Letters out Loud 2025 — Part of Friends of the Turnbull Library Public Programme Series

Schedule

Sat Oct 18 2025 at 07:00 am to 09:15 am

UTC+13:00

Location

Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011 | Wellington, WG

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A 1940 newspaper exhorted its readers to ‘write a letter! Take a little chunk of your heart and spread it over some paper; it goes, oh, such a long way!’
Letters out Loud will expose some of those heart-felt issues people addressed on paper in the past. Well-known personalities will read letters from the Alexander Turnbull Library Collections which reveal concerns, among other things:
* the oldest extant Māori letter, written and read by a child
* the ups and downs of farm life
* Yehudi Menuhin in the bath
* a Member of Parliament in love
* on board the sinking Wahine in 1968.
Brought to life by familiar voices
Letters out Loud will be an evening of historical texts brought to life by familiar voices. Come and enjoy an enlivening of the past that has many resonances for today. Speakers include Ngahiwi Apanui- Barr, Una Cruickshank, Tanea Heke, Michele Leggott, David O’Donnell, Karen O’Leary, Trevor Richards, Vaughan Slinn, and Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
Doors open at 5pm for drinks and nibbles, readings begin at 6pm.
Book your tickets
Tickets to this gala fundraising event include a souvenir programme and refreshments.
https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-letters-out-loud
All profits go to support grants for research at the Alexander Turnbull Library. The Friends of the Turnbull Library (FOTL) offer grants of $20,000 available to scholars whose research involves the use of the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
https://turnbullfriends.org.nz/research-grant/
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Where is it happening?

Corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand 6011, New Zealand

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

National Library of New Zealand

Host or Publisher National Library of New Zealand

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