How do you make a successful literary festival even better? Piles of planning, clever pairing of speakers and not being afraid of genre fiction.
A record 85,000 people passed through the rooms of the Aotea Centre during the several days of the Auckland Writers Festival, attending 167 events (38 sold out), and buying nearly 11,000 books, almost double the sales of 2023. The bestseller lists are newly full of attendees – Emily Perkins, Paul Lynch, Richard Flanagan, Rachael King, Sam Neill, Airana Ngarewa.
Not bad for a mostly new team at the top; Auckland Writers Festival artistic director Lyndsey Fineran arrived in the country only last August and books industry stalwart Catriona Ferguson came on board as managing director.
It was a “heartening” response, says Fineran, who was previously at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, although they suspected it might be a successful year. Presales were “really good”, and an early release of names of some authors meant the big hitters didn’t “get all the oxygen” from the full line-up.
The programme was ambitious, says Fineran. “I was very keen to lever some really hefty international names. I think people were expecting that of me coming in as an international director.” She also wanted the “weave” to be right. This was a NZ literary festival inviting the world in, she says. There was a lot more genre fiction such as horror and sci fi, “which sometimes don’t make the lineup in other festivals”, she says. “Sometimes lit festivals can be a bit elitist.” Of course people want to see Booker or Pulitzer winners and literary heft, but book club-friendly names “are popular for a reason” and should be welcome, she says. Festivals should be “festive” – they are meant to be fun and energetic and don’t have to be too serious or dry.
Fineran likes to pair people for conversations attendees won’t see anywhere else. So Catherine Chidgey spoke with K Patrick, Robyn Malcolm with her friend and fellow actor Sam Neill, and Emily Perkins interviewed Jane Campion, two women at the top of their game.
Non-fiction books often get larger festival audiences because with novels, people may feel they have to have read the book to understand the conversation, she says. But AWF audiences appear particularly keen on fiction – Booker winner Paul Lynch had 2000 people in his audience, significantly more than he’s used to.
Free events, family sessions and Kōrero Corner – drop-in sessions with authors – all help to engender more “dwell time” for what is generally a solitary activity. For audience questions the Slido app was used for the first time. “The quality of questions went up tenfold,” says Fineran. A firm believer in not resting on laurels, she has a wall of her team’s suggestions to take into next year. Fineran, who’s about to take a well-earned week off, says one international writer has just confirmed for 2025.
