2026 Programmes
2026 Schools Programme will be launched in early February and the public programmes will be launched in mid-March
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Event 2
Maggie O'Farrell
Tue, 12 May 20266:30pm - 7:30pm -
Event 3
Patrick Radden Keefe
Tue, 12 May 20268:00pm - 9:15pm -
Event 4
Lunch with Patrick Radden Keefe
Wed, 13 May 202612:30pm - 2:30pm -
Event 5
Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2026
Wed, 13 May 20267:00pm - 9:00pm -
Event 6
Festival Gala Night: Resetting the Compass
Thu, 14 May 20267:00pm - 8:30pm -
Event 7
Sāmoan Made Simple: Alphabet and Pronunciation
Fri, 15 May 20269:15am - 9:45am -
Event 8
Industry Insights with The Big Idea: Author Edition
Fri, 15 May 202611:00am - 11:30am -
Event 9
Creative Rights in the Age of AI
Fri, 15 May 202612:30pm - 1:00pm -
Event 10
Debut of the Day: Laura Vincent
Fri, 15 May 20262:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 11
Worldwide Book Club: Pasifika Literature
Fri, 15 May 20263:30pm - 4:00pm -
Event 12
Daniel Hahn: An Introduction to Translation
Fri, 15 May 20269:00am - 10:30am -
Event 13
Inside the Story: The Art and the Ethics of Investigative Journalism
Fri, 15 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 14
The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction 2026 Winner
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 15
The Cost of Care
Fri, 15 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 16
Alexandra Lapierre
Fri, 15 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 17
Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in Aotearoa New Zealand
Fri, 15 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 18
Siobhan Harvey: Mastering Place and Space
Fri, 15 May 202611:00am - 12:30pm -
Event 19
Gone by Lunchtime: Six Months to the Polls
Fri, 15 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 20
Meet the Canadian Writers
Fri, 15 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 21
Discovering Medieval Manuscripts in Aotearoa New Zealand
Fri, 15 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 22
The Mother of all Journeys
Fri, 15 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 23
Lily King: Two Truths and a Lie
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 24
Barbara Demick
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 25
Vincent O’Malley: From Aotearoa New Zealand to the Emerald Isle
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 26
How Will I Ever Get Through This?
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 27
Tusitala Tales: On Service & Survival
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 28
He Puāwai: A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers
Fri, 15 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 29
2026 Honoured Writer: Bill Manhire
Fri, 15 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 30
Authors and AI: A Moment of Reckoning?
Fri, 15 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 31
The Happenstance Historians
Fri, 15 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 32
From East to West (and Back Again)
Fri, 15 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 33
Emma Neale: Drafting and Crafting Your Poetry
Fri, 15 May 20263:00pm - 4:00pm -
Event 34
A Shaken World Order?
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 35
Charlotte Grimshaw
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 36
Ara: A Māori Guidebook of the Mind
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 37
Saltwater, Solitude and Songs of the Sea
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 38
Gertrude Stein and a Companion
Fri, 15 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 39
Tayari Jones: Finding Your Voice in a Chaotic World
Fri, 15 May 20265:00pm - 6:30pm -
Event 40
Yann Martel
Fri, 15 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 41
Become Unstoppable
Fri, 15 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 42
Tony Tulathimutte: Rejection
Fri, 15 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 43
Small Towns, Dark Truths
Fri, 15 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 44
A Big Night Out for Little Bookworms
Fri, 15 May 20266:00pm - 7:15pm -
Event 45
Ian McEwan
Fri, 15 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 46
Florence Knapp: The Names
Fri, 15 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 47
Mieko Kawakami
Fri, 15 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 48
Mick Herron
Fri, 15 May 20268:30pm - 9:45pm -
Event 49
Down the Rabbithole
Fri, 15 May 20269:00pm - 10:00pm -
Event 50
Sāmoan Made Simple – Greetings and Common Phrases
Sat, 16 May 20269:15am - 9:45am -
Event 51
Industry Insights with The Big Idea: Publisher Edition
Sat, 16 May 202611:00am - 11:30am -
Event 52
Worldwide Book Club: Politics of Translation
Sat, 16 May 202612:30pm - 1:00pm -
Event 53
Debut of the Day: Joseph Trinidad
Sat, 16 May 20262:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 54
No Stupid Questions: David Moscrop
Sat, 16 May 20263:30pm - 4:00pm -
Event 55
Maria Reva: Creating Character Networks
Sat, 16 May 20269:00am - 10:30am -
Event 56
Witi Ihimaera: Swimming Home
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 57
Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 58
If This Be Magic: Shakespeare in Translation
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 59
Oceans Between Us: Pacific Peoples & Racism in Aotearoa
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 60
Betsy Balloon
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 61
Barbara Demick: Covering Repressive Regimes
Sat, 16 May 202611:00am - 12:30pm -
Event 62
Empire of AI: The Reckless Race for Domination
Sat, 16 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 63
Fail Again. Fail Better?
Sat, 16 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 64
Retelling Female Histories
Sat, 16 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 65
Between Dreams: Resistance and Representation in Asian Aotearoa
Sat, 16 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 66
Noelle McCarthy: Shaping Your Story, Adding Voices to Your Own
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 67
Writing in Today’s America
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 68
Charlotte McConaghy
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 69
Maria Reva
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 70
The Chief and the Empire
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 71
Waiata in an Hour
Sat, 16 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 72
RF Kuang
Sat, 16 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 73
How to be a Good Ancestor
Sat, 16 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 74
NZ's Economy: Where Next?
Sat, 16 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 75
Deepa Bhasthi: Translating with an Accent
Sat, 16 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 76
Clean Writing with Tony Tulathimutte
Sat, 16 May 20263:00pm - 4:30pm -
Event 77
Amitav Ghosh
Sat, 16 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 78
SA Cosby
Sat, 16 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 79
Hope in the Machine
Sat, 16 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 80
New Zealand Gothic
Sat, 16 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 81
Thammika Songkaeo: Migration and Motherhood
Sat, 16 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 82
Elizabeth Knox: Plausibility, Tone and Truth
Sat, 16 May 20265:00pm - 6:30pm -
Event 83
Tayari Jones
Sat, 16 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 84
Who Gets to Tell the Story?
Sat, 16 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 85
Art in the Time of War
Sat, 16 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 86
Bora Chung
Sat, 16 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 87
Pax Assadi: Mortified
Sat, 16 May 20266:00pm - 7:00pm -
Event 88
Helen Garner: How to End a Story
Sat, 16 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 89
Tāme Iti: Mana
Sat, 16 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 90
Grieving Together: Tusiata Avia and Nafanua Purcell Kersel
Sat, 16 May 20267:00pm - 8:00pm -
Event 91
Roddy Doyle
Sat, 16 May 20268:30pm - 9:45pm -
Event 92
Spice Salon
Sat, 16 May 20269:00pm - 10:00pm -
Event 93
Drop-in Drawing: Literary Still Life
Sat, 16 May 20269:15am - 10:00am -
Event 94
Industry Insights with The Big Idea: The What’s Next? Edition
Sun, 17 May 202611:00am - 11:30am -
Event 95
Worldwide Book Club: Scottish Literature
Sun, 17 May 202612:30pm - 1:00pm -
Event 96
Debut of the Day: Shana Chandra
Sun, 17 May 20262:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 97
INK Book Club with Manawaka Ao: Heart Lamp
Sun, 17 May 20263:30pm - 4:00pm -
Event 98
Breton Dukes: Writing Fact Into Fiction
Sun, 17 May 20269:00am - 10:30am -
Event 99
Lily King: Heart the Lover
Sun, 17 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 100
David Moscrop: Canada at a Crossroads
Sun, 17 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 101
Indigenous Languages, Translation and Meaning
Sun, 17 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 102
Polkinghorne: Inside the Trial of the Century
Sun, 17 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 103
Betsy Balloon
Sat, 16 May 202610:00am - 11:00am -
Event 104
Thammika Songkaeo: Writing Fear, Anger, and Sadness
Sun, 17 May 202611:00am - 12:30pm -
Event 105
Dav Pilkey: Supercharged Creativity!
Sun, 17 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 106
Writing the Climate Reckoning
Sun, 17 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 107
Tareq Baconi
Sun, 17 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 108
A Heavy History: Girmitiyas in Fiji
Sun, 17 May 202611:30am - 12:30pm -
Event 109
Cards on the Table: Tarot and Writing
Sun, 17 May 202611:50am - 12:50pm -
Event 110
The Rise of Romance
Sun, 17 May 202612:40pm - 1:40pm -
Event 111
Dreaming for the Ocean In Us: Tangata Moana writers and Desire
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 112
No One Cares About Your Writing the Way You Do
Sun, 17 May 20261:20pm - 2:20pm -
Event 113
To Hell and Back
Sun, 17 May 20262:10pm - 3:10pm -
Event 114
Thinking Differently
Sun, 17 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 115
Queer the Page
Sun, 17 May 20262:50pm - 3:50pm -
Event 116
Weird Girl Lit
Sun, 17 May 20263:40pm - 4:40pm -
Event 117
Hot Takes, Sharp Lines: A Spoken Word Round Table
Sun, 17 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 118
Dystopia as Protest: Write the Future that Fights Back
Sun, 17 May 20264:20pm - 5:20pm -
Event 119
Love Won, Love Lost, Love Burned Up in Flames
Sun, 17 May 20265:10pm - 6:10pm -
Event 120
95bFM’s The Wire: Question Time
Sun, 17 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 121
Victor Rodger: Putting Your Rage on the Page
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:30pm -
Event 122
Frontlines and Headlines: The Life of a Foreign Correspondent
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 123
Elizabeth Knox: Night, Ma
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 124
Hannah Kent: A Love Letter to Iceland
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 125
The Waitangi Tribunal - 50 Years
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 126
Zines NZ: from Punk to Present
Sun, 17 May 20261:00pm - 2:00pm -
Event 127
Louise Erdrich
Sun, 17 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 128
The Mushroom Tapes
Sun, 17 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 129
No Country for Middle-Aged Men?
Sun, 17 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 130
Barry Soper: One Last Question, Prime Minister
Sun, 17 May 20262:30pm - 3:30pm -
Event 131
Bryan Walpert: Digging Sideways into Character
Sun, 17 May 20263:00pm - 4:30pm -
Event 132
Lyse Doucet
Sun, 17 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 133
Sliding Doors
Sun, 17 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 134
Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au I am the land, and the land is me.
Sun, 17 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 135
Secret Art Powers: Achieving Change Through Creative Thinking
Sun, 17 May 20264:00pm - 5:00pm -
Event 136
The 2025 Booker Prize Winner: David Szalay
Sun, 17 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 137
Lessons on Living: A Tribute to Nigel Latta
Sun, 17 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 138
The Dead Speak: A Life in Forensics
Sun, 17 May 20265:30pm - 6:30pm -
Event 139
Festival Wrap-Up
Sun, 17 May 20266:30pm - 7:15pm -
Event 140
Rt Hon Dame Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power
Sun, 17 May 20267:30pm - 8:45pm
