In-person festivals have had to be nimble over the last three years, whether their focus be on music, film or performing arts. Auckland Writers Festival is no exception. While the 2020 event was cancelled, it returned in 2021 and 2022 to audiences of 65,000 and 52,000, respectively. There were both live and live-streamed appearances by internationally renowned writers across many genres.

The festival's 2023 program has just been announced, and features 26 international guests as well as 200 New Zealand authors – all appearing in person, live on stage from May 16-21.

Several high-profile and prestigious award winners will appear among the 160 ticketed and free events. And it’s not just book authors – learn from musicians, screenwriters, journalists, broadcasters, comedians, food critics, poets, academics, artists and an AI expert.

Never miss a moment. Make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter today.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Hear from Colson Whitehead, the two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize who wrote The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys. He’ll be talking about his upcoming novel Crook Manifesto, which is out in July.

London-based writer Bernardine Evaristo will also be appearing in person. Rising to prominence for her novel Girl, Woman, Other, she became the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize when she did so at the age of 60. Evaristo released her latest book Manifesto, a memoir, late last year.

New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton released her book Birnam Wood in February this year; she’ll be coming over from the UK, where she is now based. Sri Lanka-based author Shehan Karunatilaka will also be attending – his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida won last year’s Booker Prize. Book tickets for talks by Jenny Odell, who wrote How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy; Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow author Gabrielle Zevin; The Mountains Sing writer Nguyen Phan Que Mai, and many more.

Among the many New Zealand personalities participating, there’s rugby player Ruby Tui, comedian Chris Parker, Albert Cho of Eat Lit Food fame, and Girls That Invest co-founder Simran Kaur.

And, in a festival first, Indigenous writers from Canada, Australia and Aotearoa will collaborate for a round-table series called First Nations – speaking on storytelling, language and experiences.

There are also Māori, Pasifika and Asian-focused cultural sessions curated by Matariki Bennett and Michael Bennett (Māori), Dahlia Malaeulu (Pasifika), and Chris Tse (Asia) – who is this year's New Zealand Poet Laureate. They will explore a mix of subjects from composing a waiata to “yellow peril” racism and storytelling through tapa.

Tickets are on sale from 9am March 24 via Ticketmaster or call 0800 111 999 or 09 970 9700.

writersfestival.co.nz