Unfortunately Natalie Haynes has had to cancel her visit to Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki on medical grounds. We’re sending Natalie all our best wishes for a speedy recovery. All bookers will be contacted.

Whether in her long-running BBC Radio 4 series, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, her novels including the Women’s Prize shortlisted A Thousand Ships and Stoneblind, or in her best-selling non-fiction, including Pandora’s Jar and Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth, Natalie Haynes is renowned for breathing new life into the ancient world.

Combining her Cambridge education in Classics under Mary Beard with the quick-witted delivery honed from her years as a stand-up comedian, Haynes is a powerhouse at bringing the rich and varied world of myth to new audiences – not to mention being in demand as a judge for some of the world’s leading literary prizes.

Megan Nicol Reed meets her and hears how she’s brought some of the world’s oldest stories to a whole new readership.