Our monthly 'Meet the Haymaker' series shares stories of the change-makers at the heart of Hay Festival Global and the impact it has had on their lives. This month, hear from the outgoing Chair of Hay Festival Global's Board of Trustees, literary agent Caroline Michel.
What does Hay Festival mean to you?
Hay Festival is like a thread of gold through my mind, heart and soul.
It is the place whether I go to listen, learn, laugh, cry and be amazed and wonder at the world. It affirms, challenges, debates all the issues of the day. It’s where I discover new writers, ideas, comedy and music, and find comfort in the familiar and in meeting my heroes.
Standing on a roof terrace at Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, at 3am, I asked a group of regulars “have you ever been to Hay?”, meaning our hometown in Wales. “This IS Hay”, they replied.
Hay is not just one place, it is that magical, mysterious happening when writers and thinkers gather to converse and share ideas in total freedom across borders and without barriers. All dreamed up, convened, curated and made possible by the extraordinary Hay Festival Global team.
What’s your favourite Festival memory?
This is impossible. To choose one memory would be like pulling one thread from a huge, great, glittering tapestry… Seeing the faces of thousands of children that come to the our free schools events; listening to Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes recite their poetry as the elements raged outside to the rhythms and intensity of the readings within; every day of our Festivals is filled with memories that I will carry with me forever.
Have you ever changed your mind on something having been to a Hay Festival event?
Always. Hay Festival gathers the most inspiring, original, and interesting minds from around the world and it is impossible not to find oneself often rethinking so much of what one had taken for granted. In the challenges we are all facing today, having an open mind and being able to listen to different points of view in a safe and free space is more vital than ever.
Who was the best speaker or performer you saw on a Hay Festival stage?
It’s impossible to choose just one. As Chair of Hay Festival I have no real power in what makes the experience so magical. Rather it is our programmes, our themes and ideas, that makes up each session in all those thousands of events we run across the world. That is down to an incredible team of individuals, the Board, the Advisory Council, the Members, our writers and artists, and the audiences who turn up to ask such brilliant questions. It is a wonderful blend of ideas, arguments, names, themes, issues exploring topics from across the world. It is a continuous conversation that becomes, in the end, the programme we all eagerly await.
What advice do you have for a first-timer at the Festival?
Go to everything you possibly can and never be shy to tell a writer or performer how much you love their work. The team at the Festival are lovely; if you feel lost, they are there to help and most of all just have a wonderful time. And watch out for the weather… I always find wearing high heels stops you slipping in the mud!
Sum up Hay Festival in five words or less…
Can't imagine life without it.