The generous support of the Freemasons Foundation is critical in delivering the Auckland Writers Festival’s Schools Programme Hōtaka Kura and our weekend PukaPuka Adventures for young families.
The three-day Schools programme running from 14 to 16 May, provides a true ‘window on another world’, a first-hand opportunity for more than 6000 children ranging from 9-18 years old to hear the stories, personal experiences and insights of international and New Zealand authors, poets and performers.
The programme stimulates and encourages a love of reading and storytelling, and secondary school students can also learn writing craft through eight workshops. The Foundation’s support keeps student ticket prices affordable, helps subsidise transport costs to the Aotea Centre, and covers the cost of a specially commissioned book Read The World.
This year, PukaPuka Adventures has trebled in size with dynamic programming that creates new access routes to books and creativity in a range of activities and events on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May. In 2024, Freemasons Foundation support will also, for the first time, provide book vouchers for children to purchase books at the Festival Bookshop to enjoy authors they have heard and met during the Schools Programme.
