In this evening event, Poet Laureate Chris Tse and fellow poets Mary Macpherson, Arihia Latham, Margo Montes de Oca, Ada Duffy, Simon Sweetman, and Jackson McCarthy, will read new work in response to photographs of 19th Century Aotearoa from the exhibition A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa.

Chris Tse (he/him) was born and raised in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. He studied film and English literature at Victoria University of Wellington, where he also completed an MA in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. In 2022, he was named the 13th New Zealand Poet Laureate. His poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction have been recorded for radio and widely published in numerous journals, magazines, and anthologies. He has published several collections of poetry and his latest book Super Model Minority (2022) was long-listed for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2023.

Ada Duffy (Kāi Tahu Whānui) is a poet who was raised in Ōtākou under the shelter of Pukekura.

Arihia Latham (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a writer, creative, and rongoā practitioner. Her poetry collection, Birdspeak, was published by Anahera Press in 2023, and her short stories, essays, and poems have been published and anthologised widely. Arihia’s poetic short film, Takaroa, was part of Mana Moana and won best film at the Aotearoa Poetry Film Festival. It has since screened in Italy and will be shown at the Helios Sun Poetry Film Festival in Mexico. Arihia is also an arts columnist for The Post. She lives with her whānau in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

Mary Macpherson is a poet, photographer, photobook maker, and art writer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington. Her poems have been published in print and online journals in Aotearoa, most recently in Landfall, The Spinoff, and Ōrongohau | Best Zealand Poems. Mary’s poetry collection, Social Media, was published by The Cuba Press in 2019. Her photographs are in the collections of Te Papa Tongarewa, The Dowse Art Museum, and Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery. She is a part of the team who organise Photobook/NZ, Aotearoa’s biennial photobook festival at Te Papa. She is currently working on a photobook to be published with Rim Books, called one foot on the bottom, which uses her mother's family photographs mixed with her contemporary work.

Jackson McCarthy is a poet and musician from Auckland who is currently studying in Wellington. He is of mixed Māori and Lebanese descent. His work has been published widely, including Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems, Landfall, Starling, and The Spinoff. He currently serves as an editor at both Symposia and Salient magazines.

Margo Montes de Oca is a poet and researcher of Mexican and Pākehā descent living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

Simon Sweetman is a music journalist, short story writer, and poet.