Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2022

We are delighted to announce the full programme of events for Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2022.

Please note: tickets on sale are for live events, to attend in person. You can buy a pass to watch the festival online.

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Event 1

Kate Kato

Book Art Workshop

 Hay Castle Clore Learning Space

Learn how to make a work of art from the pages of recycled books, with celebrated paper artist Kate Kato, who uses discarded and recyled papers, wire and found objects to create sculptures inspired by the natural world. The theme of this event is the seasonally appropriate mushroom. All materials provided.

This event is run by Hay Castle with all proceeds going to the Hay Castle Trust
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Event 2

Father Richard Williams

Nosferatu: screening with organ music

 St Mary’s Church

Father Richard Williams, the extraordinarily gifted organist, composer and parish priest of St Mary’s Church in Hay, performs his stunning live accompaniment to FW Murnau’s classic, silent 1922 Dracula film Nosferatu, using the church’s outstanding Bevington organ.

There will be an interval with refreshments
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Event 3

Hay Festival Open Forum

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

It's been a transformative 12 months at Hay Festival HQ: we welcomed new CEO Julie Finch, transitioned into a fully fledged charity and began an ambitious expansion of our education and outreach work across Wales and the world.

As we open this new chapter, Julie opens Hay Festival Winter Weekend with a forum for imagining the Festival’s future. Please join us in this discussion to ask questions, share ideas, and look towards the positive changes we can create in our community and further afield.

You can submit your questions in advance to friends@hayfestival.org and there will be time for follow-ups in the room over tea, coffee and cake. Let's talk, let's listen.

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Event 46

Luke Harding talks to Oliver Bullough (EXTRA EVENT)

Invasion: Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

The first book of reportage from the front line of the Ukraine war, Invasion is a powerful and moving work by the Guardian journalist and New York Times best-selling author of Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money and How Russia helped Trump Win, and Shadow State, about the Salisbury poisonings.

For months, the omens had pointed in one scarcely believable direction: Russia was about to invade Ukraine. And yet, the world was stunned by the epochal scale of the assault that began in February 2022, an attempt by one nation to devour another. The Kremlin wanted nothing less than a new world order.

Reporting on the ground during the build-up to the conflict, the initial months of shock and heartbreak and grim reality of this ongoing war, Harding shares unheard human stories behind the headlines. He analyses two very different leaders: as Ukraine’s actor-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskiy rallied support on a global stage, Vladimir Putin appeared to dwell in a strange and unreachable realm.

Delving into the ideological, religious and personal reasons driving Putin’s strategy for war, the author confronts a crucial question: what will be the endgame of this invasion?

In conversation with investigative reporter and writer Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World and Moneyland.

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Event 4

Robert Hardman

Queen of our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

Like her father and grandfather before her, Queen Elizabeth II was not born to be monarch. Yet she led her people through more social change than any British sovereign during a life spanning abdication, war, romance, danger, tragedy and triumph. Robert Hardman, one of Britain's most acclaimed royal biographers, reflects on her extraordinary life and cultural impact.

With original insights from family, friends and staff, new interviews with world leaders plus unseen photographs and papers, including diaries and letters from the Royal Archives, the Royal biographer reveals hidden wartime secrets, the inside story of historic Royal reforms, the Queen’s relations with her ministers and international leaders, and her strategy when confronted with family and constitutional crises.

With the end of the second Elizabethan era, is it time to re-think the institution? After the mass outpouring of grief and 12-mile-long queues in London to pay respects, is there any life left in Republicanism?

 
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Event 5

Philip Lymbery talks to Nicola Cutcher

Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach A Nature-Friendly Future

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

The author of Farmageddon investigates the expansion of industrial farming worldwide, confronting 'Big Agriculture', where mega-farms, chemicals and animal cages are jeopardising the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the nature we treasure.

But he also finds hope in the pioneers who are battling to bring landscapes back to life, who are rethinking farming methods, rediscovering traditional techniques and developing technologies to feed the global population.

In conversation with Nicola Cutcher, journalist, writer and documentary maker, who recently produced Rivercide, about Britain's polluted rivers.

 
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Event 7

Luke Harding talks to Oliver Bullough

Invasion: Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

The first book of reportage from the front line of the Ukraine war, Invasion is a powerful and moving work by the Guardian journalist and New York Times best-selling author of Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money and How Russia helped Trump Win, and Shadow State, about the Salisbury poisonings.

For months, the omens had pointed in one scarcely believable direction: Russia was about to invade Ukraine. And yet, the world was stunned by the epochal scale of the assault that began in February 2022, an attempt by one nation to devour another. The Kremlin wanted nothing less than a new world order.

Reporting on the ground during the build-up to the conflict, the initial months of shock and heartbreak and grim reality of this ongoing war, Harding shares unheard human stories behind the headlines. He analyses two very different leaders: as Ukraine’s actor-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskiy rallied support on a global stage, Vladimir Putin appeared to dwell in a strange and unreachable realm.

Delving into the ideological, religious and personal reasons driving Putin’s strategy for war, the author confronts a crucial question: what will be the endgame of this invasion?

In conversation with investigative reporter and writer Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the World and Moneyland.

 
This event has taken place

Event 8

The Town of Hay and Friends

The Christmas Lights

 Hay Market Square
Come and join the party as Hay welcomes everyone to the beginning of the festive season
with music and food and good cheer, and the turning on of the Christmas lights at 6.30pm
by a special guest.
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Event 10

Anne-Marie Imafidon in conversation with Elena Rodriguez-Falcon

She's in CTRL: How Women can Take Back Tech

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

Why are women under-represented in tech? Why does it matter and what can we do about it?

Our technology is built on a series of big decisions made by a small number of people, mainly men. It is derived from the gender, nationality and beliefs of a section of society whose lived experience may not chime with your own.

The tech world might feel beyond reach, particularly if you're a woman.

In She's In CTRL, the dynamic advocate for women in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), insists that technology is not an unchangeable force. Nor is it the preserve of the élite. It is in our homes and in our hands. Rather than feeling powerless to make changes to the way tech works and fails, she argues that it's time to get into the room where the decisions are made. Or, better yet, create our own tech rooms.

The author is the creator of the social enterprise, Stemettes, which inspires the next generation of females into science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Professor Rodriguez-Falcon has been recognised with numerous awards and professional recognitions, including recently being elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and in late 2022 was appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor of The University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

 
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Event 53

Gareth Howell-Jones in conversation with Owen Sheers

Do Not Call the Tortoise

 The Poetry Bookshop

What if we could see the world afresh? if we could relate to it directly without our cultural filters? Hay Festival Bookseller Gareth Howell-Jones explores this new/old way of looking in Do Not Call the Tortoise.

Its essays encounter Goethe looking at limpets, Coleridge looking at leaves, cats, chapels, the uses of ignorance and, rather daringly, the meaning of life.

They gradually build to a perspective which is quietly but radically different from our contemporary social norms. But you mustn't take his word for it - we each need to look for ourselves!

In conversation with the novelist, poet and playwright Owen Sheers.

Please click here to buy a copy of Do Not Call the Tortoise from the Hay Festival Bookshop

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Gareth Howell-Jones in conversation with Owen Sheers

Event 11

Anne Denholm

In Concert

 St Mary’s Church

An evening of diverse harp music, ranging from classical French favourites to a 20th-century jazz suite on this fantastically versatile instrument.

Repertoire to include:

Gabriel Fauré: Impromptu for Harp

Reinhold Gliere: Impromptu for Harp

Sally Beamish: Awuya

Mared Emlyn: Perlau yn y Glaw

Pearl Chertok: Around the Clock

There will be an interval and refreshments
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Event 12

Manni and Reuben Coe talk to Mark Haddon

brother. do. you. love. me.

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

This is a memoir of two brothers and their extraordinary journey of resilience and repair. Written by Manni Coe and illustrated by Reuben Coe, it tells of how Reuben had been non-verbal, living in a home providing care for adults with learning disabilities, alone and unable to express himself. Desperate, he sent Manni a text message: brother. do. you. love. me.

Manni immediately left his home in Spain, took Reuben out of care and moved them both into a cottage in the Dorset countryside. Slowly they began to rebuild their relationship.

Moving, funny and poignant, the book is a parable for our times, exploring how far we can go for those we love, individually and collectively.

In conversation with award winning writer Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

 
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Event 13

Tom True

Breakfast Tour of Hay Castle

 Hay Castle

Battles, borders, books and breakfast. Explore Hay Castle with Executive Director, Tom True, who will give an introduction to the history and invite you to get to know some of the characters from the Castle's past as well as talking about the recent restoration project. Continental breakfast included in the ticket price.

This event is run by Hay Castle with all proceeds going to the Hay Castle Trust
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Event 14

Rob Biddulph

An Odd Dog Christmas

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

It’s Christmas and Odd Dog is running out of time to find the perfect presents. When she meets a new friend who needs help, she realises that gifts might not be the most important thing about Christmas after all.

Join the Draw-along hero to follow this heartwarming story as well as his path to becoming an author-illustrator. Fun, festive live-drawing and entertainment guaranteed.

5+ years, Family
Please bring along your own pencils and a drawing pad.
 
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Event 15

Rachel Ferrington and Mari Fforde

Clay Portrait Workshop

 Hay Castle Clore Learning Space

Using the historic characters of Hay Castle as inspiration, learn how to make a figure out of clay with the Castle’s resident artist Rachel Ferrington and its historian.

This event is run by Hay Castle with all proceeds going to the Hay Castle Trust
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Event 47

Michael Morpurgo in conversation with Julia Eccleshare

​War Horse at 40

 St Mary’s Church
Award-winning author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo discusses the inspiration and ideas that helped him to write War Horse. A classic story set in World War 1, War Horse gives a unique view of the terrible carnage on the battlefields, told by Joey, one of the many horses in service on the front line.
Family, 8+ years
​There is no book signing after this event but there will be signed copies in the Hay Festival bookshop
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Event 16

Angela Clutton talks to Martin Orbach

Borough Market: The Knowledge – Produce, Skills, Recipes

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)
Producing a great dish, one that celebrates the vibrancy and versatility of seasonal ingredients, doesn’t have to be daunting. All it needs is a knowledge of what to look for when buying ingredients, when to buy them, how to store them, how to prepare them and how best to cook them. The Knowledge is a new book that shares the passion and expertise of the traders who tend their stalls every day at one of the world’s leading food destinations: Borough Market.
Award-winning food writer, Angela Clutton has distilled all their shared wisdom, explaining how to best cook, serve and make your ingredients sing. In this event she will share the knowledge she has gained in creating this book including tips, ideas and recipes from shopping locally and supporting smaller producers and traders. From Arbroath Smokie Croquetas and Parsnip Gnocchi with Smoked Garlic Butter to Broth of Winter Greens with White Beans and Damson Ripple Sourdough Ice-cream, the book’s dishes make it a Market leader.
 
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Event 17

Hanan Issa talks to Dylan Moore

A Child’s Christmas in Wales: Seventy Years On

 Hay Castle Clore Learning Space

A conversation with Hanan Issa, National Poet of Wales, on the transcendent power of poetry and Wales' strong lyrical heritage. Seventy years on from the first broadcast of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, Issa offers her own contemporary response, reflecting on the power of ceremony in uncertain times, the role of memory and nostalgia in writing, and the darkness in Welsh storytelling. The poet has been awarded the Cymrawd Rhyngwladol Cymru Greadigol Hay Festival 2022-23/Hay Festival Creative Wales International Fellowship 2022-23.

In conversation with Dylan Moore, a former recipient of the Fellowship, editor of The Welsh Agenda magazine and author of Many Rivers to Cross.

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Event 48

Alison Weir (EXTRA EVENT)

Queens of the Age of Chivalry: England’s Medieval Queens

 St Mary’s Church

Many of the Plantagenet queens dramatically broke away from the restrictions imposed on their sex. Through the Black Death, Peasants' Revolt, Hundred Years' War and savage baronial wars against the monarchy, the ruling women were passionately involved. Using personal letters and wonderfully vivid sources, the historian evokes the lives of five remarkable medieval queens and brilliantly recreates this dramatic period. Weir’s previous books include The Lost Tudor Princess, The Lady in the Tower, Mistress of the Monarchy, and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

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Event 18

Natalie Haynes talks to Francine Stock

Stone Blind

 Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage (Hay Castle, Great Hall)

The presenter of Stand Up for the Classics brings the infamous Medusa to life as never before.

Medusa is the only mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her sisters, she quickly realizes that she is the only one who gets older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When desire pushes Poseidon to commit the unforgivable, Medusa’s mortal life is changed for ever. Her punishment is to be turned into a Gorgon: sharp teeth, snakes for hair, and a gaze that will turn any living creature to stone. Appalled by her own reflection, Medusa can no longer look upon anything she loves without destroying it. She condemns herself to a life of solitude in the shadows to limit her murderous range. That is, until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon.

This is the story of how a young woman became a monster. And how she was never really a monster at all. Previous books by the author include The Women’s Prize-shortlisted A Thousand Ships, The Children of Jocasta and Pandora’s Jar.

 
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