On Sunday May 18 the Festival came to a close with the 2014 Honoured New Zealand writer session, which this year celebrated Patricia Grace. Grace, a giant of New Zealand literature, was in conversation with her longtime editor Geoff Walker and talked about her career from her first published work Waiariki (1975) – the first collection of stories by a Maori woman writer. She and her whanau closed the festival with a waiata.

The day began with an hour with Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, essayist and poet. Walker talked with Selina Tusitala Marsh about her writing, environmental concerns and what it is to have empathy in a moving session that set the tone for the day ahead.

Another local treasure, Keri Hulme, took part in the Great Kiwi Classic. This inaugural event, in association with the New Zealand Book Council is designed to celebrate a classic New Zealand book – this year The Bone People. A large crowd arrived for the free event to hear Hulme read from the novel. A lively discussion with Irish novelist, Eimear McBride, editor and researcher, Reina Whaitiri and Peter Biggs of the New Zealand Book Council.

As noted by the New Zealand Herald in their article about the final day, “Three important writers, all women over 65, were given separate standing ovations yesterday at the Auckland Writers Festival”. We’re delighted to have closed the event on such a high note.