There is only one afternoon left of the Writer’s Festival and our brains are already bursting at the seams with inspiration and information.
Lizzy, Shirl, Alex and Dylan have all attended numerous events throughout the weekend, and like everyone else who attended, we’re feeling alive and reenergised having been surrounded by so many inspiring authors, journalists and engaged readers from throughout New Zealand.
Aside from attending a live recording of one of his favourite local podcasts, The Spinoff’s Gone By Lunchtime, Dylan’s personal highlight was having the chance to meet a number of customers in person and hear firsthand about the positive impact Book Hero has had on their reading. There’s no bigger pay off than knowing our business is genuinely making it easier to read more books. He also loved seeing Lizzy receive the recognition she deserves from customers who are enjoying her incredible reviews and book recommendations in our EDMs and social media.
Yesterday was a huge day at the festival, beginning at 10am with the kids’ show Betsy Balloon, which Lizzy took her four-year-old along to after she started getting a little FOMO about all the “shows” mum had been going to. She absolutely loved it, even if she was so tiny the chair kept folding up on her!
For kids, the Pukapuka Adventures sessions were such a beautiful way to bring books, creativity and music together. We made DIY jellyfish, sang songs about coconuts, and connected through stories and imagination. It’s incredibly special seeing the festival create space for tamariki to get involved, helping foster the lifelong love of reading and learning that eventually grows into events like this one experiencing record crowds and sales.
Having missed out on R.F. Kuang’s visit to Book Hero HQ on Friday, Alex’s Saturday highlight was finally getting the chance to attend her festival session. He especially loved Kuang’s description of writing as a kind of game or dance, where authors constantly reference, respond to, and build on the ideas of other writers. Alex was also struck by her thoughts on AI and writing - particularly the idea that while AI promises to smooth out the difficult parts of the creative process, it can also remove some of the greatest joys of writing, like pushing through writer’s block or finally finding the right words to express a difficult idea.
Saturday ended at 10pm after one of Lizzy’s favourite events so far - The Spice Salon. It was funny, offbeat, and a little less formal than many of the other sessions (there were also some very awkward read-alouds). In between those events, Lizzy also joined Alex to hear about R.F. Kuang’s upcoming projects, Charlotte McConaghy’s immersive writing process that involved taking her child as an infant to a remote island, Tayari Jones’ relationship with her characters, and Laura Vincent and Laura Borrowdale discussing not only their shared first name, but their shared fascination with NZ Gothic as a genre.
There is still so much for us to digest, reflect on, and share from the festival - which we’ll be doing more of next week. Unsurprisingly, AI and its influence on books, writing and creativity became a recurring theme across many sessions. One particular highlight was hearing Karen Hao explore what ethical AI could and should look like, and the ways many of the world’s biggest technology companies are failing to come close. She described AI not as a single technology, but as something capable of shaping the world in vastly different ways - from something as simple and empowering as a bicycle to something as powerful and resource-intensive as a space rocket.
What stood out most was her focus on the people and land impacted by the infrastructure behind AI, and the idea that truly ethical AI must be co-designed with communities, with consent, respect and environmental impact considered from the beginning rather than treated as an afterthought.
It left Lizzy feeling both hopeful that better alternatives are possible, and more empowered to keep questioning and pushing back where needed. Hao’s new book Empire of AI immediately shot to the top of Lizzy’s reading list - and if you’re also wrestling with the role AI will play in creativity and culture, it probably deserves a spot on yours too.
Another theme Lizzy loved hearing about was the way that the best books bring multiple feelings together. RF Kuange, Tony Tulathimutte, Tayari Jones, Laura Vincent and others reflected on how the best writing contains more than just one note - whether it's horror and humour, grief and love, even grief and laughter. It felt like a penny dropping. Of course my favourite books are the ones that capture and describe the multitudes of life and the absurdity of it all.
There’s still plenty happening today, and plenty of room for spontaneous literary adventures, so if you’re in Auckland and haven’t made it down to Aotea Square yet, you absolutely should. Today we’ll be heading along to *The Rise of Romance*, a session on Weird Girl Lit (one of Lizzy’s favourite subgenres), and finally to hear David Szalay discuss Booker Prize-winning Flesh, which has become one of her most recommended reads.
Alex and Dylan (and Dylan’s mum!) are also booked in to hear former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern speak at 7:30pm, where she will sit down with the amazing Noelle McCarthy to discuss her remarkable journey and reflect on the lessons she hopes can empower us all to create a kinder, more hopeful future - a fitting sign-off to a festival that somehow gets better every single year.
A big thank you to all the festival organisers for creating such a special event that was a delight as always to attend.
1 comment
The Auckland Writers’ Festival is one of the highlights of every year for me. I love joining with hundreds of other book lovers to listen to gifted and inspirational writers talk about their work. How lucky are we that we get to hear leading authors from all around the world speaking at the AWF !