Auckland Writers Festival

Auckland Writers Festival

Author: Auckland Writers Festival Language: English Episodes: 100
The Auckland Writers Festival podcast is a direct line to the stages and conversations of one of the Southern Hemisphere's most vibrant literary events. This audio archive captures the live, unscripted energy of festival sessions, bringing the voices of the world's most compelling authors, thinkers, and poets directly to you. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas shaping our world, from intimate interviews on the craft of writing to expansive panel discussions on history, politics, science, and culture. You'll hear novelists dissect their characters, historians trace forgotten narratives, and poets articulate the ineffable, all within the unique atmosphere of a live audience. This isn't a produced studio show; it's the sound of intellectual discovery and passionate debate happening in real time. The collection serves as a lasting resource, preserving the festival's dynamic spirit long after the final applause. For anyone who believes in the power of stories to challenge and connect us, this podcast offers a front-row seat to a celebration of words and the people who wield them with extraordinary skill. Tune in to be reminded of why literature matters.
Episodes
WE CAN’T NOT MENTION IT… : STEPHANIE JOHNSON, FIONA FARRELL (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:14
How do fiction writers deal with Covid? Full-on or sideways? Stephanie Johnson embraces it with gusto in her new satirical novel Kind, a thriller set in lockdown, with devious plots, social blunders and superyachts. Fion…
LIVE LIFE: DAVE LETELE, WILLY DE WIT (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:45
In his book No Excuses Dave ‘the Brown Buttabean’ Letele shares how he overcame poverty, depression and crime to become an award-winning community leader inspiring people to turn their lives around. Willy De Wit was a re…
SONNETS FOR ALBERT: ANTHONY JOSEPH (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:26
When I hear my father dead I flew 10 hours into the sun next morning I put black on The 2023 TS Eliot Prize award-winning Sonnets for Albert by Anthony Joseph was cited by the judges as ‘a luminous collection which celeb…
EVENT 09 TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW: GABRIELLE ZEVIN (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:54
‘Whatever its subject, when a novel is powerful enough, it transports us readers deep into worlds not our own. That’s true of Moby Dick, and it’s certainly true of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which renders the…
DOUBLE PULITZER PRIZE WINNER: COLSON WHITEHEAD (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:29
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Colson Whitehead is the only writer to win for consecutive books. His best-selling novels 'The Underground Railroad' and 'The Nickel Boys' addressed racial injustice wit…
WHEN A POWWOW IS NOT A POWWOW [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:01
The word ‘Powwow’ is often used to refer to a quick impromptu meeting, but in Northern Plains Indigenous cultures, there is nothing quick or casual about their traditional gathering and ceremony. Rejecting misappropriati…
BUT WHAT CAN WE DO? (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:52
The impacts of climate change are upon us, we know that, and the recent brutal weather events have shown we can’t sit idly by. It’s time for fresh thinking and radical action. Veteran journalist Simon Wilson, the author…
TUATAHI (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:31
Three young fluent te reo speakers producing inspirational work across a variety of genres, talk about the bravery and passion it took to take the unmapped uncharted leap into a creative life. Founding member of award-wi…
BIRNAM WOOD: ELEANOR CATTON (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:49
Aotearoa’s most anticipated book release of 2023 has been Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, coming ten years after she won the Booker Prize for The Luminaries. A psychological thriller set in the South Island, Shakespearean…
WHAT THE MAGPIE SAYS: CATHERINE CHIDGEY (2023) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:19
Is The Axeman’s Carnival the great Kiwi Gothic classic? Plenty of reviewers think so. Catherine Chidgey surprised everybody when she revealed her next book was going to be narrated by a mimicking magpie. Would it work? I…