Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest annual

literary festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

since 1999. It has about 200 public events each year featuring local and international writers as guests.

History and staff

The inaugural festival was in May 1999. Founding trustees were writers Stephanie Johnson and the late Peter Wells (1950–2019). Since 2008 the festival has been a registered charitable trust under the name Auckland Writers & Readers Festival Charitable Trust. The trusts purpose is that it celebrates the work of writers, promotes literacy, a positive public profile for New Zealand writers, ideas and intellectual debate, literature which supports and reflects the partnership ideal of the Treaty of Waitangi, and encourages international understanding. By 2018 it was being described as the 'largest literary showcase in New Zealand'. Anne O'Brien joined the festival in 2011 as director. In 2012 there were four core members and the General Manager was Anne Rodda. The current team include Anne O'Brien, Festival Director (Kaiurungi); Lisa Morton, Business Manager (Kaiwhakahaere Pakihi); and Bridget van der Zijpp, Programme Manager (Kaiwhakahaere Hōtaka).

2018 Auckland Writers Festival

Over 75,000 people attended this festival. There were events featuring Jeff Tweedy,

Kate Raworth Kate Raworth (born 13 December 1970) is an English economist known for " doughnut economics", which she understands as an economic model that balances between essential human needs and planetary boundaries. She is Senior Associate at Oxford Unive ...

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at two ...

, and

John Boyne John Boyne (born 30 April 1971) is an Irish novelist. He is the author of eleven novels for adults and six novels for younger readers. His novels are published in over 50 languages. His 2006 novel '' The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' was adapt ...

. Another part of the programme was ''The New 90,'' talking with writer Renee Hollis who interviewed 120 New Zealanders over 100 years old for ''Keepers of History''. The Festival Gala Night - True Stories Told Live: Under Cover event gets writers in seven minutes to deliver a 'true story without scripts or props' in 2018 this featured people from England, Ireland, India, South Africa, the US, and New Zealand including Susie Boyt,

Lisa Dwan Lisa Dwan is an Irish people, Irish Stage (theatre), stage, film and television actress, director, and writer. She is best known for her performances and adaptations of the work of Samuel Beckett and other theatre. Early life Dwan was born in Co ...

, Gigi Fenster (South Africa/NZ),

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

Damon Salesa Damon Ieremia Salesa (born 30 December 1972) is a New Zealand academic. Of Samoan descent, he is the first Pacific person to hold the position of vice-chancellor at a New Zealand university. Education Raised in Glen Innes, Salesa attended S ...

, Tom Scott,

Shashi Tharoor Shashi Tharoor (; ; born 9 March 1956 in London, England ) is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat and politician, writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, ...

, and Jenny Zhang. in 2018 the Festival established the Mātātuhi Foundation, which provides grants to support and promote New Zealand writers and literacy.

2019 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki

The festival received a

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

name in 2019, ''Waituhi o Tāmaki'', the meaning relates to water ''wai'', 'waiata meaning song-poem or reflecting water' and writing ''tuhi''. ''

Tāmaki Makaurau Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the . The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour ...

'' is the full Māori name for Auckland. The festival had a first-ever session in Māori language that featured

Tīmoti Kāretu Sir Tīmoti Samuel Kāretu (born 29 April 1937) is a New Zealand academic of Māori language and performing arts. He served as the inaugural head of the Department of Māori at the University of Waikato, and rose to the rank of professor. He w ...

. The dates for this festival were 13 to 19 May, and featured 230 writers. International writers included English

Kamila Shamsie Kamila Shamsie FRSL (born 13 August 1973) is a Pakistani and British writer and novelist who is best known for her award-winning novel '' Home Fire'' (2017). Named on ''Granta'' magazine's list of 20 best young British writers, Shamsie has be ...

, American

Andrew Sean Greer Andrew Sean Greer (born November 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer. Greer received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''Less''. He is the author of ''The Story of a Marriage'', which ''The New York Times'' has ...

, and South African

Sisonke Msimang Sisonke Msimang is a South African writer, activist and political analyst based in Perth, Western Australia, whose focus is on race, gender, and politics. She is known for her memoir ''Always Another Country: A memoir of exile and home'' (2017) ...

. Musicians appearing at the festival included

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high s ...

, from

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

Shayne Carter Shayne P. Carter is a New Zealand musician best known for leading Straitjacket Fits from 1986 to 1994, and as the only permanent member of Dimmer (1995–2012). Carter is a member of the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, and has been awarded the ...

from

Straitjacket Fits Straitjacket Fits formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1986 and were a prominent band in the Flying Nun label's second wave of the Dunedin sound. Biography Like many of their Flying Nun stable-mates, the band hailed from the southern city of Dun ...

, mathematician and concert pianist

Eugenia Cheng Eugenia Loh-Gene Cheng is a British mathematician and concert pianist. Her mathematical interests include higher category theory, and as a pianist she specialises in lieder and art song. She is also passionate about explaining mathematics to ...

, English hip-hop artist, writer and poet Akala, the

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall. The APO is the accompanying ensemble for performances by NZ Opera and the Royal New Zeal ...

, composer Kenneth Young, and tenor

Simon O'Neill Simon John O'Neill (born 1971) is a New Zealand-born operatic tenor. In 1998, his image appeared on the New Zealand one-dollar performing arts postage stamp. Biography O'Neill was born in Ashburton, New Zealand, and received his musical tra ...

. The Michael King Memorial Lecture at the Aotea Centre was delivered by

Vincent O'Malley Vincent Michael O’Malley MRSNZ FRHistS is a New Zealand historian whose work focuses on the history of how relationships between Māori, European settlers (Pākehā) and colonial governments shapes the development of New Zealand as a nation ...

. The 2019 Honoured New Zealand Writer was

Joy Cowley Cassia Joy Cowley (; born 7 August 1936) is a New Zealand author best known for her children's fiction, including the popular series of books Mrs. Wishy-Washy. Cowley started out writing novels for adults, and her first book, ''Nest in a Fal ...

2020 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki

This event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions in New Zealand.

2021 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki

International writers included

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

and

Behrouz Boochani Behrouz Boochani ( fa, بهروز بوچانی; born 23 July 1983) is a Iranian Kurdistan, Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights defender, writer and film producer living in New Zealand. He was held in the Australian-run Manus Regional Proce ...

in person, and

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

and artist

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

streaming live. There was theatre, ''Blindness'' from London based on José Saramago’s novel, and ''Witi’s Wāhine'' by Nancy Brunning based on the writing of Witi Ihimarea. ''Oro'' was curated by Ruby Solly and included Becky Manawatu, Ross Calman, Anahera Gildea, Arihia Latham, Nic Low, Kiri Piahana-Wong, and essa may ranapiri. Gina Cole curated ''Talanoa'' with

Tusiata Avia Donna Tusiata Avia (born 1966) is a New Zealand poet and children's author. Background Avia was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her father is Samoan and her mother is Palagi (New Zealand European). Avia graduated from the Univ ...

David Eggleton David Eggleton (born 1952) is a New Zealand poet, critic and writer. Eggleton has been awarded the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for poetry and in 2019 was appointed New Zealand Poet Laureate, a title he held until 2022. Eggleton's work has app ...

Oscar Kightley Oscar Vai To'elau Kightley (born 14 September 1969) is a Samoan-born New Zealand actor, television presenter, writer, journalist, director, and comedian. He acted in and co-wrote the successful 2006 film ''Sione's Wedding''. Biography Kightley ...

Selina Tusitala Marsh Selina Tusitala Marsh (born 21 April 1971) is a New Zealand poet and academic, and was the New Zealand Poet Laureate for 2017–2019. Early life Marsh was born in 1971 in Auckland, New Zealand. Through her mother, Sailigi Tusitala, Marsh is o ...

Karlo Mila Karlo Estelle Mila (born 1974) is a New Zealand writer and poet of Tongan, Pālagi and Samoan descent. Her first collection, ''Dream Fish Floating'', received the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry in 2006 at the Montana Ne ...

, and Victor Rodger. Other writers included

Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...

Marilynne Robinson Marilynne Summers Robinson (born November 26, 1943) is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and ...

Yiyun Li Yiyun Li (born November 4, 1972) is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for ''A Thousand Years of Good Pra ...

, Mohamed Hassan, Sue Kedgley,

Ngahuia te Awekotuku Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (born 1949) is a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. In 1972, she was famously denied a visa to visit the United States on the basis of her sexuality. Biography Te Awekotuk ...

Claudia Orange Dame Claudia Josepha Orange (née Bell, born 17 April 1938) is a New Zealand historian best known for her 1987 book ''The Treaty of Waitangi'', which won 'Book of the Year' at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Award in 1988. Since 2013 she has ...

, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, Brian Easton,

Monique Fiso Monique Tumema Fiso (born October 23, 1987) is a New Zealand-Samoan chef and author known for her contribution to the revival of Māori people, Māori and Polynesian culture, Polynesian cuisine. Early life Monique Fiso was born in Wellington, N ...

, and

Charlotte Grimshaw Charlotte Grimshaw (born December 1966) is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, columnist and former lawyer. Since the publication of her debut novel ''Provocation'' (1999), she has received a number of significant literary awards incl ...

. ''A Clear Dawn'' was launched, co-edited by Paula Morris and Alison Wong this is the first-ever creative writing anthology of Asian New Zealand authors. Alice Te Punga Somerville presented the Michael King Memorial Lecture where she drew upon her book ''Two Hundred and Fifty Ways to Start an Essay about Captain Cook'' (2020). There were workshops presented by

Mary Karr Mary Karr (born January 16, 1955) is an American poet, essayist and memoirist from East Texas. She is widely noted for her 1995 bestselling memoir '' The Liars' Club''. Karr is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracus ...

Carl Nixon Carl Nixon (born 1967) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and playwright. He has written four novels and a number of original plays which have been performed throughout New Zealand, as well as adapting both Lloyd Jones' novel ''The ...

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Brit ...

, Eileen Merriman, Andrew O’Hagan,

Michael Robotham Michael Robotham (born 9 November 1960) is an Australian crime fiction writer who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel and twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best novel. His eldest child is Alexandra Hope Robotham, ...

, and

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...

. The closing event was called ''A Worship of Honoured Writers'' and featured

Fiona Kidman Dame Fiona Judith Kidman ( Eakin, born 26 March 1940) is a New Zealand novelist, poet, scriptwriter and short story writer. She grew up in Northland, and worked as a librarian and a freelance journalist early in her career. She began writing ...

Patricia Grace Patricia Frances Grace (; born 17 August 1937) is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Her early short stories were published in magazines ...

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

, Vincent O'Sullivan, CK Stead, Brian Turner, and Albert Wendt''.'' The programme was from May 11 to 16.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland Writers Festival Literary festivals in New Zealand Festivals in Auckland