Hay Festival 2023

Environmental journalist Tim Smedley gives a thought-provoking and gripping look into his newest book The Last Drop, an investigation into the world’s next great climate crisis: the scarcity of water. Looking at how countries have been addressing water quality issues caused by pollution as well as human mismanagement of water, Smedley offers a fascinating, honest and ultimately hopeful account of the crisis and how we might address it before it’s too late. He talks to Hay Festival Sustainability Director Andy Fryers.

Join Emma Cline and Nicola Flattery as they discuss their new novels about young women navigating uncertain worlds, and trying to find their place. Cline’s The Guest is about a woman who chooses to stay on Long Island after her relationship with an older man ends, drifting like a ghost through the gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world, trailing destruction in her wake. Flattery’s debut Nothing Special is a tale of two young women navigating the world of Andy Warhol’s Factory, and coming of age in 1960s New York.

Citizens of Worlds is the first thorough study of the increasingly widespread use of digital technologies to monitor and respond to air pollution. Drawing on data from the Citizen Sense research group, Jennifer Gabrys argues that citizen-oriented technologies promise positive change but collide with entrenched and inequitable power structures, and explains how people respond to, care for, and struggle to transform environmental conditions informs the political subjects and collectives they become. Gabrys is chair in media, culture and environment in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, and the author of books including Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics.

Come and join Rooted Forest School for outdoor family sessions inspired by the Forest School approach. We’ll use foraged materials to craft natural items that you can take away with you, taking part in some simple tool use and finishing off with a hot apple juice around the fire. These sessions are aimed at families and will run whatever the weather, so make sure you’re wrapped up for the conditions.

Historians William Dalrymple and Joseph Sassoon give a fresh perspective on the defining forces of 19th-century Bombay and the present: globalisation and corporate power. They explore the captivating world of politics and power, innovation and intrigue, high society and empire in 19th-century Bombay through the rise and fall of the East India Company and the Sassoon trading dynasty. Dalrymple has written four books, including The Anarchy, chronicling the extraordinary story of the East India Company. Sassoon’s The Global Merchants is about one of the great business dynasties of the 19th century.

Charming, witty and full of emotion, Jojo Moyes’ stories have a way of settling in readers’ hearts, and her latest is no different. Discover how she creates and writes her enduring characters, as she discusses her latest book Someone Else’s Shoes, a story of unexpected female friendship. When Nisha and Sam accidentally swap gym bags, both women’s lives are irrevocably altered. Moyes is the author of novels including Me Before You, adapted into a hit film, and The Giver of Stars.

The computational chemist (Coveney) and Science Museum director (Highfield) reveal what it takes to build a virtual, functional copy of you in five steps. This is a panoramic account of efforts by scientists around the world to build digital twins of human beings, from cells and tissues to organs and whole bodies. These virtual copies will usher in a new era of personalised medicine, one in which your digital twin can help predict your risk of disease, participate in virtual drug trials, shed light on the diet and lifestyle changes that are best for you, and help identify therapies to enhance your well-being and extend your lifespan. But challenges remain.

Belim’s moving memoir The Rooster House: A Ukrainian Family Memoir is a tale of identity and post-Soviet reality told across four generations, as a young woman searches for traces of her great-uncle who disappeared during the 1930s. Kevin Jared Hosein, winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, is author of Hungry Ghosts, a novel about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of 1940s colonial central Trinidad. Both use writing to deal with complicated issues linked with identity, colonialism and class struggles. They talk to Rosie Goldsmith, journalist and Director of the European Literature Network.

Take a whip-smart deep dive into what it would really be like to be internet famous at 17, with Bristolian author Amara Sage. Introducing her debut YA novel, Influential, and shooting straight to the heart of the modern day teenage experience – both online and offline – Amara will discuss themes of social media, cancel culture, online trolling, body image and more.

Learn how to pay attention to the world like an artist, with Will Gompertz and Jeremy Deller. Gompertz’s See What You’re Missing: 31 Ways Artists Notice the World – and How You Can Too takes us into the minds of artists to show us how to look and experience the world with their heightened powers of perception. Gompertz spent seven years as a director of the Tate Galleries followed by 11 years as the BBC’s Arts Editor, and is now artistic director at the Barbican. Deller is one of Britain’s great contemporary artists, and in Art is Magic brings together for the first time key works from his career alongside the art, pop music, film, politics and history that have inspired him. He won the Turner Prize in 2004 for his work ‘Memory Bucket’. They talk to Katy Hessel, author of The Story of Art Without Men.

Kit de Waal turns her writer’s lens on herself for the first time, with her memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood. In conversation with Booker Prize-winner Douglas Stuart (Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo), de Waal gives a warm-hearted glimpse into her life growing up in a household of opposites and extremes: her mother rarely cooked, forbade Christmas and birthdays, worked as a cleaner, nurse and childminder and believed the world would end in 1975, while her father stuffed barrels full of goodies for his relatives in the Caribbean, cooked elaborate meals on a whim and splurged money they didn't have. De Waal tells an extraordinary story of an apparently ordinary life.

The Cost of Living was a ground-breaking three-part production at National Theatre Wales, which included a bold adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, written by Emily White. Combining conversation, theatre and music, it was unashamedly about the moment we’re living in. White reunites with co-director Kel Matsena, National Theatre Wales’ producer Glesni Price-Jones and cast member Sara Beer for a discussion about the show, reflecting on our rights and the many current attacks on them.

Conjuring a peculiar Jamaican family in Luton, Colin Grant presents his memoir I’m Black So You Don’t Have to Be. He introduces us to his proud mother, Ethlyn, who dreams of escaping their council house; his father Bageye, whose ganja dealing enables Grant’s private school education; and his acerbic uncle, Castus, who predicts Grant’s four BBC disciplinary hearings and berates his nephew for not being black enough. Grant is an author, historian and critic.

Acclaimed theoretical physicist and science writer Lawrence M Krauss, in conversation with philosopher AC Grayling, tackles five fundamental mysteries at the forefront of science today: time, space, matter, life, and consciousness. He speaks about the big questions that will shape the state of science for the decades ahead, and why exploring the mysteries that define the scientific forefront – known as the threshold of the unknown – will help us gain a deeper understanding of just how far science has progressed. As well as The Known Unknowns: The Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos, Krauss’s books include The Physics of Star Trek and The Physics of Climate Change, and he hosts The Origins podcast.

Feeling that Eurovision fever? As the contest hits the UK, join us for a special Hay Festival take on the celebrations as our panel of expert readers debate the greatest European literature published since Eurovision began in 1956. Champion old favourites and discover new recommendations as we decide who should take our Eurovision of Books crown. You won’t find any nul points given here.

Writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright talks to Dan Richards about her recovery from alcohol addiction, and the parallel story of her father’s descent into Alzheimer’s, as she discusses her new memoir. Moving between London, Cornwall, New York and more, This Ragged Grace is a story of navigating seemingly impossible things without old fixes, and about a reckoning with addiction, loss, self and hope in your twenties and thirties. Bright co-hosts the podcast Literary Friction and has also presented programmes for BBC Radio 4.

In The Whale Tattoo, a giant sperm whale washes up on a Norfolk beach, and tells confused working class lad Joe Gunner that death will follow him wherever he goes. Having stormed out of home two years ago, Joe knows he has to go back, even though it won’t be easy. He turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened, but their bond, as well as the one he has with local fisherman and long-time lover Tim Fysh, is not without trouble. Jon Ransom speaks to comedian and podcaster Cariad Lloyd about his book, writing queer voices and the bond between siblings.

Twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid emerged 32 years ago with their debut album This Is The Story and the single Letter from America. Since then their enduring appeal across generations has seen them enjoy huge success worldwide. Their songs are timeless, capturing a gamut of human emotions, written with poignancy, emotional honesty, political fire and wit. They feature at weddings, funerals and everything in-between and there is one song, an early celebration of falling head-over-heels in love that is known the world over. Plus, there are many other sublime songs embraced by a multitude that has kept up with The Proclaimers’ studio albums, compilation collections and extensive touring over three decades.

Robin Morgan hosts our Friday night comedy club featuring Bridget Christie, Athena Kugblenu and Isy Suttie. Kugblenu has appeared on shows including Breaking the News, The Russell Howard Hour and Horrible Histories, and hosted the BBC Radio 4 show Athena’s Cancel Culture. Suttie is a musical comedian, writer and actress who played Dobby in the sitcom Peep Show. Christie is star of her own Netflix special and a favourite on Taskmaster whose work includes Channel 4 sitcom The Change and BBC Radio 4 series Bridget Christie Minds the Gap. The event is brought to you by Little Wander, the team behind Machynlleth Comedy Festival.

Start your day with a morning yoga class designed to reinvigorate your energy and spirit. Enjoy a grounding, energising, alignment‐based yoga practice, using the breath and sound to rediscover and rejuvenate the body and mind. Beginners and experienced students are most welcome. Yoga mats and props are provided.

Please contact Kanga Wellbeing on spa@kangaevents.com for any questions relating to these classes. As capacity is limited, we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.