The comic novelist has mined her own experience of motherhood to tell the tale of bringing up an autistic son in this bittersweet novel about keeping your family together when your world is falling apart.
Dickens and the Workhouse: Oliver Twist and The London Poor
Event 326 • •
Venue: Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage
The academic discovered that as a young man, Dickens lived only yards away from a major London workhouse. She tells the story of the find and reveals how important the two periods spent living in this area of London were for Dickens’ writing career.
A workshop seminar on reading literature that focuses on a novel by a writer appearing at the festival over the coming weekend - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. Murray, the Hay 2011-2012 International Fellow is the author of two novels – Happy Accidents and Diamond Star Halo. She is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan.
Calling all courageous questors! Six mystical beasts are guarding magical golden armour for the evil wizard Malvel. Help the good wizard Aduro solve cryptic puzzles in this interactive event and free the beasts from Malvel’s evil spell. Exclusive goodies await the valiant.
The fantastic team behind Local to Ludlow return to Hay with their mobile culinary school. Using locally sourced ingredients they teach children how to cook delicious snacks from scratch.
Duration 60 mins. 5-9 years
No adult ticket required, but children must be accompanied for this cookery session.
Whether you want to write fantasy fiction, paranormal romance, thrillers or mysteries, this session will show you how. Be inspired and unlock you best-seller.
Duration 60 mins.14+ years
Each young person attending this workshop must fill in the Permission Form available for download here. Please send the form in advance to admin@hayfestival.org AND bring a copy on the day.
Why do theatregoers enjoy watching people die? And why do modern audiences still prefer their destined corpses to speak in Elizabethan English? The Director of The Shakespeare Institute considers the persistence of Shakespearean tragedy, focusing on Richard II, Othello and King Lear. Chaired by Clemency Burton-Hill.
An epic sweep of the C20th told through the relations between the Sawle and Valance families from the novelist who won the Man Booker prize for The Line of Beauty.
City of Fortune - How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire
Event 330 • •
Venue: Sky Arts Studio
A magisterial history charting the rise and fall of the world’s superpower city from the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 to the calamitous news that the Portuguese had pioneered a sea route to India.
Curiosity is often said to drive science, but until the seventeenth century – the age of the so-called Scientific Revolution – it was regarded with suspicion and condemnation. What happened to liberate curiosity? Why did no question seem too vast or trivial to be ruled out of bounds? And what does the freedom to be curious really mean for science today?
The beautifully soulful songwriter, well known for her work with Welsh folk group Fernhill, sings her English-language new solo album accompanied by Canadian musician Ceri Owen Jones on trombone and harp. ‘That was truly, truly beautiful’ - John Peel.
Five participants, four dragons and three minutes to tell a story that will capture the Dragons’ hearts, minds and cheque books and a chance to win £10,000 for their project.
The film of the book by Michael Morpurgo. Young Albert enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on. Directed by Steven Spielberg, screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, produced by Revel Guest. UK, 2011, 146’. PG. See also events 346, 400 and 423.
Join the creator of Threads, as she talks to Lucy Peden, Features Editor at Bliss magazine in a special event about following your (secret) dreams. Sophia and Lucy will be discussing image and how to cope with life's big ups and downs like teenager Ted, the main character in her new book The Look.
Plus buy a ticket for this event and you get the chance to win tea with Sophia and Lucy afterwards in a VIP area!
Can you imagine having a superhero as a dad and a super villain as a mum? Join the comic maestro behind Dinkin Dins as he introduces us to Jonny and Tommy Atomic, two super boys with exciting adventures.
The fantastic team behind Local to Ludlow return to Hay with their mobile culinary school. Using locally sourced ingredients they teach children how to cook delicious snacks from scratch.
Duration 60 mins. 10-14 years
Each young person attending this workshop without an accompanying adult must fill in the Permission Form available for download here. Please send the form in advance to admin@hayfestival.org and bring a copy on the day.
Whether you want to write fantasy fiction, paranormal romance, thrillers or mysteries, this session will show you how. Be inspired and unlock you best-seller.
Duration 60 mins.14+ years
Each young person attending this workshop must fill in the Permission Form available for download here. Please send the form in advance to admin@hayfestival.org AND bring a copy on the day.
