Some of the world's best writers and thinkers are in town for the Auckland Writers Festival. Photo / Thinkstock
Some of the world's best writers and thinkers are in town for the Auckland Writers Festival. Photo / Thinkstock
Many sessions for the upcoming Auckland Writers Festival (May 13-17) have sold out - too bad, fans of Haruki Murakami, David Walliams, Atul Gawande and many more - but there are still some gems with tickets available... if you're fast.
Here are five sessions recommended by books editorLinda Herrick:
Possibly the last chance to celebrate the great legal advocate, who has terminal cancer, as he discusses some of the people and cases he has dealt with during his long, remarkable career; chaired by Bill Ralston.
Author of The Good Women of China explores China's one-child policy, and its damaging impact on generations who grow up with an overweening sense of entitlement. Buy Me the Sky is based on a real conversation between a mother and daughter in which the child demanded exactly that. Chaired by Stephanie Johnson.
Xinran is the critically-acclaimed author of Sky Burial and other titles. Photo / File
Horowitz glides effortlessly between children's books and adult fare, from Alex Rider, to Sherlock Holmes, to crafting a new James Bond novel which will be released later this year. He's also written for popular TV series like
Actor Alan Cumming, London "literary salonniere" Damian Barr and New Zealand writers Witi Ihimaera read from their memoirs exploring the tensions that can and do arise in families. A free 50-minute session.
Free event to salute the long career of Auckland writer C.K. Stead, novelist, critic, poet and essayist. Internationally acclaimed, Stead is a towering figure in our literary landscape and this valediction is richly deserved; chaired by Ruth Harley.
