Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki 2026
A star-studded line-up bursting with well-known literary powerhouses, global thinkers and fresh new voices will take to the stage for the 27th Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki from 12 – 17 May.
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is an annual celebration of books and ideas and the leading showcase for national and international writers, thinkers and creatives to discuss their work to an Aotearoa New Zealand audience.
As one of the Southern Hemisphere’s best-attended book festivals, the event attracts 85,000 attendances of all ages who flock to the Aotea Centre in central Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland over six days in May.
The 2026 Festival takes place between 12 – 17 May, with the ever-popular STREETSIDE: BRITOMART serving as a pre-Festival teaser on Friday 8 May.
AI, climate change, the economy, mental health, modern masculinity, indigenous rights in an election year and what it means to be a writer in today’s fractured America are just a few of the topics to be unpacked during a series of lively panel discussions.