Arts & Culture

Hay Castle’s executive director Tom True introduces the key moments and characters from the castle’s past followed by a continental breakfast.

Paul Whitehouse, comedian and co-star of the BBC’s Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, and John Bailey, fishing consultant on the show since it first aired, have been devout fishermen for longer than they care to remember. A hobby, pastime or sport (call it what you want), they have felt the pull of the water ever since they were kids and have never missed the chance to set up on the bank and try their luck. The two fishermen discuss the rich tapestry that is fishing – from mentors to memories; from philosophy to modern jargon; from watercraft to becoming self-styled ‘Fishing Detectives’. They share brilliant stories and recollections from fishing trips past, rich in the wonders of the riverbank.

Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity, she examines the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve, her first book, is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it’s an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon’s findings will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens have become such a successful and dominant species. She talks to scientist, writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford.

Humankind may be rapidly approaching the commercial exploitation and perhaps colonisation of the moon and Mars. Does history give us confidence that it will be peaceful and constructive, instead of a further reason for conflict, trouble and wars? Given the precedents – humanity’s ‘common inheritance’ of such places as the Antarctic and the world’s oceans – we must ask: how well have we succeeded in avoiding international competition and conflicts? How well do international agreements work? The philosopher and Principal of Northeastern University, London, asks what should be done to avoid competition in space becoming conflict on Earth?

This fermentation-filled tasting session explores fermentation in different cultures and how to get started on your fermenting journey. Fermentation may be all the rage today, but fermented food has been an essential feature of diets around the world for millennia. Pao-Yu Liu grew up in Taipei City, Taiwan and moved to the UK at 21. A self-taught fermenter, she started practising these ancient techniques when diagnosed with diabetes at 37. She founded Pao Pop ‘N’ Pickles in 2017 to produce unpasteurised, lacto-fermented pickles and sauces in London. Author and fermentation producer James Read explains how to get started in his book Of Cabbages and Kimchi: A Practical Guide to the World of Fermented Food. Polly Russell is a food historian and curator at the British Library.

Military historian Max Hastings (Operation Pedestal, Abyss) tells an almost-forgotten story with his signature blend of top-down and bottom-up action detail. Operation Biting was a daring assault on the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe to capture key components of a newly-identified radar network. Amid heavy snow 120 men landed, some of whom were mis-dropped almost two miles from their objective. They nonetheless launched the assault, dismantled the German radar, and after three nail-biting hours in France and a fierce battle with Wehrmacht defenders, escaped in the nick of time. Meet the fascinating personalities and hear the wealth of previously unchronicled detail in this almost literally cliffhanging tale.

Ever wonder how award-winning books make their way from the author’s mind into your hands? In this new salon series, the British Book Awards (aka the Nibbies) bring you shortlisted authors from the 2024 awards in conversation with members of their publishing teams, shedding a light on all that goes into the creation of your favourite titles. Join The Bookseller’s programme director Miriam Robinson as she explores the publishing process with Katherine Rundell and her creative collaborators.

Rundell’s bestselling novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, among many others. Her The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure was shortlisted for 2022 Waterstones Book of the Year.

We live in a world of feminist hash-tags, and Beyoncé, and the triumphant Lionesses bringing football home. But in the world of boys and men, the conversation seems darker. Boys falling behind in education; getting addicted to pornography; making up the majority of the prison population; scared of talking about their emotions. In her book What About Men?, Caitlin Moran looks at how men can find a way to talk about their problems in the way women have always talked about theirs.

What role can those who make us laugh play in helping us understand ourselves and the societies we live in? Our comics have always had to consider the question of ‘what can I say?’ as their professional work requires them to define the edges of comedy by what we find funny. But what can comedy teach us about pushing at the boundaries of life, navigating Cancel Culture and changing the status quo for the better? Stand-up Aditi Mittal (one of India’s top 10 comedians), comedy writer Joel Morris (author of Be Funny or Die) and actor Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, Notting Hill, The Witcher) talk to author and broadcaster Viv Groskop (host of chart-topping podcast How to Own the Room).

Three women journalists covering the Israel-Palestinian war speak candidly about their work in the Gaza strip and the challenges and difficulties of reporting from a conflict zone. Iraqi-born Hind Hassan began her career with Al Jazeera Media Network, worked as a reporter for Sky News and then joined VICE news (HBO). Dalia Hatuqa writes on Middle East politics for the Washington Post, Time, The Economist and the New York Times, dividing her time between the US and the West Bank. Lindsey Hilsum is Channel 4 News’ International Editor. Chaired by the British-Lebanese editor of the Financial Times.

Libraries are a lifeline for many, but they are all too often damaged or destroyed during times of conflict, either deliberately as repositories of cultural heritage or simply as collateral damage in a war zone. The attack on the National Library in Sarajevo, the bombing of Mosul University’s library and the ongoing devastation of libraries across Ukraine and Palestine are all recent examples of this shocking destruction.

Writers Priscilla Morris and Elif Shafak talk to Lord Paul Boateng, vice patron of charity Book Aid International, about what is lost when libraries are targeted or when people are displaced and access to libraries is taken away. They look at the role that libraries can play both during conflict and as a country begins to repair and consider why, even when people are displaced, books and libraries remain important.

Memoir is an endlessly flexible and intriguing form – but how do you get to the heart of the story you’re trying to tell? And how do you share details, some of them intimate, while navigating other considerations, both ethical and artistic? Clover Stroud, author of bestselling memoirs The Wild Other, My Wild and Sleepless Nights, The Red of My Blood and the recent The Giant on the Skylines, shares insights on structure, style and voice, with hands-on writing exercises to help you find your story and identify your unique voice.

Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Dylan Thomas Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms. This year, the prize has been awarded to Caleb Azumah Nelson for his novel, Small Worlds, which tells an intimate father-son story set between South London and Ghana over the course of three summers. Join us to celebrate the 2024 winner in conversation with novelist Jon Gower, a member of the 2024 prize jury.

The shortlist for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 was: Ayòbámi Adébáyò – A Spell of Good Things; Caleb Azumah Nelson – Small Worlds; AK Blakemore – The Glutton; Mary Jean Chan – Bright Fear; Eliza Clark – Penance; Camilla Grudova – The Coiled Serpent; Kevin Jared Hosein – Hungry Ghosts; Joshua Jones – Local Fires; Catherine Lacey – Biography of X; Michael Magee – Close To Home; Thomas Morris – Open Up; Kae Tempest – Divisible by Itself and One.

A decade ago, feeling exhausted and empty, Oscar-winning filmmaker Craig Foster decided to return to his birthplace – the Cape of Good Hope – and dive into the great African Sea forest each day. His daily oceanic adventures not only helped him ‘rewild’, but helped him come to see his own ‘amphibious soul’ as a powerful metaphor for the human condition. He discusses how he rediscovered this deep connection to his animal self, as well as sharing how we can all nurture our individual wildness, tap into our empathy and deepen our love for all living things. Foster’s Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher is about his unlikely friendship with a Common Octopus.

Smokin Jo – Joanne Joseph – is the only woman to win the prestigious International DJ of the Year Award. Reclaimed by an absent mother after years in care, she led an unpredictable childhood and drifted towards Soho when barely a teenager, where she joined other fish out of water who lived through dance music. She became Smokin Jo (after Smokin’ Joe Frazier) and one of Britain’s top DJs. She shares stories from her life of transitions, farce and, above all, freestyled endurance, including meeting Russian oligarchs’ sons, clinically insane promoters, Naomi Campbell and Arabian princesses spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for glorified karaoke sessions. Smokin Jo will be talking to Anita Bhagwandas is a multi-award winning music and beauty journalist and author of Ugly: Why the world became beauty-obsessed and how to break free.

The comedian, playwright and broadcaster shares stories from her memoir, One Ukrainian Summer, about coming of age in the former USSR. It’s 1993, Viv is about to turn 21 and is on a study year abroad, supposedly immersed in the language, history and politics of a world that has just ceased to exist: the Soviet Union. Instead, she is immersed in Bogdan Bogdanovich, lead guitarist of a Ukrainian punk rock band. They meet in St Petersburg, where he promises that if she can get through a Russian winter, he will give her “one Ukrainian summer”. At parties, gigs and bars, Groskop and her new friends argue over the best places to find Levi’s jeans. No one debates the precise location of the border or the brightness of the future. Good times are here to stay, because the Soviet Union is finished. Isn’t it? She discusses her new book with the TLS Fiction and Politics Editor.

Enjoy cheese tastings and a glass of wine while our panel of experts recount how a generation of cheesemakers, farmers and retailers revolutionised the UK food landscape, saved small-farmhouse cheese and championed new techniques while embracing tradition, terroir and taste.

Cheesemonger, historian and author of A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles Ned Palmer talks to producer and farmer Rebecca Holden of Hafod cheese (made at Bwlchwernen Fawr Farm on the Ceredigion coast, the longest standing registered organic dairy farm in Wales); cheesemaker Hugh Padfield of Bath Soft Cheese (made in the village of Kelston, near Bath, where he and his family have farmed since 1914).

Come and join us in the late Georgian-Gothic setting of St Mary’s Church for a special screening of Anthony Asquith’s great 1929 classic silent movie A Cottage on Dartmoor, with live organ accompaniment by Richard Williams. The film is a psycho-thriller replete with obsession and jealousy, much influenced by German Expressionism, and is one of British cinema’s most highly regarded silent films, the last to be made in the silent period.

Father Richard’s film nights are renowned. Parish priest in Hay from 2001 to 2024, he trained as a professional musician at Trinity College of Music, London. Don’t miss this chance to see him perform a live accompaniment on the Bevington organ.

Start your day with an hour of yoga blending movement, mantra, meditation and breathwork. The classes support detoxification and regeneration – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Our daily yoga classes are brought to you by a collective of ten highly skilled practitioners, all local to Hay-on-Wye. Each practitioner has their own style, but with all you can expect a mindful, student-focused practice with clear cueing and functional sequencing.

Whether you need grounding and recharging before a busy day at the Festival, an opportunity to stretch and move your body, or simply an hour to focus on your breathing, these classes are open and accessible to all. Practitioners will adapt to different levels of experience, providing options for deepening or softening within poses so that each student takes what they need from the practice. Beginners and experienced students are most welcome. Yoga mats are provided.

Please contact Clare Fry at hello@larchwoodstudio.com with any questions relating to these classes. As capacity is limited, we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

A fantastic opportunity to see behind the scenes of this unique and historic building. Visit at a time of your choice during Castle opening hours.

Hay Castle’s executive director Tom True introduces the key moments and characters from the castle’s past followed by a continental breakfast.

Three acclaimed thinkers and writers discuss the far-reaching effects of maternity, with author and journalist Candice Brathwaite. Women undergo a huge physiological, psychological and social metamorphosis during pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. There is no time other than adolescence that entails such dramatic change, yet the huge diversity in its effects go largely unrepresented and undiscussed.

Dr Pragya Agarwal is a behavioural scientist, University of Cambridge Fellow and author of (M)otherhood: On the Choices of Being a Woman. Lucy Jones is author of Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood, a radical new examination of how motherhood changes the mind and body. Clover Stroud is a journalist and author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights: A Mother’s Story and The Red of My Blood: A Death and Life Story.

For a country that is obsessed with class, no one in the UK seems to know what class is. Class is often reduced to cultural signifiers – our accent, what food we eat, what clothes we wear, how we decorate our houses. Or class is portrayed as if it is solely an economic matter. But these ways of thinking obscure more than they illuminate. Our panel explores the modern class structure in the UK. They discuss how class is lived and experienced; how class interacts with other identities such as race and gender; and the relationship between class and political behaviour.

Walkerdine is Professor at the Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, where Ryan Davey is a lecturer and Richard Gater is a research assistant at the Centre for Adult Social Care Research. Dan Evans is a researcher at Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data.

Hay Festival’s 2024 Writers at Work/Awduron wrth eu Gwaith give a public reading of their current work. An opportunity to experience the best Wales has to offer in fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Writers at Work is a creative development programme for emerging Welsh talent at Hay Festival.

From the former Conservative Cabinet minister and co-presenter of 2022’s hit podcast The Rest is Politics, a searing insider’s account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament. From 2010 to 2019, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister – before resigning from a Conservative Party he barely recognised. Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow and inadequate our democracy and government had become, with cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence running rampant. Stewart talks to TLS Fiction and Politics Editor Toby Lichtig.

The most talked about British story of the year so far has been the Post Office scandal, thanks to a television drama. ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office, starring Toby Jones as the titular Mr Bates, dramatised the case of hundreds of subpostmasters across the UK who were wrongly prosecuted after faulty computer software found money missing from post office branches.

Join Toby Jones to discuss both his role in this series, and his extensive TV and film career as one of the UK's most regarded stage and screen actors, and the unique power of television and film to shed light on human stories as he talks to author and broadcaster Viv Groskop.

The botanist draws on her expertise and experience as an indigenous woman to show how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. Her subjects range from the Native American legend of the Skywoman to the language of wild strawberries and squash, asters and goldenrod, algae and sweetgrass. Her collection of essays weaves together traditional ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge to examine the relationship people have, and can have, with the living environment. Kimmerer lives in New York where she is founder and director of the Centre for Native Peoples and the Environment. She talks about her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants with farmer and author James Rebanks.

Join Professor Susanna Lipscomb, chair of judges for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, in conversation with Laura Cumming (Thunderclap) Noreen Masud (A Flat Place), Tiya Miles* (All That She Carried)and Madhumita Murgia* (Code Dependent), four of the writers shortlisted for the 2024 prize. They discuss selected books, their broader themes and the importance of this new prize as a platform to elevate women’s voices in non-fiction that have previously been overlooked.

The winner of the 2024 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction will be announced on Thursday 13 June. Brought to you by the Women's Prize Trust, the charity which enriches society by creating equitable opportunities for women in the world of books and beyond.

*Tiya Miles and Madhumita Murgia will appear digitally.

Three authors who share a personal history of displacement and violence discuss writing about their birth countries with lawyer and writer Philippe Sands. Pulitzer Prize winner Hisham Matar is an American-Libyan writer whose novel, My Friends, is about three friends in political exile and the emotional homeland that deep friendships can provide. Elif Shafak is a Turkish-British novelist, author of The Island of Missing Trees, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022, which follows a romantic relationship between a Greek and a Turkish Cypriot. Palestinian writer Adania Shibli is the author of PEN Translates Award-winning and International Booker Prize-longlisted Minor Detail, a meditation on war, violence and memory that dissects the Palestinian experience of dispossession and life under occupation.

Journey back in time 700 years with Honey & Co chefs Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, as they explore connections between the food of medieval Moorish Spain and the recipes they have championed and popularised as two of the UK’s best-loved chefs. They draw on medieval recipes as revealed in the 13th century Andalusian manuscript Best of Delectable Foods and Dishes from al-Andalus and al-Maghrib: A Cookbook by Thirteenth-Century Andalusi Scholar Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī (1227–1293). Watch the couple demonstrate a recipe from the book, and try some delicious tastings.

Honey & Co’s cookbooks include Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire around the Levant and Food from the Middle East. Packer and Srulovich talk to Polly Russell, a food historian and curator at the British Library.

Author Annabelle Hirsch delves into her collection of 101 objects that make up the neglected history of women, in conversation with writer and books journalist Caroline Sanderson. This quiet, intimate and particular history takes in everything from humble household items to objects of female pleasure and of female subjugation. Readings from Julia Gillard, Helena Kennedy, Miriam Margolyes and Aditi Mittal bring to life these fascinating, too-often-overlooked, manifold histories of women.

Hirsch is a writer and translator; Gillard is former prime minister of Australia; Kennedy is a barrister and a Labour member of the House of Lords; Margolyes is an actor of stage and screen; and Mittal is a comedian and actor.

What can the history of slave revolts teach us about the power of rebellion to tackle the climate crisis? How might understanding the origins of capitalism spark ideas for bringing AI under control? What could we learn from the coffee houses of Georgian London to tame social media? Social philosopher Roman Krznaric looks at 1,000 years of history to help us confront the challenges of the 21st century, from bridging the inequality gap and reducing the risks of genetic engineering, to reviving our faith in democracy and avoiding ecological collapse. In conversation with publisher and writer, John Mitchinson.