The penny drops. An idea dawns. The fog clears. A route forward emerges. In the Festival’s much loved opening night, eight stellar writers speak to a moment of realisation – piercing, clarifying, liberating, affirming, terrifying or otherwise – in their life or work.

Featuring:

Esteemed Irish novelist Colm Tóibín; renowned Shakespearean actor Harriet Walter; trailblazing voice in women's, queer and Māori liberation movements Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato); internationally bestselling novelist David Nicholls; BAFTA-nominated spoken word poet Lemn Sissay; distinguished Australian journalist and broadcaster Stan Grant; Aotearoa New Zealand novelist of the phenomenally popular Sorrow and Bliss Meg Mason and poet and Festival Guest Curator Zech Soakai.

Hosted by Miriama McDowell (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi).