Everyone knows that the most special stories involve resilience and magic. Today’s story is no different.

Once upon a time there was a group of readers and writers who loved to meet in the shadowed corners of book shops. That is until one day, a terrible spell fell upon the land and it was no longer safe to gather. Instead, people from all over the country went home to hear the story makers, the opinion creators and the booksellers, far from the evil spell. And what they learned, was that it doesn’t matter where you are, in-person or online, and the resilience of our stories, and our ability to create our own magic, is what will guide and protect us until the evil spell is lifted.

Possibly this story sounds familiar to you by now; the story of our lives over the last year. All of this is my way of saying that the Readings events will not be happening in our shops for the foreseeable future. Of course, they will still be, like magic, happening on your computer screens. Despite recently trialling hosting our events in a Covid-safe manner in-store, our feedback, from both staff, customers and authors, has been that it is best to remain online in the current climate.

The Readings events program is a resilient beast and continues to be determined to bring you a program that is engaging, diverse and relevant. All of our shops, of course, remain open for you to browse at leisure.

To that end, please do attend to hear Former NZ PM Helen Clarke talk with Bill Bowtell about the bloody virus, or hear Barry Divola talk about his character that drives across the country without worrying about borders. Or hear Sarah Krasnostein talk with Chloe Hooper about what some people believe is real and why.

And mostly stay safe, keep reading and see you VERY soon.

Please note that select events will still be running in-person. These are events that are scheduled to be hosted in