in a sinisterly skewed version of England, Catherine Chidgey’s astonishing new novel, The Book of Guilt, is a story told through the eyes of V...
Secret Art Powers Pukapuka Talks with Jo Randerson at the 2025 Nelson Arts Festival
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Possibly the first book to emerge from ‘live, disrupted TED-style talks’, Jo Randerson’s Secret Art Powers is a guide to using creative think...
Tenacious Wāhine Pukapuka Talks with Becky Manawatu and Talia Marshall at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In her very first festival appearance following the publication of Kataraina, Becky Manawatu discusses the highly anticipated sequel to her bestsellin...
Fly Here, Fly There, My Bird Pukapuka Talks with Patricia Grace at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Pukapuka Talks session, we celebrate Patricia Grace’s eighth short story collection, the astonishing Bird Child and Other Stories, as...
Unsettled Pukapuka Talks with Lauren Keenan and Cristina Sanders at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lauren Keenan and Cristina Sanders are two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s preeminent historical fiction writers. Journey back in time with them to hea...
Now You Know Her Name Pukapuka Talks with Jacqueline Bublitz at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a world first, on the day the global sales embargo ends, hear Jacqueline Bublitz talk about her new novel, Leave the Girls Behind, the dazzli...
Environmental Advocates Pukapuka Talks with Dave Hansford at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Hansford and Debs Martin discuss the role storytelling must play in triumphing over commercial and political agendas. In his latest book K...
Bloody Minded Pukapuka Talks with Susie Ferguson at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
RNZ presenter Susie Ferguson recounts her years as a war correspondent while battling endometriosis and discusses her breathtaking memoir on tenacit...
Mythology & Mystical Realism Pukapuka Talks with Rachael King and Lee Murray at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachael King and Lee Murray both evoke ancient mythological creatures from distant shores in their latest novels: The Grimmelings and Fox Spirit o...
Evoking the Diaspora Pukapuka Talks with Saraid de Silva and Jade Kake at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Multi-generational migrant stories are finding compelling new ways of being told in the capable, creative hands of Jade Kake, author of Checkerboard H...
Otherhood Pukapuka Talks session with Kathryn van Beek, Iona Winter, Henrietta Bollinger and Lily Duval at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Aotearoa the number of people who will never have children is growing. In Otherhood: Childless, Childfree and Child Adjacent, co-editors Alie ...
Housing for All Pukapuka Talks session with Jade Kake, Henrietta Bollinger and Miriana Stephens at the 2024 Nelson Arts Festival
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From accessible housing design to the tiny house movement, and everything in between, what happens when people step outside the box in housing design ...
Mokorua Pukapuka Talks session with Ariana Tikao and Matt Calman at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join singer, taonga pūoro musician and writer Ariana Tikao, photographer Matt Calman and local writer Nuki Takao for a kōrero about the stunnin...
Counter-culture with Olive Jones Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Commune: Chasing a Utopian Dream in Aotearoa captures the spirit of the counter-culture movement in the Motueka Valley from the perspective of Olive...
Witi & Friends Gala Night at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Witi Ihimaera’s Tangi, the first novel written by a Māori author to be published in New Zealand. Six fe...
There's a Cure for This Pukupuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning doctor and writer, Dr Emma Espiner, discusses her stunning debut memoir, There’s a cure for this, with Arihia Latham. Together the...
Dazzling New Voices Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emma Ling Sidnam, Airana Ngarewa and Colleen Maria Lenihan discuss their stunning debut books, and reveal what gave them the courage to write, wit...
End Times: The Question of Hope Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Priestley discusses her new book, End Times, which is part memoir/part road trip exploring climate science, climate denial and belief syst...
Kāwai: For Such a Time as This Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Monty Soutar ONZM shares the story behind his bestselling and critically acclaimed debut novel, Kāwai: For Such a Time as This. The kōrero is faci...
When the Past Catches Up Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Caroline Barron's Golden Days and Anne Tiernan's The Last Days of Joy are both gripping novels that explore how the past can haunt us i...
Tools for Navigating Our Crazy World Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
09 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join psychologist Alia Bojilova and keen tramper and writer Victoria Bruce as they explore resilience and their respective understanding of th...
Wine O'Clock Myth meets The Drinking Game Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lotta Dann (Mrs D), the author of three bestselling books about alcohol, joins RNZ broadcaster Guyon Espiner to discuss - with Matty Anderson - why th...
Bushline Pukapuka Talks book launch at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is an audio recording of the Whakatū Nelson launch of Robbie Burton’s new memoir, Bushline, a deeply personal memoir in which he pays homage t...
Bloodlines Pukapuka Talks session (featuring Renee) at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Esteemed Aotearoa playwright and author Renée (Ngāti Kahungunu) wrote and published her first crime novel when she was 90. Blood Matters is the...
Wawata (Hinemoa Elder) Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this intimate kōrero, Hinemoa Elder discusses her new pukapuka, Wawata – Moon Dreaming, which explores how living in sync with the moon can help...
From Page to Screen Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) and Christine Leunens have written novels that have not only been snapped up by numerous internat...
Pūrākau: Weaving Māori myths into modern stories Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Whiti Hereaka and Nic Low have written two remarkable books that tell ancient Māori stories in fresh and compelling ways, with Hereaka flipping persp...
Breaking the Cycle (Noelle McCarthy) Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prize-winning writer and broadcaster Noelle McCarthy's memoir, Grand: Becoming my mother’s daughter, is an astonishing debut about mothers and daugh...
Savage Domesticity (Catherine Chidgey) Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Knox CNZM speaks with Catherine Chidgey about her two latest books: The Axeman’s Carnival (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2022) and her...
The Forgotten Epidemic Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling authors Wendyl Nissen and Charity Norman have both ‘been through the fire’ of supporting a parent with dementia, which led to them wri...
Beyond Belief Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Anke Richter’s Cult Trip is a gripping, visceral, thriller-like investigation into Centrepoint, Gloriavale and Agama Yoga. In this session, Noelle M...
The Crucial Decade Pukapuka Talks session at the 2022 Nelson Arts Festival
25 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 'The Crucial Decade', Kim Hill invites Paul Tapsell (Te Arawa, Tainui), Mike Joy and Dave Lowe to explain how we can respond to the climate cr...