Rugby writer Spiro Zavos at Going West 2011

Well-known sports writer Spiro Zavos will feature at Going West Books and Writers Festival 2011.

The New Zealand writer will be talking about his book 'How to watch the Rugby World Cup' and with Remar Yska about his book 'Truth The Rise and fall of the People's Paper'.

Festival programme director Murray Gray says this year’s festival will have “a hint of rugby running through it.”

Spiro Zavos will be a highlight of the Going West Books and Writers Weekend which will take place on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September – just one day after the start of Rugby World Cup 2011.

The weekend is the highlight event of Going West Books and Writers Festival which place throughout August and September and has been an annual fixture in West Auckland for 16 years. This year’s event is the first under the new Auckland Council and is also part of the nationwide REAL New Zealand Festival running alongside Rugby World Cup 2011.

"Going West has become a touchstone for the promotion and support of the best writing this country can deliver,” says Manager Arts and Culture West Priscilla Thompson. “For one cold month in spring the west of the city is transformed into a hotbed of literary discussion, debate, oration and performance.”

A celebration of books, writing and ideas, Going West Festival begins in August with the 2011 Schools Wordsmiths’ Programme. The programme features local writers and wordsmiths touring secondary schools to provide opportunities for young people to meet successful writers, learn more about the craft of writing and to see how writing can become a career choice.

The festival continues with a theatre season at Glen Eden Playhouse Theatre, poetry slams, book market, story festival for children, exhibitions and workshops and the central literary weekend of readings, panel discussions, conversations and debate. The programme for the festival will be announced in June with the full programme for the literary weekend available in July.