One of Australia\u2019s most acclaimed writers is finally coming to Aotearoa.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not all. Below are 10 more unmissable events from a ridiculously stacked programme (with some cheating, because picking just 10 of 170+ events is a fool\u2019s game):<\/p>\n
The free events<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t need to spend a cent to enjoy the riches of AWF. At least a quarter of the programme is free thanks to funders and sponsors and patrons and all the people who do have money to support (bless and may there be more of you for the rest of the country one day, too). Streetside: Britomar<\/a>t is a one-night-only mini-pre-festival-fest on Friday May 8. The Spinoff\u2019s own Emma Gleason is one of the curators of the \u201cbite-sized\u201d events, experiences and performances (along with the D*List and Matariki Bennett (Ng\u0101ti Pikiao, Ng\u0101ti Whakaue, Ng\u0101ti Hinerangi)) that you can just show up to, no registration or tickets needed. Pukapuka Adventures\u00a0is a free, all-weekend programme of events for kids masterminded by AWF\u2019s resident genius, Gabrielle Vincent (family and schools programmer) and features International Booker Prize winner Deepa Bhasthi reading her picture book Champi and the Fig Tree in English and Kannada, illustrator in residence Ruth Paul, a Dog Man and Cat Kid parade, and much more. K\u014drero Corner is a series of drop-in events exploring facets of publishing where you can catch Inangaro Vakaafi discussing Pasifika authors she loves, The Big Idea editor Gabi Lardies interviewing writers on their publishing journeys, and Ockhams-shortlisted author of Hoods Landing Laura Vincent (Ng\u0101ti M\u0101hanga, Ng\u0101puhi) talking us through the characters that populate her story.<\/p>\n Patrick Radden Keefe<\/p>\n Another huge get. Radden Keefe is one of the world\u2019s foremost long-form investigative journalists, in his Baillie Gifford prize-winning book Empire of Pain exposing the Sackler family\u2019s role in the opioid crisis, and in his Orwell Prize winning Say Nothing, pulling back the veil on civilian disappearances during The Troubles. The latest book, London Falling, is a remarkable investigation into the death of a teenager at the hands of the rich and how that story leads into a consideration of the river Thames as a symbol of London\u2019s underworld. Jack Tame is the lucky chap to host the conversation with Radden Keefe on Tuesday May 12, 8pm<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plot Twist<\/p>\n A whole new fest-within-the-fest, Plot Fest takes over Q Theatre on Sunday May 17 and is designed to draw in the under-30s with a programme to \u201cblend genres and break rules\u201d. It features huge names such as RF Kuang, Rachel Smythe (Lore Olympus fame), Nikita Gill, Tusiata Avia, Amber Esau<\/a>, Dominic Hoey<\/a>, Mieko Kawakami<\/a> and loads more (also me \u2013 I\u2019ll be doing a tarot for creativity workshop<\/a> and steering a conversation about Hell<\/a>). Once you clap eyes on the printed programme you won\u2019t miss it \u2013 it\u2019s black and pink and hot.<\/p>\n Dav Pilkey<\/p>\n Wellington kids might not give a shit<\/a> but Auckland\u2019s little book nerds are going to be squeaking like puppies once they find out that Captain Underpants himself is touching down. On Sunday May 17 at 11.30am<\/a> Pilkey is on the big stage (Kiri te Kanawa theatre) to take little readers inside the worlds of his bestselling books. The session sounds like it will be beautifully visual with live drawing promised; and a party vibe too with spot prizes and giveaways and trivia.<\/p>\n Witi Ihimaera: Swimming Home<\/p>\n A major free event<\/a> with national taonga, matua Witi Ihimaera (Te Wh\u0101nau a Kai, Te Aitanga a M\u0101haki, Rongowhakaata, Ng\u0101ti Ira, Ng\u0101ti Porou), dives into a forthcoming memoir of learning te reo M\u0101ori at the age of 80, Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer: I te Ao o te Reo. Te Kaikaukau relates Ihimaera\u2019s year in a full-immersion course: \u201can odyssey of profound self-discovery \u2013 of loss and shame, of reconnection and wairua, of fathers and teachers, kuia and friends.\u201d With Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa, Ng\u0101i Tahu) chairing and with Ihimaera\u2019s long-time collaborator for live events, musician Kingsley Spargo, also on stage this is sure to be a moving and essential hour.<\/p>\n Karen Hao is a leading AI journalist and author of ground-breaking book Empire of AI, in which she uncovers OpenAI and the cataclysmic impact of that company on our minds, environment, workforce and more. Anyone remotely interested in the impact of AI on our lives needs to be at this event on Saturday May 16 at 11.30am<\/a> (in the big theatre); and at a panel session<\/a> the day before which also features Catherine Chidgey (whose novels were scraped by Anthropic) and Copyright Licensing New Zealand\u2019s Sam Irvine who, with myself, will discuss the impact of AI on the publishing sector and on creativity at large.<\/p>\n A Shaken World Order?<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the Auckland Writers Festival without a hard-hitting conversation about the state of the world. This year\u2019s offering features three fascinating thinkers, Amitav Ghosh (major author from South East Asia), David Moscrop (Canadian political commentator and author of Too Dumb for Democracy?) and collapse risk expert Luke Kemp (author of Goliath\u2019s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse<\/a>). Susie Ferguson will helm the conversation which promises to grapple with the question of why the world is currently having to deal with the rise in authoritarianism, and the destabilisation of pretty much everything from the environment to the technological world we thought we could predict.<\/p>\n Big night out for little bookworms<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s inaugural big night out for little bookworms (like a gala night for kids) sold out and was a huge success so Gabrielle Vincent (family and schools programmer) is doing it all again at 6pm, Friday May 15<\/a> with a fresh line-up of antics with children\u2019s writers and illustrators including: an epic illustration battle between Toby Morris and Zac Waipara (Ng\u0101ti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Ng\u0101ti Ruapani, Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu), a kid-versus-adult book quiz, a brand new story created live with the audience\u2019s ideas, a scene from forthcoming children\u2019s show based on a story by Bill Manhire called Betsy Balloon, and all wrangled by queen Johanna Cosgrove.<\/p>\n Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction and one of American\u2019s greatest writers, Louise Erdrich (Objiwe) has brought indigenous storytelling to the world for decades through novels and poetry and short stories<\/a>, but also through her work as owner of Birchbark books in Minneapolis. Given where she lives Erdrich is uniquely positioned to tell AWF audiences exactly what life has been like in Trump\u2019s reign of ICE as well as look back on a remarkable and waymaking career. Erdrich is talking with Paula Morris in the afternoon on Sunday May 17<\/a>, but also appears with The Spinoff\u2019s own Toby Manhire in a panel conversation called \u201cWriting in Today\u2019s America\u201d<\/a>, and with H\u0113mi Kelly and David A. Robertson (Canada) in a panel called \u201cNg\u0101 reo taketake, te whakam\u0101ori me te tikanga \/ Indigenous languages, translation and meaning\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n Ko au te whenua, te whenua ko au \/ I am the land and the land is me<\/p>\n Having just been to a fantastic k\u014drero in Te Whanganui-a-tara featuring Dr Jessica Hutchings\u00a0called \u201cMe aro koe ki te h\u0101 o Hineahuone \u2013 Pay heed to the dignity of our soils<\/a>\u201d I am urging everyone to go to this session at AWF<\/a>. Hutchings (Ng\u0101i Tahu, Ng\u0101ti Huirapa, Gujarati) is author of P\u0101taka Kai: Growing Kai Sovereignty<\/a> and will be joined in this panel conversation by Conservationist Tame Malcolm (Te Arawa, Ng\u0101ti Ruanui), maramataka practitioner Rikki Solomon (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa) to discuss how disconnection from whenua, te taiao and food systems shape contemporary crises; and how reconnection might offer healing and healthier living for future generations. Chaired by Mandy Kupenga (Ng\u0101ti Porou, Te Aitanga a Mate) this is an urgent conversation for everyone (on Sunday May 17, 4pm).<\/p>\n Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o T\u0101maki, including an epic schools programme<\/a>, takes place between May 17-21. The full programme is online here<\/a> from midday, March 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve scoured the 2026 programme for the most unmissable events. For readers and writers across Aotearoa the Auckland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[175478,489,492,175479,156,111,139,69,175480],"class_list":{"0":"post-325414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-auckland-writers-festival","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-comments-enabled","11":"tag-dog-man","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-writers-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Witi Ihimaera will deliver a major free event on his forthcoming memoir about his journey reclaiming his own language.
\nKaren Hao<\/p>\nPulitzer Prize-winning writer Louise Erdrich (left); and AI expert, Karen Hao (right).
\nLouise Erdrich<\/p>\n