11 hours Ago By Emma Gleason
Award-winning, bestselling international names Colm Tóibín, Dame Harriet Walter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Sir Ian Rankin join local luminaries such as Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, Aroha Harris and Becky Manawatu in the just-announced lineup. Artistic director Lyndsey Fineran tells the Herald ’s Emma Gleason what festivalgoers can expect this year. Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki will return to Aotea Centre for six days this May, and the official programme for 2025 has been unveiled today.
Now in its 26th year, the 2025 festival counts more than 170 events - with 50 international names and 170 Kiwi writers involved – that will “bring writers from near and far together, and books to life in a whole range of dynamic ways,” said artistic director Lyndsey Fineran, who leads the programming team. “I’m a big believer that some of the most impactful festival moments can come from writers and sessions you take a chance on, or from experiences in between the sessions, so we plan the festival with that sense of discovery, curiosity and fun in mind,” Fineran told the Herald . “Just because some of the topics covered might be serious, it’s really important to me that book festivals are fun and lively spaces.
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