Wellington Writers Walk

Concrete poetry in sun and wind. An ongoing project, the Wellington Writers Walk was opened during the NZ International Festival of the Arts in March 2002 as a project of the New Zealand Society of Authors. The 15 three-dimensional concrete text sculptures have been designed by the internationally renowned typographer Catherine Griffiths in 2002 and 2004, using Helvetica Compressed and Optima.

Wellington Writers Walk writes:

The Wellington Writers Walk is set in one of the world’s loveliest urban land-and-seascapes. It combines a stroll along Wellington’s waterfront with the discovery of sculptural quotations from some of New Zealand’s best known writers.

Like a series of intriguing pronouncements – often in surprising and unexpected places – the quotes take the form of contemporary concrete plaques and inlaid metal text on wooden ‘benchmarks’.

On any day, be it dark or dazzling, they lift the spirits and tie literature to landscape.

The Walk consists of quotations from 23 authors past and contemporary, including poets, novelists, and playwrights. The walk celebrates and commemorates the place of Wellington in these writers’ lives, and their place in the life of Wellington.

Besides providing recognition to some of New Zealand’s most noted writers, the walk promotes New Zealand literature to a wider public, particularly tourists and visitors to the capital.

Watch Catherine speak about Variation on a Theme at Typographics 2021. Fonts In Use is proud to be a media partner of the conference. See more work by speakers of the 2021 edition.