The 24th annual Going West Books & Writers Festival
Friday 6 September
The Bellbirds consists of four of Auckland's best and most loved voices and extraordinary songsmiths: Sandy Mill, Victoria Kelly, Don McGlashan and Sean Donnelly (AKA SJD).
The keynote address of our opening night is named in honour of the late Sir Graeme Douglas, a long-time supporter of the Going West Festival, and whose family and estate continue that tradition in 2019.
Every year, in honour of Allen Curnow, a generous friend of the festival, Going West invites an established New Zealand poet to read.
Saturday 7 September
Please join us, in partnership with Penguin Random House, to launch Native Son, the second volume of memoir by Witi Ihimaera.
Garage Project founder Pete Gillespie joins Mark Easterbrook to discuss beer, stories, and turning craft beer into art.
In conversation with Sue Orr, Witi Ihimaera revisits a time when to simply be published as a Māori author was a landmark moment.
In Wild Honey, poet and anthologist Paula Green surveys New Zealand’s women poets, from the first published to the most recent bright lights. In conversation with poets Kiri Piahana-Wong and Anne Kennedy.
Recent novels from writers Rosetta Allan and Craig Cliff travel through very different landscapes, but take their characters and readers on physical and emotional journeys. In conversation with Caroline Barron.
Alan Duff is joined by Guyon Espiner to discuss A Conversation with My Country, his fresh and personal account of where New Zealand has been and where he believes we can go from here.
Editor Janet McAllister is joined by contributing essayists Tulia Thompson and Tui Gordon to dissect their collection Living on Volcanoes and the myriad of topics it traverses.
Author Elizabeth Knox and graphic novelist Dylan Horrocks discuss Knox’s latest novel The Absolute Book, and how they have both approached cutting through the rules of what is reality.
Bob Harvey and Gregory O’Brien are both storyfinders and storytellers, and the sea is a strong presence in their latest books. In conversation with Elisabeth Vanevald.
Sunday 8 September
Funny As is an extensive, authoritative, hilarious history of New Zealand’s funny men and women. Michele A’Court in conversation with Paul Horan and Philip Matthews.
Phil Vine joins Neville Peat and Jeff Murray to examine how we tell the biggest story of our current moment in time – climate change.
Just how do books get from the mind of the writer all the way to the eyes of the reader? This is the story of stories. Going West has invited three prominent and diverse book publishers Harriet Allan, Bridget Williams and Peter Dowling, to share their insights, experiences and anecdotes.
Owen Gill examines the changes we need to make to accommodate two million Aucklanders, photographer Patrick Reynolds has documented the city’s architecture and Malcolm Paterson has delved into the historical stories of Tāmaki Makaurau and Kaipara. They will join in a conversation about how we might become a place that is better at telling its stories.
Auckland Museum invited five writers to explore the Museum’s documentary heritage collection. With Dina Jezdic in the chair join Saraid de Silva Cameron, Mohamed Hassan, Louise Tu’u, To’asavili Tuputala, and Lucy Zee in discussion.
Hot on the heels of the launch of A Communist in the Family: Searching for Rewi Alley, we’re thrilled to have Elspeth Sandys on stage with journalist Matt Nippert, talking about the man, his life, and what he means now to New Zealand, and the country he called home - China.
Carl Shuker, author of A Mistake and Kirsten Warner, author of The Sound of Breaking Glass join Siobhan Harvey to explore how consequence drives the arc of their stories.
In Death and Dying in New Zealand, essayists Dr Kiri Edge, David Slack and Vana Manasiadis explore the ways we talk about 21st century death and dying in Aotearoa in conversation with publisher Emma Johnson.
Further Writers Sessions
Join facilitator Sarah Ell and three authors Robert Vennell, Edin Whitehead and Skye Wishart in conversation about our wonderful world of plants and birds. Free Event.
A special after-hours gallery event at Te Uru, with Peter Simpson interviewed by Wallace Chapman against the backdrop of Colin McCahon’s epic painting, GATE III.
In association with Titirangi Library, Going West present a series of readings by Apirana Taylor and Paula Green and the launch of Cutting Through, an anthology of writing by the Green Bay Writers, Titirangi Poets and Waitakere Writers.