Auckland Writers and Readers Festival would like to extend its warmest congratulations to 2011 Festival guest Tea Obréht for winning the prestigious UK Orange Prize for her debut novel The Tiger's Wife.

Several of this year's talks were recorded by Radio New Zealand and will be broadcasting over the next five weeks, a great opportunity to catch up on some of the fantastic talks you may have missed. Read on for broadcast times.

We were inundated with wonderful pictures taken by Gil Hanly during the course of this year's Festival. As well as photographing the talks she managed to capture some delightfully candid moments. Here is a small selection of photos taken over Festival weekend.

The Auckland Writers & Readers Festival wound up on 15 May 2011 having seen a record attendance of over 32,000, up 21% on figures in 2010.

Martin Gilman, skipper of Woolly Jumper, generously hosted some of our international writers Sunday morning for a sail in the Waitemata Harbour. The rain held off - just, and all artists were blown away by the beauty of Auckland from the water. Check out a few photos Festival manager Anne Rodda managed to snap.

With the festival so so so very close, Auckland's poetry contingent is buzzing with two very special events on this coming week. The first, early in the week includes Festival guest Rives, and the other is a world class production by the Literatti and friends.

This is mega-star crime writer Michael Connelly’s only appearance in Auckland and we’re very excited to offer you the chance to spend the evening with him on Tuesday 24 May. Michael will talk with crime buff, blogger and Ngaio Marsh Award judge Craig Sisterson about the film and his new book, The Fifth Witness, before you enjoy a private screening of “The Lincoln Lawyer”. He’ll be on hand to sign books after the film - seats are limited, so get in quick!

The Auckland Writers & Readers Festival and Hachette Publishers New Zealand are sad to announce that Ingrid Betancourt has cancelled her visit to New Zealand due to unforeseen family commitments.

If you haven't picked up your Festival tickets yet, better hop to it... things are gearing up. Lunch with Fatima Bhutto has already sold out and other events are selling fast. Here's an update.

Author David Mitchell recently spoke to The New Zealand Herald about his love of islands, Moriori and old Zeeland versus New Zealand.