Young Adult

Develop your illustration skills at this fun collage workshop delivered by Hay Festival 2023 Illustrator in Residence Beth Suzanna. In this empowering workshop you’ll use the medium of collage to reflect who you are and what’s important to you. You’ll create self portraits depicting the things that inspire you. You’ll learn about the art of visual storytelling from one of the UK’s rising stars of illustration, and work together to create a large-scale group collage. Whether you want to feel inspired in a relaxed space or to get stuck in and learn a new skill, this workshop is an informal session for everyone.

Beth recently collaborated with hip hop star, actor and writer Jordan Stephens on a children’s book, The Missing Piece – you can see them in conversation about their collaboration in an event on Sunday 28 May, 10am.

Open talking from gender equality activist and Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates and author of I Heard What You Said Jeffrey Boakye, who has a particular interest in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. Together they’ll discuss important issues for young people today including consent, women online and toxic masculinity. Laura Bates is a Hay Festival 2023 Thinker in Residence, questioning norms, finding new perspectives and challenging us to action.

The story of animation stretches back to the early 1800s with the invention of spinning optical illusion devices such as the zoetrope. These days animation is everywhere from animated films, cartoons and GIFs to computer games and VR. But how did we get here? Learn about the origins of early animation and create your own loopy animation in this fun, hands-on workshop led by visual artists MASH Cinema.

Mystery and myth await you as debut author Clara Kumagai spins the tale of a Japan fractured in time by an infamous monster. There’s a catfish under the islands and when it rolls the land rises and falls. Sora hates the catfish, whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. After Sora’s father goes missing too, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the ruptured time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself...

This outstanding coming-of-age YA novel weaves themes of identity, ecology, loss and love. Set in a world of Japanese myth, folklore and magical realism, it’s perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli.

Transform your drawings and collages of minibeasts into a cacophony of colour using a Risograph machine. You’ll come out of this session with your own prints to take home. Risograph is a method of printing using a stencil printing machine originating in Japan and printing on 100% recycled paper. The workshop is led by Jess Bugler RCA, a contemporary print artist based in Hereford and Print Technician at Hereford College of Arts (jessbugler.co.uk).

Bring your intuition to this interactive event and learn about the storytelling power of tarot cards. Podcaster, screenwriter and journalist Caroline O’Donoghue will show you how to use the ancient magical tool for creating stories, characters and situations. O’Donoghue is author of the New York Times bestselling ‘Gifts’ trilogy, an Irish supernatural adventure about a gang of friends who find special powers through the tarot cards. She’ll perform lighthearted tarot readings – expect revelations and lots of laughs.

Transform your drawings and collages of minibeasts into a cacophony of colour using a Risograph machine. You’ll come out of this session with your own prints to take home. Risograph is a method of printing using a stencil printing machine originating in Japan and printing on 100% recycled paper. The workshop is led by Jess Bugler RCA, a contemporary print artist based in Hereford and Print Technician at Hereford College of Arts (jessbugler.co.uk).

Research shows that children form their earliest money habits by the age of seven, and Tomlinson is on a mission to teach young people how to form valuable, long-lasting money habits. The Cash is Queen author leads an energetic, interactive event, sharing her top tips and quizzing the audience on their own financial aptitude, making sure the financial habits we form are ones that will have a positive impact.

Get your voice heard and be the difference you want to see! Radio Platfform provides a platform to express yourself. In this radio and podcasting workshop we’ll use activism and protest as a starting point – you’ll learn all the best tricks and tips about what makes a good podcast before having a go at recording and producing yourself.

Radio Platfform is a youth-led radio station working from the Wales Millennium Centre, with studios in Cardiff Bay and Porth. Since its inception in 2016, it offers accredited training in audio production, and members have job opportunities as well as hands-on experience at gigs and events.

Saving a friend from falling in with the wrong crowd; the importance of friendship, care and community; and the need for urban green spaces. Sita Brahmachari will talk about her powerful YA novel When Shadows Fall, a timely, lyrical and impactful story of disaffected youth and the vulnerability of teenage years. The book mixes forms, including verse, prose and illustrations from Natalie Sirett, exploring themes that will open wide-ranging conversations.

Sita Bramachari won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize with her debut Artichoke Hearts and is Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Natalie Sirett is a multimedia artist whose work explores issues of body image and the growing pains of adolescence.

Reena from Bollywood Dreams Dance Company will teach you some dynamic moves in this fun Bollywood dance workshop. You’ll learn hand gestures, some technique work and choreography. By the end of the session you’ll have formed a fun Bollywood routine to take away and show your friends!

You Don't Know What War Is is the powerfully moving true story of a young girl fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. The gripping and urgent diary of refugee Yeva Skalietska, it follows twelve days that changed 12-year-old Yeva’s life forever.

She was woken in the early hours to the terrifying sounds of shelling. Russia had invaded Ukraine, and her beloved Kharkiv home was no longer the safe haven it should have been. It was while she and her granny were forced to seek shelter in a damp, cramped basement that Yeva decided to write down her story.

Yeva shares what is happening hour-by-hour as she seeks safety and travels from Kharkiv to Dublin, where she now lives. Giving a powerful insight into what conflict is like through the eyes of a child, this is an essential event for older children and adults alike. She talks to children’s author Jenny Valentine (Broken Soup, A Girl Called Joy).

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.

Get involved in this engaging, hands-on workshop with professional film-makers and content producers, and ensure that your unique BookFlicks recommendations reach the widest audiences. BookFlicks is a youth-led project where you can create micro-short films about the books you love and share widely across social media. Bring your favourite book to showcase or be inspired by the Hay Festival Bookshop!

If possible, bring a smart phone and download CapCut (a free video editing app) to edit your BookFlicks film. If you don’t have access to a smartphone, we have a limited number that you can use. And don’t forget to bring your imagination!

Rural Media is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation comprising the award-winning Rural Media Charity and its trading arm production house, Rural Studios. Founded in 1992, the organisation works locally and nationally using film, media and digital arts to educate, influence change and celebrate rural life.

Please note: During the workshop, you’ll be encouraged to explore the Hay Festival site to capture the content you need for your book recommendation, before coming back to the workshop to edit the footage together. By choosing to book onto the BookFlicks Workshop, you are agreeing to this, on behalf of yourself or a person in your care.

Don’t stand us up for this very special in conversation event with Alice Oseman, creator of global smash-hit coming-of-age romance Heartstopper. We follow the story of Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys who meet at grammar school, quickly become friends and fall in love. The book navigates the ups and downs of first loves, friendships, coming out and mental health, beautifully framed by a warm cast of supporting characters.

Heartstopper started life as a webcomic, quickly becoming an online sensation with over 100 million views. The #1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling graphic novels that followed have brought this charming love story to even more readers. Now it’s a critically acclaimed major Netflix series, written by Oseman herself.

So come along to hear her talk about the incredible journey so far and maybe even get a special sneak peek at what’s to come in Heartstopper volume five…