Wellington Writers Walk
A Waterfront Trip Through History and Words
Engage your mind and soul with a visit to the Writers Walk in Wellington, New Zealand, which joins beautiful harbor views with powerful words written by authors with ties to the area. It’s the perfect self tour, requiring little more than a push in the right direction.
The Wellington Writers Walk got its start in 2000, when a group of members of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors met to find a way to memorialize the words of the writers of their community (both past and present) for visitors to Wellington.
The birthplace of Katherine Mansfield was already a tourist attraction in the capital city, so the group decided to build off that site, and create the Wellington Writers Walk – a collection of text sculptures, with lines of poetry and quotes from a variety of writers, each with some connection to the city of Wellington.
The walk was unveiled during the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts in March 2002.
The larger-than-life, three-dimensional concrete sculptures designed by award-winning Wellington typographer and graphic designer Catherine Griffiths include a sculpture, featuring the words of poet Bill Manhire, and a host of other well-known New Zealand writers, like Katherine Mansfield, James K. Baxter and Maurice Gee.
Lining the city’s waterfront, each sculpture has its own unique placement. They are suspended in water, lying on the grass and in the rocks, as though washed onto the shore by the waves.
One popular highlight of the walk is the sculpture of James K. Baxter’s poetry, which gives the appearance of floating right on the surface of a pool at Te Papa.
The walk begins at Chaffers Marina, which is to the east of Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand), and follows the urban waterfront across the City to Sea Bridge to Civic Square, then back to the waterfront to finish at Frank Kitt’s Park.
Fifteen sculptures are now in place, and plans are to add more every two years if funding is available. The list of writers deserving of places on the walk is ever-growing, and committee members continue to scour their works looking for challenging and contrasting quotes about Wellington.
Visitors will find themselves surrounded by words as images like that of poet Lauris Edmond, who wrote: “It’s true you can’t live here by chance, you have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe. This is the city of action, the world headquarters of the verb.”
Bring a camera, and man yourself with a notebook or sketch pad. Words like those are sure to inspire the artist within, and you want to be prepared! One caveat though – it’s important to note the walk is directly on the water, and is usually a windy place to visit.
Use this map to get around. Pick up a brochure at the Wellington Visitor Centre to gain background and additional insight.
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