2026 Festival
Speaker Profile
J.P. Pomare
J.P. POMARE is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Call Me Evie (2018), won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. In the Clearing (2019) was made into a Disney+ original series while Tell Me Lies (2020) was a No.1 Audible bestseller. 17 Years Later is his seventh novel.
Messy Characters = Great Fiction
Bri Lee, Kate Mildenhall and JP Pomare with Hannie Rayson
Where do great characters come from? Do your family or friends ever recognise themselves in your work? And why is the flawed, imperfect oddball in a novel way more interesting than someone nice?
The Character Lab: Discovering the people who tell my story
Miranda Darling, Tara Moss and JP Pomare with Rosemarie Milsom
Fiction writers get to make up stuff. They can also create their own characters with whatever kinds of foibles, weaknesses, or strengths they wish. So how much fun is that?
Three Books I Always Recommend – And Why
Jennifer Byrne, Bri Lee and J.P. Pomare with Jason Steger
Our panel discusses when a friend asks for a great book recommendation, do you find you have a favourite two or three? What is it about these books that encourage us to share?