Can't Miss It: Auckland Writers Festival authors' faves

A rollcall of Aotearoa’s most talented writers are amongst the 220 artists from across the country and the world taking part in over 170 events at Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki from 12 – 17 May.

We asked some of this year’s attendees for the session featuring a fellow local author that they are most excited to attend.

Tickets to this year’s event are selling fast. See writersfestival.co.nz for more information.

Ivy Cliffwater

'I’m really looking forward to the new Plot Twist programme, especially To Hell and Back with Rachel Smythe, Nikita Gill, and R. F. Kuang. It brings together such distinct voices in fantasy, and I’m excited to hear them discuss their latest works!'

To find out more about Plot Twist, see here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/plot-twist/ and for To Hell and Back, check out this link: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/to-hell-and-back/2224659/ 

Claire Mabey

'I am really excited to see Elizabeth Knox in conversation with Emily Perkins about Elizabeth's memoir, Night, Ma. Both Elizabeth and Emily are two of my favourite Aotearoa writers and Night, Ma one of the most fascinating and moving memoirs I've read. I know this will be a brilliant conversation!'

Find out more about the Night, Ma session here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/elizabeth-knox-night-ma/2224532/

Lucy O’Hagan

I'm looking forward to How to be a good ancestor. This whakaaro invites us to make visionary decisions about climate, health, education, taxation,infrastructure, the environment i.e. everything. We could start with, "What sort of country do we want to live in?" but looking to future generations leans us towards a more collective and altruistic way of thinking. And that is needed for our survival.

More information on How to be a good ancestor is here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/how-to-be-a-good-ancestor/2224403/ 

Eugene Bingham

If you’ve got the stamina to stay till the (almost) end of the festival, here’s one session that will make the wait absolutely worth it. Part of Plot Twist, Love Won, Love Lost, Love Burned Up in Flames is curated and hosted by the brilliant Michael and Matariki Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue). Seven guest writers will tell intimate, heart-soaring and/or heart-breaking stories, interpreting the theme however they wish. Michael promises that the audience will “weep and laugh like fools”.

To find out more about Plot Twist, see here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/plot-twist/ and for Love Won, Love Lost, Love Burned Up in Flames, check out this link: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/love-won-love-lost-love-burned-up-in-flames/2224639/ 

Rachael King

I found myself instantly drawn to the Plot Twist programme being held at Q Theatre, but maybe that's because I'm a fan of the more quirky, intimate festival sessions where writers get to do things other than just talk about their books in conversation (though I still love that too!). Is it cheating to pick a whole stream of sessions? I also can’t wait for  the Down the Rabbithole session hosted by Jo Randerson, because writers talking about their random obsessions is something I've been interested in forever.

To find out more about Plot Twist, see here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/plot-twist/ and for Down the Rabbithole, check out this link: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/down-the-rabbithole/2224601/ 

Zoë Rankin

I am really looking forward to session Frontlines and Headlines. I have always been fascinated by different cultures and living in different places, connecting with the grassroots of a country. I love fiction, but the real-life stories of real-life people hit in a different way. I’m excited to listen to these three brilliant correspondents and to learn about their incredible careers on the frontline.  

To find out more about Frontlines and Headlines, see here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/frontlines-and-headlines-the-life-of-a-foreign-correspondent/2224551/ 

Richard Shaw

My pick would be Charlotte Macdonald’s session, Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in Aotearoa New Zealand, in which she’ll talk about her latest book. And what a wonderful book Garrison World is. She gives us an entirely new take (well, new to me) on the early history of Aotearoa which reveals how much early colonial society was shaped by the presence of the Imperial regiments. Charlotte also - and I think this is where the real magic of the book is - draws out the ways in which, through the movement of the regiments and imperial officials, Aotearoa was tightly tied to other parts of the British Empire. I didn’t really understand a lot of this, and learnt a huge amount.

Check out the Garrison World session here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/garrison-world-redcoat-soldiers-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/2223389/ 

Philip Garnock-Jones

What a wonderful group of New Zealand writers and thinkers will be joining overseas luminaries at the Auckland Writers Festival! I’m especially interested in novelist Elizabeth Knox’s new memoir Night, Ma and her insights on coping when life comes unstuck in several major ways all at once.

Find out more about Elizabeth Knox's session here: https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/elizabeth-knox-night-ma/2224532/

Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is held at the Aotea Centre, Auckland, from 12 – 17 May. Tickets are available at writersfestival.co.nz.