With 17 speakers spread over two weekends, this is one of the largest literary programmes at a Tauranga Arts Festival - and the first to offer a day pass, amounting to 'buy three, get one free'.
The programme includes three international writers and a diverse group of Kiwi authors, includingWorld War I historian Damien Fenton, historical novelist Debra Daley, shark researcher Riley Elliott and political thinker Bryan Gould.
Steven Carroll is one of Australia's most decorated novelists, having won last year's PM's Literary Award, the Miles Franklin Award and Commonwealth Writer's Prize (Asia-Pacific) and been shortlisted for awards in France and Australia. Carroll is in two sessions - one about his books inspired by art, particularly the poetry of TS Eliot, while in the other he confesses his lifelong love of cricket (October 31 and November 1).
British foreign correspondent Christina Lamb comes to Tauranga fresh from covering Europe's refugee crisis and on October 24 joins asylum law campaigner Tracey Barnett to discuss how the world can deal with the refugees.
Festival organisers haven't ignored the Rugby World Cup and, on the eve of the final, sportswriter Joseph Romanos heads a panel including former Maori All Black captain Errol Brain.
Stephanie Johnson, a co-founding trustee of the Auckland Writers Festival and a writing teacher, will talk about her most recent novels The Writing Class (2013) and The Writers' Festival (2015) on October 25, while on October 31 siblings Mandy and Nicky Hager will discuss their "different" upbringing and subsequent writing careers.
Book historian Sydney Shep leads a book-making workshop on October 31 and the next day joins editor and poet Harry Ricketts to talk about the power of the printed word.
Ricketts closes the festival with a session on getting the most out of poetry.
