Hay Festival 2019 Programme

Swallow and starling, puffin and peregrine, blue tit and blackcap. We use these names so often that few of us ever pause to wonder about their origins. What do they mean? Where did they come from? And who created them? The words we use to name birds are some of the most lyrical and evocative in the English language. They also tell incredible stories: of epic expeditions, fierce battles between rival ornithologists, momentous historical events and touching romantic gestures. Moss is one of our most treasured naturalists and broadcasters.

A group of rebels has united to save a world ravaged by war, violence and greed. Joan is their leader. The future of humanity is being rewritten. Yuknavitch's mesmerising novel sees Joan of Arc's story reborn for the near future. It is a genre-defying masterpiece that may very well rewire your brain.

The writers look at how 'prescribing nature' and a daily dose of wildness can help our mental health, and explore themes of nature deprivation and social isolation. Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of The Spectator, found relief from depression in being outdoors (and is author of the forthcoming The Natural Health Service: What the Great Outdoors can do for Your Mind), talks with Patrick Barkham, author of Badgerlands, Coastlines and Islander. They are joined by Rob Pickford, Chair of Wildlife Trust Wales. After the conversation there will be a a walk around a flagship Brecknock nature reserve, Pwll-y-Wrach, led by Gwent Wildlife Trust CEO Ian Rappel, in the Black Mountains.

Join spectacular storyteller Atinuke for a bouncy read-along with Baby and his mama. Hear all about the traditional folk tales and the stories from the bustling city in Nigeria where she grew up and which inspired her writing.

Work with a Fine Artist and HCA tutor in this life drawing session. You will have a variety of short and long poses and work with a range of materials to explore and extend your creative potential. Materials and equipment provided; all abilities welcome.

These workshops will explore textiles in fresh and unexpected ways by linking contemporary practices and technology with age-old techniques. By focusing on storytelling, heritage and a respect for craft that is also sustainable, participants will experiment with natural dyes, create three-dimensional lines and threads and practise slow stitch techniques. Materials are supplied and will be sourced from outlets promoting re-use and recycling, to reduce materials going into the waste stream.

The philosopher investigates why the institutions of representative democracy seem unable to hold up against forces they were designed to manage, and why it matters. He considers those moments in history when the challenges we face today were first encountered and what solutions were found. Then he lays bare the specific threats facing democracy today.

The journalist and writer Bullough (The Last Man in Russia, Moneyland) follows the money from Russia that flows into the UK and the darkmoney laundromat London housing market. Applebaum is a journalist and Russian expert, author of Gulag, Iron Curtain and Red Famine. Browder, founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005. He is the author of Red Notice: How I Became Putin’s No.1 Enemy. And that’s a tough field.

The writer, diplomat and politician offers a profound examination of Hinduism, one of the world's oldest and greatest religious traditions. He lays out Hinduism’s origins and its key philosophical concepts, and its everyday beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage and caste. Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of extremism and unequivocal in his belief that what makes India a distinctive nation with a unique culture and democratic tradition will be imperilled if Hindu fundamentalists, the proponents of ‘Hindutva’, or politicised Hinduism, seize the high ground.

Egg freezing is an increasingly popular reproductive technology that offers the potential of staying fertile later in life. Yet while it opens up possibilities of having children at a later age, promise of ‘rewinding the biological clock’ also encourages younger, presumably fertile, women to undergo infertility treatment. Dr Lucy van de Wiel will discuss how egg freezing profoundly shifts our understanding of what it means to be fertile, and to age. Dr van de Wiel is a Research Associate at the Reproductive Sociology Research Group.

New work from the local writers group. All welcome.

Come and be inspired by some great heroes. Clinton’s new picture book, with illustrations by Alexandra Boiger, celebrates 13 women from around the world who have used their voices and determination to create change and to shape history. The women whose stories she tells include: Marie Curie, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Leymah Gbowee, Caroline Herschel, Wangari Maathai, Aisha Rateb, J.K. Rowling, Yuan Yuan Tan and Malala Yousafzai.  

Calling all heroes, villains and Super Zeroes. Join the radio personalities and authors for an action-packed Kid Normal event, including a reading from the new book, Kid Normal and the Rogue Heroes. Dave Cribb will provide musical accompaniment throughout. Help create a brand new superhero story and prepare for lots of games, singing and audience participation. Superpowers not required.

These workshops will explore textiles in fresh and unexpected ways by linking contemporary practices and technology with age-old techniques. By focusing on storytelling, heritage and a respect for craft that is also sustainable, participants will experiment with natural dyes, create three-dimensional lines and threads and practise slow stitch techniques. Materials are supplied and will be sourced from outlets promoting re-use and recycling, to reduce materials going into the waste stream.

During a three-year, eight-nation journey, Ignatieff found that while human rights is the language of states and liberal elites, the moral language that resonates with most people is one of everyday virtues: tolerance, forgiveness, trust and resilience. These ordinary virtues are the moral system of global cities and obscure shantytowns alike. A novelist and historian, Ignatieff is Rector and President of Central European University in Budapest.
Chaired by Rosie Boycott.

The anthropologist and broadcaster uncovers the deep history of ten familiar species with incredible wild pasts: dogs, apples and wheat; cattle, potatoes and chickens; rice, maize and horses – and, finally, humans. She reveals how becoming part of our world changed these animals and plants, and shows how they became our allies, essential to the survival and success of our own species.

Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. Yet somehow, as she began to recover from the emotional rollercoaster of laying her life bare in her mental health memoir Mad Girl, she started to realise that getting outside, moving her body and talking to others for whom life was also an occasional challenge, might actually help her. Going for a run might not banish her sadness but at least it might show that she was damn well trying to beat it, which is sometimes half the battle. As she began to run further she started to see the limitations she had imposed on her life more clearly. Why couldn’t she be a runner? Or a bungee jumper? Or a deep-sea diver? Maybe rather than sitting on the sofa watching the world go by, fulfilling your dreams was just about standing up and taking that first step.

Adam Smith is now widely regarded as 'the father of modern economics'. But what he really thought, and what the implications of his ideas are, remain fiercely contested. Was he an eloquent advocate of capitalism and the freedom of the individual? Or a prime mover of 'market fundamentalism' and an apologist for inequality and human selfishness? Norman’s biography explores his work as a whole and traces his influence over the past two centuries. He shows how a proper understanding of Smith can help us grasp - and address - the problems of modern capitalism. His account of Smith offers not only the first thinker to place markets at the heart of economics, but also a pioneering theorist of moral philosophy, culture and society. Jesse Norman is MP for South Herefordshire, an historian and economist. Chaired by Bronwen Maddox.

The British Isles are an archipelago made up of two large islands and 6,289 smaller ones. The nature writer meets all kinds of islanders, from nuns to puffins, from local legends to rare subspecies of vole, as he seeks to discover what it is like to live on a small island, and what it means to be an islander.

Barkham’s books include Coastlines, Badgerlands and The Butterfly Isles.