Auckland Writers Festival regrets to advise the cancellation of its May 2020 Festival, owing to the critical Covid-19 situation and the Government’s ban on mass public gatherings.

We’re immensely proud of the programme for our 20th Festival that was launched just last week.  We are extremely sad not to have the opportunity to deliver it to our writing and reading community, but the health and well-being of all must be our paramount concern at this difficult time.

Thank you for your ongoing support for the Festival and we look forward to working with you again in 2021.

All purchased tickets will be fully refunded via Ticketmaster, and we will be in touch with all stakeholders over the coming days to discuss our change of plans.  If customers have any queries regarding their booking, please contact Ticketmaster 0800 111 999.

 

One of the most powerful, brave and beautifully written books of 2019, the New York Times bestselling Know My Name is the memoir of Chanel Miller (Zhang Xiao Xia). Previously publicly known only as Emily Doe, Miller was sexually assaulted on the campus of Stanford University, and whose victim-impact-statement went viral via Buzzfeed. Her case sparked a nation-wide discussion in the US about the treatment of sexual assault victims by both colleges and the court system; The Washington Post called the memoir a gut punch which implores society “to challenge and question the systems that aren’t working”. Miller, who was named an influential person of 2019 by Time magazine, outs herself to take control of her own story and deliver an account of trauma, resilience, and empowerment. In conversation with Charlotte Graham-McLay.