More mouth-watering additions to the Auckland Readers and Writers Festival include Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World and Salt: A History of the World. Mark’s going to be the post-prandial raconteur at the big finale of the festival, the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Dinner, at the Hilton Auckland, Princes Wharf on Sunday 22 May.

And, and … jeez, I get all jittery, it’s like being in Harrods at Christmas. Sweaty palms, twitchy legs – this is serious consumer anxiety. We will have Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – a brilliant book, absolutely loved it though slightly over-longish, all about the beginnings of super-hero comics; he also wrote the screenplay for Spiderman 2). He’s chatting with our local corporation-whipping hero Nigel Cox and will also star with scary all-rounder Caryl Phillips, Big Bang theorist Simon Singh and biographer Deirdre Bair in a ‘feast of storytelling’ chaired by Kim Hill on Friday 20 May.

And there’s more. So many more I can no longer do links for them all.

Brad McGann, screenwriter of In My Father’s Den, talks about adaptation with Philippa Boyens, co-screenwriter of Lord of the Rings. Philip Temple visits from Dunedin, William Direen (now resident in Paris) talks about writing as an 'exile' along with Sarah Quigley, Nigel Cox (both from Berlin) and Anne Kennedy (from Hawaii).

Spiro Zavos, Joseph Romanos and Garth Gilmour talk sports writing with Peter Williams. Owen Marshall discusses the art of the short story with Stephanie Johnson and Michael Chabon. Elizabeth Knox will launch a new novel, Dreamhunter, and appears alongside Graeme Lay, William Taylor and Tessa Duder to talk about writing for young adults.

Margaret Mahy appears with Tessa Duder, who will launch her major literary history Margaret Mahy: A Writer’s Life at the festival.

Peta Mathias hosts food writing events featuring food stars Maggie Beer, Mark Kurlansky, Ray McVinnie, Simon Gault, and Raffaela Delmonte. Performance poet Karlo Mila appears in the Open Mike event at Float Bar, and Lydia Wevers and Iain Sharp talk about literary criticism in New Zealand.

So that should just about cover it … The full Festival programme will be available from 25 March. Tickets go on sale on Friday 8 April via Ticketek. Have those dialling/typing fingers poised and ready. And ... note to self: stay calm and book the babysitter.