Auckland Writers Festival

Auckland Writers Festival WAITUHI O TĀMAKI. 11 – 16 May 2027. See you there! www.writersfestival.co.nz
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The Festival brings together more than 230 international and local writers and thousands of readers every year.

🎉 Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Barfoot & Thompson Young Authors Challenge!We’re delighted to announce this...
14/10/2026

🎉 Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Barfoot & Thompson Young Authors Challenge!

We’re delighted to announce this year’s three talented young writers:

🏆 Primary Winner: Henry Alan Toy – A Bird Who Can’t Fly | Kohimarama School

🏆 Intermediate Winner: Mia Fernandes – Pursued | St Cuthbert’s College

🏆 Secondary Winner: Ngakau-Humarie Tukua – Kahukura | Broadwood Area School

Each winner receives $500 cash and $250 in book tokens, while their schools receive $1,000 cash and $1,000 worth of books for their libraries.

A huge thank you to for their generous support and commitment to inspiring the next generation of readers and writers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

📖 Read the winning stories here: https://www.barfoot.co.nz/about-us/supporting-our-community/young-authors

10/10/2026

📚 It’s Bookshop Day!

There are plenty of events happening at bookshops across Aotearoa today, so get out and show your local bookshop some love! Find out what’s on via the link in our bio.

To celebrate, here’s the wonderful Michael Pedersen reading his ode to bookshops, a poem commissioned during his time as Edinburgh’s Poet Laureate.

We loved hosting Michael at AWF26 and couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the bookshops and booksellers who do so much for our literary communities.

Happy Bookshop Day! ❤️

08/10/2026

Got a question for Alice Oseman? The Heartstopper creator and author is going to be here on 20 October and you can dend her a question using the Slido code.
Head to the link in bio for tickets to the Alice Oseman event.

We found this gem in the AWF archive: Gloria Steinem at Auckland Writers Festival in 2016.The pioneering feminist, write...
15/09/2026

We found this gem in the AWF archive: Gloria Steinem at Auckland Writers Festival in 2016.

The pioneering feminist, writer and activist reflects on a lifetime of ideas, activism and life on the road, including her memoir My Life on the Road.

She is in conversation with then Edinburgh International Book Festival Director Nick Barley.

Watch this remarkable conversation from the AWF archive.

https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/look-and-listen/videos/Page2/an-evening-with-gloria-steinem

10/09/2026

It was such a delight to host the Canadian writers at . Watch our Artistic Director Lyndsey Fineran in conversation with Yann Martel, David Moscrop, Maria Reva and David A. Robertson. This event is live on our website now.

Wellington — fancy a b**r with Duncan Sarkies and some alpacas?We’ve got five double passes to give away to I’d Love to ...
09/09/2026

Wellington — fancy a b**r with Duncan Sarkies and some alpacas?

We’ve got five double passes to give away to I’d Love to Have a B**r with Duncan at The Hannah, Wellington, 16–19 September.

Award-winning writer Duncan Sarkies takes to the stage with his Ockham long-listed novel Star Gazers — but this isn’t your standard author event.

Grab a b**r, choose from a giant on-stage menu of chapter titles, and request what Duncan reads next. Bitter, sweet, spicy or salty — you won’t know quite what you’ve ordered until he starts.

As Toby Manhire puts it: “It’s like Succession, but with alpacas.”To enter: Comment bitter, sweet, spicy or salty and tag the Wellington friend you’d take along.

You or your guest must be able to attend in Wellington between 16–19 September.

NZ Children’s book week is on with events and resources to help celebrate reading. Get young people hooked on books and ...
17/08/2026

NZ Children’s book week is on with events and resources to help celebrate reading. 
Get young people hooked on books and help them develop a love for reading. 
Head to LINK IN BIO to find out more

NZ Children’s book week is supported by the Mātātuhi Foundation, the charitable arm of the Auckland Writers Festival.

06/08/2026

🎥 FREE TO WATCH
Polkinghorne: Inside the Trial of the Century
Steve Braunias takes readers inside one of Aotearoa’s most high-profile murder cases.
As the inquest continues, this Auckland Writers Festival conversation offers a thoughtful look into the reporting, the trial, and the writing of the book.
📖 Watch free — link in comments

Steve Braunias

Our Canadian contingent was a joy to host at — and while they were here, Yann Martel and Maria Reva made time to explo...
28/07/2026

Our Canadian contingent was a joy to host at — and while they were here, Yann Martel and Maria Reva made time to explore some of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s extraordinary natural landscapes.

After we asked our social community where Yann should visit, he and Maria headed west to Piha, walked the Mercer Bay Loop, visited Karekare Falls and beach, and finished with a swim at Piha.

“The views, the fine black sand, the ocean — all just lovely,” said Yann.

Maria also visited Tiritiri Matangi Island, a highlight for its remarkable native birdlife.

“Auckland’s surrounding nature is spectacular. Completely worth the trip out there,” she said.

From island sanctuaries to wild west coast beaches, Auckland gave our visiting writers plenty to remember.

Auckland, New Zealand Maria Reva

16/07/2026

✨ What happens when creativity starts to flow?
As part of Creativity makes us, Catherine Chidgey Zoë Rankin and Dominic Hoey share what it feels like to enter the zone, and how their creative process takes shape.

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