Author Event: Book Reading in Christchurch

As a writer in residence at the Arts Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, I will read from my collection Woman of the Hour: Fifty Tales of Longing and Rebellion.

Date: Tuesday 3 March, 2026 

Time: 5.30pm – 6.30pm

Venue: Cloisters Studio

Admission: Free

I will also answer questions from the audience about my inspirations, aspirations, and current project.

During my residency, I will write about the peculiar experience of strengthening my connection with the world while losing my sense of self.

I started envisioning my next book last spring and wrote an essay about it on my Substack.

An excerpt:

Towering cacti stand guard at the entrance as though in charge of drawing borders. I’m late, an hour after dawn, and alone.

I enter the mangrove on a man-made path of black lava rocks. Flies buzz in the branches above and birds sing the morning into life. Death is present, too, of course, most notably in the scattered green fruits of the poison apple tree.

I’ve come looking for flamingos, their krill-pink feathers and question-mark necks. I’ve come for the peculiar solitude of being with birds that look like dreams. Motivating me is an existential doubt I cannot yet express. 

What do birds know?

Please visit my Substack page to read the whole essay.