Hay Festival Recommendations Part One
Some highlights on offer for the Bank Holiday weekend at one of the world's most iconic book festivals.
The Hay Festival kicked off last night. Here are a few of my recommendations if you’re looking for what to catch over the next few days.
Friday 24 May (today)
Recording of Front Row for BBC Radio 4 at 11.15am. Always worth catching the U.K.’s premier arts and culture show, but this proves to be a particular strong one as Manon Steffan Ros will be a guest, and she’s not only one of Wales’s most exciting literary talents, but she’s also a great interview.
Aberystwyth Book Club is also being recorded for BBC Radio Wales at 5.30pm - always worth checking out for some very enjoyable book chat hosted by Hannah Loy.
Ros Atkins has only one suit, and he’ll be bringing it from BBC News to the Hay Festival at 8.30pm in his talk The Art of Explanation, which is sure to be fascinating and thorough and will probably debunk a few conspiracy theories along the way.
Saturday 25 May
At 10am on the Meadow Stage (sounds lovely) Kate Humble talks to Franny Armstrong, Gary Charnock and Ed Hawkins who have all created leading climate change projects in recent years. If you want to know the sort of thinking that can make a difference, this is the sort of conversations you should be listening to.
At 11.30 Anne Enright is in conversation, and what more do you need to know? One of the finest novelists working today, right there, having a chat. What the Hay Festival has always done best.
At 2.30, perhaps a festival classic, with Horatio Clare interviewing Blindboy Boatclub, a podcaster dubbed “a cultural phenomenon” by The New York Times. His 1.2 million listeners already know what a great storyteller he is. His new book, Topographica Hibernica, takes its title from a twelfth-century English manuscript, which dehumanised the people and culture of Ireland to facilitate domination (so says the festival blurb - I guess I’ll be buying that, then).
At 4pm, David Nicholls, fresh off the back of his recent Netflix ‘One Day’ success, is attending to discuss his latest novel, You Are Here, with broadcaster and writer, Samira Ahmed. You Are Here, is a love story which unfolds on a walk across the north of England. It’s the story of two lonely people, both a little lost and wary of new company. But, over many miles, as they start to talk and share stories, the possibility of a new beginning opens up before them. Nicholls is a brilliant speaker and you won’t want to miss this.
At 5.30pm Huw Stephens talks to Sarah Hill about his book Wales: A Hundred Records which is going to be enormous fun. I can’t think of a better guide for that subject than Huw.
Sunday 26 May
At 1pm in the Exchange Marquee, Radio 4 hosts a high octane cage match to the death in the form of Orwell V Kafka. I know who I’ll be vying for, but we’ll wait and see…
At 2.30 a canny pairing of authors, as Carys Davies and Francis Spufford discuss their latest novels. I interviewed Carys on the Radio Wales Arts Show recently, and Clear is a really strong novel. I highly recommend taking the chance to hear her discuss it.
At 4pm Marian Keyes talks to Kirsty Lang, and that’s going to be packed. Keyes is one of the most enjoyable writers and literary personalities around, and this will be a delight.
At 5.30 there’s a special recording of BBC Radio 4’s The Coming Storm, which looks at US conspiracy theories around “the deep state”. So that will be depressing, hilarious, and sad.
And why not finish off with the brilliant Jeanette Winterson, who will be reading from her new collection of Gothic ghost stories (my God, that sounds good).
Bank Holiday Monday
Well, first off, of course, I’ll be presenting the Radio Wales Arts Show live from Hay at 11.30 - so make sure you drop by.
At 1pm in the same spot, Bruce Robinson, author of Withnail and I (yes, he is a genius) will be on Radio 4’s A Good Read. I could very well be hanging around to watch that.
Another potential Hay classic at 5.30 when James Blunt — writer of songs against humanity and funniest man of twitter — is in conversation with 6Music’s Matt Everitt.
And, then, of course, it would be remiss of me not to plug the Wales Book of the Year event at 7pm. Four of this year’s nominees talk to Literature Wales’s co-CEO Leusa Llewellyn.
The Hay Festival also has a very healthy programme of activity events, particularly focussed this year on walking and trekking and hiking and rambling — presumably because the town itself is in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. And if you are thinking of taking the festival up on one of its walks or designing your own) but don’t want to miss the vibe, can I recommend Hay Festival Anytime, which contains thousands of audio and film recordings from Hay Festival events around the world. Each year they add hundreds of new events to give subscribers front row access to the some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers. So if you haven’t been able to get tickets to all the festival events you wanted to this year, you can listen as you stroll (subscription service).
Gary Raymond is a novelist, author, playwright, critic, and broadcaster. In 2012, he co-founded Wales Arts Review, was its editor for ten years. His latest book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature is available for pre-order and is out in May 2024 with Calon Books.