Closed borders no barrier when it comes to talent for Womad NZ 2022

Dick Frizzell is one of the artists appearing in Womad NZ's World of Words next year. Photo / Supplied

The Womad NZ team is continuing to show closed borders are no barrier to bringing the very best of the best to next year's festival, with a star-studded lineup for the popular World of Words programme announced on Monday morning.

Kurdish-Iranian journalist/novelist Behrouz Boochani, a former refugee who wrote his bestselling book No Friend but the Mountain on a mobile phone during his six-year detention on Manus Island, will be joining the previously announced New Zealand painter Dick Frizzell. Funeral directors and Netflix stars Frances and Kaiora Tipene (The Casketeers) were also named in Monday's announcement.

Womad's World Of Words is a series of spoken sessions featuring novelists, poets, critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and more from around Aotearoa. Womad NZ 2022 will include a new Book Club feature. This will invite festival-goers to share their perspective of a book and explore its themes with the author. For next year, the books and authors featured are Before You Knew My Name, by Jacqueline Bublitz, and The Girl in the Mirror, by Rose Carlyle.

Taranaki Arts Festival Trust chief executive Suzanne Porter says Book Club is all about taking people on a journey.

"I love how books can transport you across the globe, with the turn of a page, taking you on a journey, just like the music and worldly vibe of Womad. Book Club adds to the discovery, with the Womad audience sharing their perspectives of the books and exploring themes with the authors. This year's books will transport you from New York, across the Indian Ocean, and right back to Aotearoa and Womad NZ."

OMV STEAM Lab & World of Words speakers appearing at WOMAD 2022 in alphabetical order:
Anna Fifield, Behrouz Boochani, Dick Frizzell, Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Jacqueline Bublitz, James Nokise, Ken Arkind, Rose Carlyle, Te Karere Whitiao Scarborough, The Casketeers (Frances & Kaiora Tipene), Tom Sainsbury.