Special thanks to the fabulous sponsors of the 2025 Booksellers Conference
The special guests of our 2025 Booksellers Conference:
Dr Hinemoa Elder is of Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto and Ngāpuhi descent. She is the mother of two adult children. She has been a bookworm all her life and has written four best-selling books, her fifth book, “Ara. A Māori Guidebook for the Mind”, (PRH) is in bookshops from September. She wears a few hats. Kaiārahi Oranga Hinengaro at Te Hiku Hauora a large primary care organisation based in Kaitāia. Deputy Chair of Te Rūnanga Nui o Te Aupōuri, lifelong student of Te Reo Māori.
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an author and filmmaker. Michael’s debut novel, Better the Blood was published in New Zealand, USA, UK, and Australia, with ten translations. It was shortlisted or won numerous awards, including finalist for the 2022 Jann Medlicott fiction prize, and finalist for the Barry Awards (USA). Better The Blood won Best First Novel at the Ngaio Marsh Awards, making Michael the first author to win for both fiction and non-fiction. Michael devoted many years to the fight for justice for Teina Pora, a young Māori man wrongly imprisoned for 21 years. . Michael is co-curator (with daughter Matariki) of the Auckland Writers’ Festival. Michael’s latest, Carved In Blood was published May 2025, the third novel in his Hana Westerman series.
Brad Olsen is the Chief Executive and Principal Economist at Infometrics and is one of New Zealand’s leading economic commentators. Brad is passionate about using economics to make better informed decisions and can communicate complex and detailed trends in a simple, relatable, and useful manner. With extensive networks across New Zealand’s business, media, community, and social sectors, Brad often brings together a variety of views, data, and emerging trends to inform advice and analysis to key decision makers across New Zealand.
Brad is a community leader and is one of New Zealand’s youngest Justices of the Peace. His work in the community has been recognised a number of times: he was named New Zealand’s Queen’s Young Leader in 2016, one of Asia New Zealand Foundation’s 25 to Watch in 2019, and Young Wellingtonian of the Year 2020.
Philomena Polefrone is the Advocacy Associate Manager at the American Booksellers Association, where she champions intellectual freedom and free expression. With a background in bookselling and a decade in academia, Philomena brings a unique perspective to her work, blending literature and activism. She leads initiatives like the Set Books Free Project, aimed at combating book bans and promoting access to diverse, often censored literature. Her passion for defending the right to read makes her a key advocate in the fight against censorship.
Draft programme is subject to change.
Friday 18 July
6pm: Booksellers Salon, Parked Up Beer Garden, Victoria Park, Auckland
Saturday 19 July
0800: Breakfast and networking
0845: Welcome
0900: Breakfast keynote from acclaimed author Dr Hinemoa Elder. Kindly sponsored by Penguin Random House
0950: Nielsen BookData: the annual update from Nielsen covering best sellers, trends and market movements in the Aotearoa Book Industry
1025: Morning tea, sponsored by Allen & Unwin Aotearoa NZ
1040: Booksellers Scholar
1050: Content-based attacks on bookshops: An increasing number of bookshops are facing harassment, threats, vandalism, and other types of attack because of their curation of books and events. This session will address steps you can take to make yourself and your business more resilient and less likely to be targeted. We’ll cover some common themes in these events, resources available to guide your response, some common pitfalls, and ways to proactively defend against them. We’ll be joined by an expert on censorship and book bans, Philomena Polefrone, Associate Director at the American Booksellers Freedom of Expression (ABFE) for this session.
1150: Keynote, Michael Bennett: Michael Te Arawa Bennett is a New Zealand writer, scenarist, best-selling and award-winning author and director for film and television. Session sponsored by HarperCollins Arotahi Agency.
1230: Lunch
13.15: The Economics of Books, Art & Culture: Brad Olsen, Infometrics CEO & Chief Economist
14:00: Voices of Experience Panel: hear the wisdom from a panel of legendary booksellers, who will share wisdom from over 200 years of bookselling. Featuring Bruce McKenzie, Tony Moores and Jo McColl.
1445: Afternoon Tea sponsored by Circlesoft
1500: Robbie Egan, BookPeople
1530: Community Forum
1600: AGM
Sunday Trade Day schedule
0800: Light networking breakfast available for all attendees
0800 – 1100: Business meetings
0845 – 0930: CirclePOS User Group meeting
0815 – 0900: BOOKSCAN (AU) User Group meeting
1100 – 1130: Intro to BookScan Lite – BookScan New Zealand has been supporting independent booksellers for 16 years. For the first time in BookScan history, independent booksellers now have access to their weekly reports within the newly launched BookScan Online platform. Join the BookScan team for this 30 minute session for tips on how to make the most of this data. NOTE: member-only session
1130: Keynote from Anna Burkey
1200: Reading Research panel, chaired by Anna Burkey. Panelists: James Russell, Dragon Brothers Books, Karen McMillan (Lighthouse PR, Director of NZ Booklovers and Author) and Mandy Myles, Bookety Book Books will discuss how do we get more people reading, what are the best ways to reach those who rarely read and what can we practically do to influence reading habits?
1230: Tohutō Working Group (by invitation): Diacritics use in bibliographic software systems: how to we get consistent and correct use of Tohutō (macrons) throughout our records and public display systems.
1pm – 5pm: Business meetings