Join us at Objectspace in Ōtautahi to hear from four Ōtautahi-based book-minds – designers, writers, publishers, printers and facilitators – who will each speak to a publication they wish they’d made.

Whether it’s something that’s left them inspired, intrigued, or just a little creatively envious, each speaker will unpack what draws them to the work and why it resonates.

Your speakers are Isla Huia, Aaron Beehre, Alice Bonifant and Lee Richardson.

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Isla Huia (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku) is a te reo Māori teacher and kaituhi from Ōtautahi. Her debut collection of poetry, Talia, was released in May 2023 by Dead Bird Books. Her work was featured in the International Institute of Modern Letters’ Ōrongohau Best New Zealand Poems in both 2023 and 2024, and has been published in journals and anthologies throughout Aotearoa. She has undertaken Writer in Residence programmes in Aotearoa and Australia, and in 2026 was awarded a Springboard Award from The Arts Foundation Te Temu Toi. Huia is a member of the rōpū behind Ngā Pukapuka Pekapeka, a small chapbook press based in Ōtautahi, and is currently working on her second collection of poetry, to be published by Dead Bird Books in 2026.

Aaron Beehre is an artist, designer and Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha. His work centres on book design, independent publishing and the relationships between design, art and printed matter. As co-founder of Ilam Press, a teaching and research publishing initiative, he has collaborated with artists, galleries, writers and cultural institutions across Aotearoa New Zealand, producing award-winning publications.

Alice Bonifant is an independent graphic designer based in Ōtautahi Christchurch, working with artists and galleries across Aotearoa on publications and exhibition graphics. She studied Design at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury. She was the designer at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery for over ten years, and has also spent several years in London working with David Chipperfield Architects. Alice has recently begun designing for DOCUMENTS, a new independent publishing imprint that unearths and reframes artist archives and critical texts on art in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Lee Richardson is an artist and designer currently working between Ōtautahi Christchurch and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Lee co-founded Hot Lunch, an artist-run initiative on High Street (2020–21, Ōtautahi) and subsequently published Leftovers, cataloguing the year of practice at this space. He runs the annual A Dinner for Scott event in Murihiku, bringing together artists, chefs and local students to present a multi-course dining experience. Most recently he presented Another School at The Physics Room (Ōtautahi). He was the inaugural Sculptor in Residence at Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University (2025–26).

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This event takes place ahead of the Ōtautahi Object Book Fair, 11am – 4pm, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July. Read more here.