Auckland Writers Festival has appointed Kathleen Drumm as Chief Executive following an executive search conducted by SEQEL Partners.

Auckland Writers Festival is a successful commercial arts organisation, operating as charitable trust. New Zealand’s premier celebration of books and ideas, it is the leader in audience engagement across Australasia. Each year the festival presents a six day, 170+ event programme at the Aotea Centre made up of conversations, discussions, debates, talks, readings and performances, with the world’s best writers, thinkers and commentators from here and abroad – attracting pre-Covid audiences of over 83,000 people.

Kathleen brings a strong background in the arts sector, both internationally and domestically. Currently Kathleen is Chief Executive of the Hundertwasser Art Centre & Whangārei Art Museum where she oversees the planning of operations, marketing, sustainability and visitor experience for Hātea Art Precinct’s venues. Previously based offshore, Kathleen spent several years in Canada as the Industry Director for the Toronto International Film Festival – one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Earlier, she was Head of Marketing for the Australian Federal Government’s key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, Screen Australia. Kathleen also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland.

The Festival Board, including Chair Leigh Melville, Nicola Legat and Pip Greenwood are looking forward to working closely with Kathleen once she commences with the organisation in November.