LIFE WELL READ

2010 AUCKLAND WRITERS & READERS FESTIVAL
12 - 16 MAY | AOTEA CENTRE, THE EDGE | WWW.WRITERSFESTIVAL.CO.NZ

Stephanie Johnson and Peter Wells will look on proudly as the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival they founded in 1999 celebrates its tenth birthday in May. Since 1999, this major Auckland City event will have put over 700 local writers and more than 160 international guests in front of over 100,000 people.

The focus at this year’s festival is on lives – the well-lived, the well-read, the rich, the tragic, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the quiet and the chaotic, the writer’s life, a life of books, living in times of war or political change, life in India, Iraq and Israel, the life of the art world, life-changing moments and decisions, the ordinary lives of extraordinary and memorable characters, the life of our national sport, the life of the outsider, the rebel and sometimes people who’d rather not be noticed at all. It’s about the stories we hope will live on (whatever the format), stories which deserve a life of their own, and the people who strive to give them life.
“This is what a festival is all about – the enrichment of lives through a celebration of art” says Artistic Director Jill Rawnsley.

2010 AUTHORS ANNOUNCED

International guests confirmed for 2010 include: acclaimed biographer of William Golding, John Carey; renowned travel writer William Dalrymple; Granta Editor John Freeman;  legendary rare books dealer Rick Gekoski; Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert ,(pic left Damon Wilkin-NYT), controversial author of My Israel Question Antony Loewenstein; The Monthly Editor Ben Neparstek;  journalist and author of Erasing Iraq Michael Otterman; sociologist and author of Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton; and Economist management editor and Schumpeter columnist Adrian Wooldridge. Fiction writers confirmed to attend are Colm Tóibín, Thomas Keneally, Lionel Shriver, Yiyun Li, Jill Dawson, YA writers Charlie Higson and David Levithan; and performance poets Charlie Dark and Alicia Sometimes.

New Zealand guests set to take the stage include: Tui Flower, Dick Frizzell, Charlotte Grimshaw, Lloyd Jones, Rachael King, Chris Laidlaw, Julie Le Clerc, Warren Maxwell, Gordon McLauchlan, Paula Morris, Jeffrey Paparoa Holman, Gregor Paul, Emily Perkins, John Reynolds, Anne Salmond, Elizabeth Smither, CK Stead, William Taylor, Tama Waipara, Ian Wedde, Damien Wilkins, Alison Wong and many more.

SPECIAL EVENTS NOW ON SALE
Seven ‘Special Events’ are now on sale on : the gala New Zealand Listener Opening Night on Thursday 13 May features Colm Toibin, Emily Perkins, Thomas Keneally, Elizabeth Gilbert and William Dalrymple. A ‘High Tea’ with guest speakers Tui Flower, Lauraine Jacobs, Julie Biuso and Julie Le Clerc honours the traditional fare in A Treasury of New Zealand Baking; TVNZ 7 will be filming ‘The Good Word Debate’ at St Matthew-in-the-City where Finlay Macdonald and Emily Perkins lead two teams to debate the moot ‘The Book is Dead’ under the watchful eye of Te Radar; and legendary raconteur Rick Gekoski talks with Kim Hill over lunch at Soul in the Viaduct. Premium evening events feature William Dalrymple (Friday 14 May) and Elizabeth Gilbert (Saturday 15 May).
And the ever-popular ‘Poetry Idol’ is on Sunday 16 May. Potential idols should visit the festival website for more information on getting an audition.


Footnote:
The Bookman reckons this is an impressive lineup of authors. I am especially interested and pleased to note that NZ author Alison Wong (As the Earth Turns Silver) is included. I was greatly surprised to find she was not on the list of authors at the NZ Post Writers & Readers Week as she is Wellington-based, is a graduate of Victoria University and her hugely impressive first novel is a story with a Wellington setting.