How the Irish teach us to live, love & die
Date: Wed, 8 April 2026
Time: 6pm – 7:30pm
Venue: The Atrium Cafe & Conference Centre, Tauranga, New Zealand
Join author Kevin Toolis in April as he shares insights from growing up on a remote island, where engaging with the dead and dying was part of everyday life.
Drawing on his later years reporting from warzones, Kevin weaves together the philosophical and the practical, finding in the ancient rite of the Irish wake a roadmap for our most existential questions.
About Kevin Toolis
Kevin Toolis is a writer, poet and BAFTA-winning filmmaker. He has written for the New York Times magazine and The Guardian. His TED Talk has been viewed more than 255,000 times.
His acclaimed books, My Father’s Wake and 9 Rules to Conquer Death, explore how community and tradition help us accept and embrace our mortality.
