A short programme blurb can’t do justice to Bill Manhire’s immense contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary landscape.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s inaugural Poet Laureate, Manhire has won the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Poetry five times, and founded and directed the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, from which countless of the nation’s finest writers have emerged.

In recognition of his extraordinary contribution to literature, Manhire was named the Festival’s 2026 Honoured Writer, joining a distinguished list including Witi Ihimaera, C K Stead, Patricia Grace, Joy Cowley, Fiona Kidman, Anne Salmond and Gavin Bishop.

Hosted by Fergus Barrowman, this wide-ranging session reflects on Bill Manhire’s extraordinary life in letters and his major new collection, Lyrical Ballads, alongside friends, colleagues, collaborators and former students Elizabeth Knox, Ian Wedde, Norman Meehan and Emily Perkins, with recorded contributions from Bill himself.