4 May 2024
Maori talent alongside Booker & Pulitzer prize winners
The Auckland Writers Festival starts on May 14. Its promotional push highlights a roll-call of talent from across the arts; Booker prize winner for 2023, Paul Lynch, actor Sam Neill, musician Troy Kingi, Indian politician and author Shashi Tharoor plus generations of gifted Maori writers from Patricia Grace to Becky Manawatu. Julian Wilcox talks to award winning screenwriter, author and director Michael Bennett who's a festival curator and has just released his second novel, Return to Blood.