Guide to Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki 2025
Learn more about the upcoming Auckland Writers Festival (May 13 -18) and win 1 of 5 double passes to attend one of their 180+ events! Sponsored by Auckland Writers Festival.
Every year Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki showcases some of the world’s most celebrated storytellers and thinkers. Between 13 – 18 May, tens of thousands of people will gather just down the hill for a jam-packed programme of over 180 events across a range of venues and sites in the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau.
We’ve pulled together this guide to help you make the most of this huge event whether you only have time for a quick study break or can make a whole day of it
If you like your Friday nights to be unpredictable…
Come to STREETSIDE: BRITOMART. Taking place on Friday 9 May, this free event is your pre-Festival appetiser. For one night only, writers, musicians and artists take to the streets of Britomart for an extravaganza of creative shenanigans. It’s surprising, hilarious, profound and a little bit fringe. There are bite-sized panels, performances and drop-in creative Kaupapa scattered across bespoke and surprising locations from 6 – 8 pm. You don’t need a ticket, just grab some friends (or make some new ones), turn up and enjoy the ride!
If you have some big questions about the state of the world…
A host of global and local thinkers are on hand to help you make sense of a turbulent landscape. Panel themes include “Trump: The Next Four Years”; “How Tyrants Fall”; “2025: A Billionaire’s Playground?” and “Making Peace in the Culture Wars.” Big international speakers will be joined by brilliant local minds, including leading Māori scholar and University of Auckland academic Dr Aroha Harris, renowned physicist Professor Shaun Hendy and Professor Deidre Brown on issues closer to home, such as Te Tiriti, colonisation, New Zealand’s handling of Covid-19 and the landmark Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art.
If you spend most of your time in the English lit department…
You won’t want to miss British-Cambodian writer and editor Kaliane Bradley, whose time-travel rom-com debut The Ministry of Time has been one of the biggest hits of the publishing year. Or maybe Shakespeare is more your bag so you’ll want to catch Emmy Award winning actress Harriet Walter talking about what women would have said if Shakespeare had given them more airtime. You can also see 2024 Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey, or David Nicholls, who wrote the phenomenally popular One Day, and the author of the Japanese cult hit Butter, Asako Yuzuki, who will be chaired by University of Auckland Associate Professor Paula Morris. Plus, hear from Ockham New Zealand Book Awards winners and finalists.
If you need a bit of sizzle in your evening after a day of study…
Try a late-night salon. On Friday, the inaugural Spice Salon will see the greatest writers of some of the steamiest scenes gather for readings of their work. Funny, serious, smutty, light-hearted or poignant, it’s all here. Then take a darker turn on Saturday when some of our renowned storytellers come together for a salon of unsettling tales. Guest readers include Queen of Latin American horror Mariana Enriquez and Ockham NZ Book Award winner Noelle McCarthy (reading from a Dracula-inspired work-in-progress piece).
If you’re feeling broke…
You’re in luck! Over 25% of the Festival’s events are free and unticketed. Head to Kōrero Corner for short, informal sessions that will spark inspiration and curiosity. You can join a Wikipedia edit-a-thon, particate in a world-wide book club or get the inside scoop from local publishers on the books to look out for this year. There are also lots more free sessions scattered throughout the programme, including a Pasifika poetry showcase called “Tell the Tale, Win the Crowd” a panel called “Being a NZ Writer Today” and a session called “Tangata Tiriti for Te Tiriti”.
If LGBTQIAT+ issues matter to you…
Then we have a lineup for you. Catch Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby, which was hailed as “the first great trans realist novel”. Listen to major British novelist Alan Hollinghurst, who won the Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty in 2004 and helped propel LGBTQIAT+ narratives into the literary mainstream. And don’t miss Aotearoa New Zealand’s Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, who broke new ground as a trailblazer for Māori rights, and the women’s and gay liberation movements.
If you want to be on the Festival stage one day…
The Festival includes an incredible lineup of Masterclasses led by our smart and inspirational writers and creatives. Proudly supported by the University of Auckland, these offer an incredibly unique opportunity to hone your writing skills in a small group setting.
Do you want to get involved with Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki?
There are still some volunteer spots available. Volunteers get an exciting behind-the-scenes opportunity to be part of this major event, plus each receives a name badge or lanyard giving access to all general and free events on the programme (as long as they are not sold out). The AWF team is looking for sociable, outgoing volunteers to help with our surveying data collection. If you’re keen to know more, head to www.writersfestival.co.nz/our-supporters/volunteer/
Double Pass Giveaway:
Head to our Instagram Post, follow us @craccum and @aklwritersfest, and tell us which the following events you want to go and tag one friend :)
Event #26 Intersections Across the Moana
Event #71 Let The Dead Speak
Event #89 Imagined Futures
Event #106 David Nicholls
Event #124 Torrey Peters
To learn more about them, head to writersfestival.co.nz
Good Luck ! Giveaway closes on 5th of May, winners will be notified via Instagram DM.
