Hay Festival 2019 Programme

We live in a golden era of protest. From the anti-gun rallies in the US to the March of Return demos in Palestine, people are taking to the streets and standing up to governments that have fallen out of step with the popular mood. Resist is the second instalment of a series of commissions challenging authors to reimagine key moments of British protest through fiction, while working closely with historians, crowd scientists and eye-witnesses to maximise their historical accuracy. Bidisha reimagines Boudica’s revolt against the Romans, Eley Williams rewrites the Rebecca Riots and Jude Brown re-imagines the Liverpool Transport Strike of 1911 when then Home Sec Winston Churchill sent military warships up the Mersey. All these stories offer a grassroots perspective on very hard-won grassroots progress. 

Fiction provides children with an important space to learn how to make sense of the world. It is also a crucial source for role models. Fictional worlds are not so unlike the real world – especially when it comes to gender inequalities. Based on their work with large collections of texts, Professor Mahlberg and Dr Cermakova from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Corpus Research will explore fiction from Dickens to modern children's books, to demonstrate how repeated language patterns reflect a gendered view of society. 

The last of our four recitals broadcast from Hay this week. Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major; Karol Szymanowski’s String Quartet No.1 in C Major, Op.37.

The award-winning author and scientist invites you to celebrate trees in all their variety as she leads a journey exploring the extraordinary diversity of trees and forests. With fascinating facts and figures, Nicola will encourage children (and adults) to treasure te world’s biodiversity and give tips on how to help stop it slipping away.

Have a go at green woodwork, pottery and weaving and find out what our craft-based Practical Skills Therapeutic Education brings to autistic young people. Talk with students, craft tutors and staff. Ruskin Mill Trust is a unique educational charity for learners with complex needs.

Join the University of Worcester illustration team to make rubber stamps in response to the Migrations – Open Hearts, Open Borders exhibition. Find out how artists can change attitudes and help us to empathise with people who face dangers in their struggle to find a safer and better place to live. We will provide the rubber and inks; please bring kindness and imagination to show that a small gesture can make a difference.

Step into Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials world where every child is born with their own shape-shifting daemon. What form will your daemon take? You might want a lion, but could it be a poodle? Join poet and performer Rufus Mufasa and Head4Arts in discovering your inner daemon through poetry, art… and magic.

Book your table for lunch in The Grove festival restaurant and receive a complimentary drink* with each ticket.

The comfortable and relaxed restaurant offers friendly and professional table service and an exciting menu of locally-sourced fresh and seasonal food, expertly crafted by our passionate kitchen team. Click here to see a sample of the menu.

We also offer delicious vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free choices, desserts and local cheeses. Complement your meal with a choice of local craft beers, artisan gins and quality wines from our fully stocked bar. A selection of Fairtrade coffees and teas is also available.

Your reservation will be held for your arrival between 2pm and 3pm and our staff will be ready to warmly welcome you.

If you have any special dietary requirements please contact us in advance on 01453 708336 or email thegrove@bigeventcatering.co.uk

 *A 125ml glass of house wine, 500ml bottle of beer, lager or cider or a soft drink.


The Grove also offers delicious afternoon teas, including optional Bollinger Champagne, and a sumptuous array of delicate finger sandwiches and homemade cakes. Please call ahead to book for afternoon tea on 01453 708336. £25 per person.

Who was Queen Victoria? A little old lady, potato-like in appearance, dressed in everlasting black? Or a passionate young princess, a romantic heroine with a love of dancing? There is a third Victoria – a woman who was a remarkably successful queen, one who invented a new role for the monarchy. She found a way of being a respected sovereign in an age when people were deeply uncomfortable with having a woman on the throne. On the face of it, she was deeply conservative. But if you look at her actions rather than her words, she was in fact tearing up the rule-book for how to be female.

In the summer of 2017 a team of interviewers travelled up and down the Wye in Herefordshire, recording the experiences of the people who have lived and worked on the river or simply been drawn to its waters in search of recreation or a jam jar of minnows. O’Mahony has collected their stories. River Voices is filled with stories of the Wye told through the words and photographs of those who have known the river all their lives – ferrymen and ferrywomen, boat builders and bridge builders, rowers and swimmers, anglers and poachers, ghillies and river bailiffs, otter hunters and more. Chaired by Adrian Lambert.

From Saudi journalists to Russian spies, assassination has been big news over the past year. Trenta and Cormac explore assassination in international politics, asking what triggers states to resort to such a controversial tactic; and how can they can get away with it? Turning the spotlight closer to home, they also explain how the US and the UK have traditionally thought about assassination. Do MI6 and the CIA really have a license to kill? Trenta is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies, Swansea University, and Cormac is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham.

The 21st century is a new era for interfaith dialogue. While in the past such encounters might have been stiff affairs contrived to generate a politically expedient photo-op, what is remarkable today is the depth of relationships being formed across historically deep divides. In her wide-ranging project Only Through Others acclaimed artist Nicola Green presents photographs and paintings inspired by Archbishop Rowan Williams’ intimate conversations with figures including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and former British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Green’s works refuse to see theology in a vacuum, placing faith fully within the context of visual, material and sensory culture. Chaired by Simon Lockett.

Comedian Humza Arshad introduces his latest character creation, Humza Khan aka Little Badman, the star of a hilarious new series for children full of mischief, adventure and evil aunties. Named ‘the most influential Asian of his generation’, Humza Arshad is an ambassador for YouTube’s Creators for Change and is passionate about using creativity and comedy to inspire youngsters from all backgrounds.

Who will win the 2019 YA Book Prize? Join the host of the award presentation to hear from authors on the shortlist, which this year includes Sara Barnard, Juno Dawson, Laura Dockrill, Muhammad Khan, Louise O’Neill, Alice Oseman, Tom Pollock, Fiona Shaw, Katherine Webber and Laura Wood.

Have a go at green woodwork, pottery and weaving and find out what our craft-based Practical Skills Therapeutic Education brings to autistic young people. Talk with students, craft tutors and staff. Ruskin Mill Trust is a unique educational charity for learners with complex needs.

Step into Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials world where every child is born with their own shape-shifting daemon. What form will your daemon take? You might want a lion, but could it be a poodle? Join poet and performer Rufus Mufasa and Head4Arts in discovering your inner daemon through poetry, art… and magic.

Join the University of Worcester illustration team to make collages and prints in response to the Migrations – Open Hearts, Open Borders exhibition. Find out how artists can change attitudes and help us to empathise with people who face dangers in their struggle to find a safer and better place to live. We will provide materials and inks; please bring kindness and imagination to show that a small gesture can make a difference.

The MP for Tottenham investigates the modern concept of ‘tribes’ and how New Tribalism has pernicious effects on the health of our society. He explores the ways in which we can challenge and neuter New Tribalism, distinguishing the ‘good’ sort of tribalism – the patriotism that is inclusive and open to newcomers, the ethnic or religious pride that celebrates a particular culture or faith tradition rather than denigrates others as inferior, the ‘Spirit of Dunkirk’ that saw ordinary people come together and do extraordinary things – from the harmful tribalism that excludes and divides. Chaired by Justin Albert, Director of National Trust Wales.

“Sensations presents a radically new story of British art. It connects the artists of today with British culture more than three hundred years ago as it finds an unexpected thread that links William Hogarth and Tracey Emin, Thomas Gainsborough and Lucian Freud. What they share is an eye for the real world. I hope this book will change how you see Britain, and its art” – Jonathan Jones.

Harper examines population trends by region to explode some myths and highlight the key issues facing us in the coming decades, including the demographic inertia in Europe, demographic dividend in Asia, high fertility and mortality in Africa, the youth bulge in the Middle East, and the balancing act of migration in the Americas. Harper analyses the global challenges we must plan for – the impact of climate change and urbanisation and the difficulty of feeding ten billion people – and considers ways in which we can prepare for and mitigate against these dangers. Harper is Professor of Gerontology at Oxford University and Director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing.