Hay Festival 2015

In this portrait class, students will be encouraged to experiment with various drawing mediums, using colour and line to explore different ways of depicting depth and shade. There will be an emphasis on looking in detail at the individual, the peculiarities and structure of the head, discovering what makes a drawing a portrait.

Suitable for all ages and abilities

Create, decorate and launch your own rocket, aided by the AstroCymru groundcrew and University of South Wales Astronomers. See if you can achieve a Low Earth or Geosynchronous Orbit.  The sky is your limit!

Young wildlife photographer in the making? Take our photography challenge – discover what lives in the Hay Festival garden and get creative! Learn new skills and discover nature with Photo Junior and RSPB Cymru. 

4–12 years

Photo: Mike Rawlings

In November 1596 a woman signed a document which would nearly destroy the career of William Shakespeare… Who was the woman who played such an instrumental, yet little known, role in Shakespeare’s life? Never far from controversy when she was alive – she sparked numerous riots and indulged in acts of bribery, breaking-and-entering, and kidnapping – Elizabeth Russell has been edited out of public memory, yet the chain of events she set in motion would be the making of Shakespeare as we all know him today.

What is causing the logjam between central economic policy-makers and the energy of local economic activists? Stormy with a sunny local banking outlook – the economic forecast with the New Weather Institute. New Economic Foundation fellows and authors Andrew Simms and David Boyle discuss with Green MP Caroline Lucas.

An introspective and revealing look at the nature of the creative process. This is not a ‘how to’ book in any sense: Peter Korn wants to get at the ‘why’ of craft in particular and the satisfactions of creative work in general to understand their essential nature. Korn is a furniture-maker and is founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Furniture Craftsmanship.

Every year the Next Big Thing session at Hay profiles some of the most extraordinary and visionary research work being adventured in the UK. From brain imaging to materials discovery, three Royal Society Research Fellows discuss their work in cutting edge science with broadcaster Claudia Hammond.

BBC Radio 4’s daily arts programme Front Row will be discussing the future of publishing with authors, critics and industry insiders as they grapple with the creative and economic challenges of the digital world. Presented by Samira Ahmed.

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 every day at 7.15pm–7.45pm. This programme will be broadcast on Friday 29 May at 7.15pm.

Enter the magical mind of the bestselling author, whose recent books include the highly-acclaimed The Sleeper and the Spindle and Fortunately, the Milk. Find out where his genius ideas spring from and how he writes his books. From fairy tale twists to alien abductions over milk, there is a whole world to explore. He will be joined by Chris Riddell and his magical pens for some live drawing and book banter.

Please click here to prebook lunch at Relish Restaurant on site.

Young wildlife photographer in the making? Take our photography challenge – discover what lives in the Hay Festival garden and get creative! Learn new skills and discover nature with Photo Junior and RSPB Cymru. 

4–12 years

Photo: Mike Rawlings

Expect the unexpected! With a focus on Welsh culture and landscape, this drawing course uses unusual props and models to inspire you, opening up the imaginative mind and enlivening our drawing practice. With particular reference to artists Maggie Hambling, Thomas Bewick and Samuel Palmer.

Suitable for all ages and abilities

Shakespeare is the best and most creative writer of the English language of all time. He deploys the widest and most thrilling vocabulary, drawing on classical and biblical scholarship and the keenest ear for human speech ever bent. And where the words he needed didn’t exist, he invented them. The classical actor and his father, the great Linguistics professor, entertain us with the most vital language ever used.

The trailblazing economist, author of The Carbon Crunch, shows the commonly held view that environmental protection poses obstacles to economic progress to be false. He explains why the environment must be at the very core of economic planning. He presents the first real attempt to calibrate, measure and value ‘natural capital’ from an economic perspective and goes on to outline a stable new framework for sustainable growth.

How does narrative shape the sciences and the arts? Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri, author of The Famished Road, Astonishing the Gods and The Age of Magic, is joined by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, in conversation with novelist and academic Elleke Boehmer.

What can we learn from the ancient Romans and Greeks about the impact of migration on language? And how is this relevant to contemporary concerns about immigration and language change?