On an average week Lyndsey Fineran, artistic director of the Auckland Writers Festival, will read four books. “I always try to make sure I’m reading a fiction and a non-fiction, a local book and an international book, and a few wild cards,” she says, and they tend to be advance copies. This reading is where the festival’s programme really starts, before the publishing schedules from all over, endless calls and emails, meetings, brainstorms, colour-coded Post-it notes on huge, gridded pieces of paper, and eventually a list of 220 authors and artists taking part in over 170 events spread over nine days in May. The festival’s 2026 programme was launched yesterday, but its first seeds were sown over a year ago, and Fineran has already started booking authors for 2027.
“You need to start getting in their diaries at this point,” she says of the international authors, because there are so many plates to spin, and they’re wanted all over. The big international names, which this year include Maggie O’Farrell, RF Kuang, Yann Martel, and Amitav Ghosh, are often booked in partnership with Sydney Writers’ Festival, which tends to fall the week after AWF, and Melbourne Writers’ Festival the week before. Where it’s possible, Fineran will try to make sure these “big hitters” can also make appearances elsewhere in Aotearoa. This year Jacinda Ardern is one of those doing the rounds – she will be speaking in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. “We have an incredible network of writers festivals here, if we have pulling power to bring in a few more international guests and then they can go elsewhere in the country, that's fantastic,” she says. “It’s a hard climate in the arts, we don't want to be competing with each other, we want to be playing really well in the ecosystem.”
At AWF international guests usually do a solo event on their recently released book, and two additional events where they’re woven together with other writers in the programme around a theme. “That’s my favourite bit of the programme to work on,” says Fineran. She gets to think about all those books she’s read, what her antennae have picked up from the world, headlines, and conversations, both locally and internationally, to present events that are alert to what’s going on and what's on people's minds, or rather what she thinks will be going on, and on people's minds, the following May. “I’m trying to put all these jigsaw pieces down as early as I can for the sake of planning, but you also want to present a programme that feels really alert, so you need to keep some sort of flex and some space in the programme,” she says. A book might suddenly take off, or a huge trend might arise in the book world, or events will unfold in geopolitics and world news, and up till the end of February, when it needs to be locked in, she wants enough responsiveness in the programme to be able to respond. Fineran hopes that there’s integrity in the programme, and that “doesn't always mean bigger, it means really thoughtful, well thought through curation, lots of really diverse strands”.
These strands require more than just one brain to pull together. “This programme is so rich and bountiful because incredible other brains and creative voices are at the table,” says Fineran. Each year Grace Sinclair manages the Kōrero Corner as well as assisting with the main programme, and Gabrielle Vincent looks after the schools programme and Pukapuka Adventures. This year’s guest curators are Shilo Kino (Ngā Puhi, Tainui) and Zech Soakai, while previous guest curators Matariki Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) and Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) are now programmers at large. There’s also The D*List and Emma Gleason involved for the first time in the performance-based Streetside series. Some parts of the festival have been kept the same as previous years, while others have been refreshed, reinvented or are altogether new. “That’s how it should be – these festivals should be evolving and changing a little bit and responding to the changing world,” says Fineran.
And while those famous faces from overseas are splashed around, especially around the launch of the festival, the vast majority of the authors and artists are local. Fineran says the big names get attention and get people through the doors, which is “really crucial” – and yet not the main point. “I don’t want AWF to feel like one more stop in the book tour, or to open the programme and feel like you could see the lineup of authors and events at any other city in the world,” she says. “That would be a failing on my part”. The local authors are too many to list, but include Witi Ihimaera, Elizabeth Knox, Laura Vincent, Vincent O’Malley, Elizabeth Easther, Bill Manhire, Charlotte Grimshaw, and Laura Borrowdale. It seems we might all need to start reading four books a week.
💥News on the wire
TBI to present three-part mini-series at Auckland Writers’ Festival
As part of Kōrero Corner, an intimate nook that’s free to attend at the festival, I will be hosting a series of three panels at 11am on Friday 15 May, Saturday 16 May, and Sunday 17 May. The series will focus on the ins and outs of writing, publishing and distributing a book, and is called Industry Insights. In the first session on Friday, I’ll sit down to interrogate two AWF featured writers about the how-to of being a published author. The following day I’ll interview two publishers to demystify the process, and on Sunday, the final day of the festival, I’ll chat to bookselling insiders to discuss what’s next for a book once it’s published. See the full AWF programme here.
Sculptor Ngaroma Riley wins $40,000 Fair Trust Art Prize
“I thought it was a hoax when I read the email,” says Riley. “But I looked through all the attachments and realised it was real!” The contemporary carver Ngaroma Riley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Pākehā) playfully draws on traditional Māori carving forms including karetao (Māori puppetry), storytelling, autobiography and popular culture in her work. She has been awarded the $40,000 Fair Trust Art Prize, which includes support for her first full-scale exhibition, which will be developed for Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and Heritage in Palmerston North. The Prize is funded by the Eileen Fair Charitable Trust and delivered in partnership with Te Manawa, it aims to celebrate mid-career artists whose work is ready to be taken to the next level.
“As a full-time artist, I'm still terrified each time I make new work, so it's incredibly validating and humbling to be a recipient of the Fair Trust Art Prize. I’ve had three solo exhibitions but this is the first time I've had a budget like this, which is such a gift because it means I can focus on creating.”
NZ named lead country partner for The Great Escape 20th Anniversary in Brighton
The New Zealand Music Commission and Live Nation New Zealand have launched a landmark partnership naming New Zealand as the Lead Country Partner for the 20th anniversary of The Great Escape in Brighton, UK, with support from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and The British Council. The Great Escape is renowned as the world’s primary destination for new music discovery, serving as a hub for the global music industry to scout the ‘next big thing’ alongside a concurrent professional conference featuring insightful panels, topical debates, keynote speeches and networking opportunities.
As Lead Country Partner, New Zealand will host an exclusive industry panel, high-level networking events to promote NZ music worldwide, and a dedicated takeover of the iconic Brighton venue Pattern to feature a curated showcase of NZ artists. The delegation will include Ringlets, Office Dog, Ratbag, Hemi Hemingway, and Jude Kelly, plus just-announced Luca George, Muroki, Vera Ellen, WHO SHOT SCOTT? and LEAO. These 10 artists will perform alongside over 130 international acts and spotlight headliners Peaches and The Kooks.
New Zealand and Brazil co-production agreement opens new opportunities for screen producers
Last Thursday Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rt Hon Winston Peters, and Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mauro Vieira signed an official co‑production agreement, which strengthens screen industry ties and creates new opportunities for filmmakers in both countries. The agreement will give makers of co-produced audiovisual projects access to funding and incentives only available to domestic producers in each country. Chris Payne, New Zealand Film Commission Deputy CEO and Head of Co-Production and Incentives, says “This is New Zealand’s first co-production agreement with a Latin American partner and a significant opportunity for our screen sector. It gives New Zealand filmmakers a clear pathway to work with Brazil, combine funding and talent, and reach new audiences both within Brazil and across wider Latin America. The agreement directly supports the Government’s Amplify strategy for the cultural sector by growing creative exports, attracting investment, and creating long term opportunities for the industry.”
Sir Peter Jackson honoured with the Palme d’Or d’Honneur
It’s considered the highest honour at Cannes Film Festival, one that acknowledges a lifetime of extraordinary creative achievement. Sir Peter Jackson will be presented with the award at the opening ceremony of the 79th Festival de Cannes in May, he says it is “one of the greatest privileges” of his career. The New Zealand Film Commission says Jackson’s work has reshaped global cinema and created an enduring legacy for New Zealand. Annie Murray, NZFC CEO, says “He has expanded what is creatively and technologically possible, and he has done so in a way that continues to open doors for other New Zealand filmmakers. This honour is richly deserved, and we are proud to see his contribution recognised on the world stage.”
Comedy Fest 2026 Programme is here
The New Zealand International Comedy Festival will be back again from 1 – 24 May in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The big Comedy Gala is being hosted by Dai Henwood, and there’s plenty of fresh faces and known international names to check out.
Jolt dancers heading to the Cook Islands for residency
In May, five Jolt dancers will be travelling to Rarotonga for a week-long inclusive dance residency. The group of dancers with intellectual disabilities will be teaching workshops in schools and community organisations across the Cook Islands, leaving each group with a bespoke dance programme designed for their community. Jokani Coe (Cook Islands/Samoan) will be taking on a key leadership role during the residency, and will also perform his work “There is a Mountain Inside My Head”, which explores his reconnection with his Cook Islands heritage.
Jolt is currently fundraising through a Boosted campaign to help cover flights, accommodation and artist fees.
Fleur Wickes 2026 Artist in Residence at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
Established in 1999, Marsden’s Artist in Residence Programme gives Visual Art students the opportunity to experience the working process of a practising artist by working alongside them. Marsden offers its Artist in Residence a stipend, dedicated studio workspace and opportunities to work alongside students through workshops and critiques. Fleur’s residency will run for six weeks, beginning on Monday 16 March.
Fleur Wickes’ multidisciplinary practice spans drawing, painting, photography and text, using pared-back language and bold visual form to explore universal experiences of tenderness, grief, joy, love and resilience from a distinctly personal perspective. Kathryn Cotter, Head of Visual Art at Marsden, says “Her work is thoughtful and conceptually rich, and her multidisciplinary approach will offer our students a powerful insight into the creative process.”
Secrets at Red Rocks wins Emmy
The series, made by Libertine Pictures in Wellington, took home a Children’s & Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live Action Program, and was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Preschool or Children’s Series and Outstanding Editing for a Preschool or Children’s Live Action Program. Secrets at Red Rocks has had a strong run on the awards circuit, including being named National Winner of Best Children’s Programme at the Asian Academy Creative Awards and receiving multiple finalist nominations at the 2025 NZ Screen Awards. A second season is in production now.
👀 Further reading
I was sad to find out that after 15 years of reimagining and bringing to life a new Christchurch, Gap Filler is being wound up. This and happier news in the Toi Ōtautahi Dispatch.
Publisher Damien Levi has inspected the most recent data on publishing, gender, and ethnicity, only to find that the dial is barely shifting on representation. See who does, and doesn't, get published in Aotearoa in his graphs and feature.
In this week’s Shameless Plug, award-winning queer choreographer and dancer Oli Mathiesen says that while contemporary dance is “confusing and weird,” we should lend his art form the same lens that we give orchestral music and abstract paintings.
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