Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki 2026 program announced

The program for the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki, to run from 12 to 17 May, has been announced.

This third program by artistic director Lyndsey Fineran features international authors Roddy Doyle, Yann Martel, 2025 Booker Prize winner David Szalay, Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Tayari Jones, Native American writer Louise Erdrich, Mick Herron, Amitav Ghosh, R F Kuang and Helen Garner, alongside local authors including Witi Ihimaera and Catherine Chidgey.

Several journalists will also attend, including Patrick Radden Keefe, Karen Hao, Lyse Doucet, Luke Kemp and Barbara Demick, while Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will appear at a special stand-alone event after the festival on 25 May.

Featuring more than 220 artists in over 170 events, the program will create “a party-like atmosphere that will take over the Aotea Centre and other central city venues”, according to the organisers.

“AI, climate change, the economy, mental health, modern masculinity, Indigenous rights in an election year and what it means to be a writer in today’s fractured America are just a few of the topics to be unpacked during a series of lively panel discussions,” said the festival.

The festival will also include a free program for families over the weekend of 16 and 17 May, and virtual events featuring Ian McEwan and Maggie O’Farrell, and will be preceded by Streetside, a “pre-festival teaser” on the evening of 8 May with an expanded program in 2026.

More information about the program is available on the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki website.

Category: Festivals Local news