Join Poet Laureate Chris Tse for a Poetry Masterclass. In this session, Chris will lead participants in reading and discussing several poems to explore a range of voices from contemporary New Zealand poetry. The class will also be given prompts for writing exercises. This is a one-off opportunity to learn from the Poet Laureate and numbers are limited.

Chris Tse was a 2024 fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program Fall Residency and a 2025 Dutch Foundation for Literature writer in residence. He is the author of three poetry collections published by Auckland University Press: How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes (winner of the 2016 Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry), HE’S SO MASC, and Super Model Minority (a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry and long-listed at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards). With Emma Barnes, Chris Tse edited the landmark book Out Here: An Anthology of Takatapui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa.

This workshop is assisted by the Central Lakes Arts Support Scheme.

Chris Tse will perform in Queenstown on Friday 8 August at an event entitled “An Evening with the Poet Laureate”.

Chris Tse is brought to Queenstown by Arrowtown Creative Arts Society and Queenstown Writers Festival.