News from the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

FESTIVAL TO CO-HOST MAJOR SCIENCE LECTURE SERIES 

Leading international scientists, Craig Stanford, Paul Ehrlich and Steve Jones, will speak in Auckland in the coming months in a major science lecture series presented by the Festival in partnership with the Allan Wilson Centre and the Auckland Museum Institute.  All Festival Patrons and Friends will be eligible for a 33% discount on tickets to these premiere events.

The series comprises:

• Planet Without Apes         Craig Stanford     

          Friday 30 August, 6.15 PM, Auckland Museum

• Avoiding Global Collapse    Paul Ehrlich  

       Tuesday  29 October, 6.15 PM, Auckland Museum

• Nature, Nuture or Neither   Steve Jones

      Monday 18 November, 6.15 PM, Auckland Museum

Leading primatologist, Craig Stanford, Professor of Biological Sciences & Anthropology and Co-Director of the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California, asks if we can live with the consequences of wiping our closest living relatives off the face of the Earth?

Paul Ehrlich believes a combination of cultural and genetic evolution has taken us to the brink and questions whether we can evolve our way out of it?  A renowned ecologist, Ehrlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University, and will discuss Allan Wilson’s on-going legacy in establishing humanity’s place in the natural world, including understanding how cultural evolution is influencing how we change the world and its life-support systems.

Steve Jones is a University College London geneticist and popular science writer who looks at the impact of environment on our big obsessions:  obesity, IQ, the education system and sporting ability and discusses how we cannot just blame our genes for poor outcomes.

Tickets are $15 ($10 for Festival Patrons and Friends, Museum Institute members and students) available here for Planet Without Apes.  Tickets for the other lectures will be available approximately four weeks prior to the lecture dates.

Join as a Friend of the Festival for just $70 annually to receive front row seating at the Festival, discounts on off-season events and priority booking for Festival tickets before the public on-sale date.  Joining is easy - phone 3768074 or e-mail info@writersfestival.co.nz

www.writersfestival.co.nz

Mailing address :

Auckland Writers & Readers Festival Charitable Trust

Suite 3, Level 2, 58 Surrey Crescent

Grey Lynn

Auckland, Auckland 1021

New Zealand