Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2025

By 1942, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place, yet it was a partnership divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit.

Delve into rarely seen material – including previously unpublished diaries – found from more than 100 archives, and hear about the political rivalry between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin from historian Tim Bouverie, as told in his acclaimed book Allies at War, which offers history fans a new perspective as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. Taking readers into the rooms where critical decisions were made, Allies at War also takes a look at the origins of the Cold War.

Bouverie is interviewed by acclaimed historian, bestselling author and broadcaster David Olusoga, recent interviewer of former President Barack Obama.

Two of Britain’s leading historians – Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga – open a year of reflections on the United States of America, as it prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence.

The consequences of America’s experiment in democracy are still unfolding, and the contradictions, battles and ideals that continue to define it are still under debate.

Churchwell and Olusoga look at what the formation of America meant for the world, whether its vision of liberty has come true, and whether American democracy can survive the challenges it now faces.

Churchwell is chair of public humanities at the University of London and author of Behold America: A History of America First and the American Dream.

David Olusoga is professor of public history at the University of Manchester and author of Black History for Every Day of the Year, and co-host of the podcast Journey Through Time.

The Greek myths you think you know are thrown into new light by Nikita Gill and Natalie Haynes, two of the most engaging and exciting voices in retellings, seen together in a rare appearance.

Poet Gill and writer and broadcaster and rock star mythologist Haynes discuss their work, and delve into why they – and we – are so fascinated by new takes on some of the world’s oldest stories. In Hekate: The Witch, Gill relates in verse the story of the goddess of magic and witchcraft, who is raised by Hades and Styx in the Underworld, where she encounters beauty and horror. Haynes’ No Friend to This House is a reimagining of the life of Medea, based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, and tackles Medea’s power, her relationship with Jason, and the rippling effects of her actions. Both tales are electrifying and spine-chilling – the perfect pairing for a dark November evening.

Step back into your childhood with John Turrell, and reminisce about school playground games from years past.

Based on more than 20 years of research into children’s games and child-lore across Herefordshire and Worcestershire between 1880 and 2010, Turrell’s book Acky, Acky 1, 2, 3! is a deep dive into the games played – from tag to What’s the Time Mr. Wolf – the songs sung and the rhymes that were chanted by children in the streets and in school playgrounds across the two counties.

This event, ironically not suitable for children, is an uncensored look at games and their contribution to social history, and why children’s games are still alive and thriving. Expect fun and, of course, games. Turrell is a former teacher, and researcher with a long-time interest in children’s play and language.

PLEASE NOTE: Readers will find examples of offensive language at various points in the book. This book records the words used by the contributors without any attempt to censor them.That does not mean that any of them are condoned or approved of, but that actual usage is kept in the interests of social history and recording the reality of children’s play. Readers may find the racial language, the slurs and stereotyping offensive – it was and still is.

Two veteran journalists with first-hand experience of Afghanistan offer a deep insight into a country betrayed by the West and Taliban alike, and assess the ongoing impact of its turbulent politics on its allies.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet first visited Kabul’s Inter-Continental Hotel – opened in 1969 and a symbol of the country’s hope for modernisation – in the late 1980s. Returning to the hotel multiple times in the decades since, she uses it and its workers as a lens into the country’s modern history in her book The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History.

Wall Street Journal correspondent Sune Engel Rasmussen offers another perspective in Twenty Years: Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation, drawing on over a decade of reporting to tell how 9/11 shaped – and shattered – the lives of young Afghans.

In the 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen’s birth, there is no sign of our love for one of the nation’s most celebrated authors diminishing.

Rounding off a year of celebrations and discussions at Hay Festivals about Austen, join Rachel Parris in conversation with academic Sarah Churchwell about the enduring legacy of the Pride and Prejudice scribe, and offer up a new understanding of her work and why it continues to speak to us.

Comedian Parris’ Introducing Mrs Collins is a fictional look at Pride and Prejudice’s Charlotte Lucas, who in Austen’s original pursued stability in a marriage to Mr Collins. In Parris’ book, a spark is lit in Charlotte when an unexpected visitor turns up at her Kent home. Parris is a founding member of the critically acclaimed touring improv comedy group Austentatious, and co-hosts the podcast How Was It For You with her husband Marcus Brigstocke.

Celebrate the craftsmanship that has shaped our surroundings, with award-winning broadcaster and art historian James Fox, and hear about some of the country’s last remaining master craftspeople.

Fox’s book Craftland chronicles the traditional crafts of the British Isles, for generations what we made with our hands shaped our identities, built our communities and defined our regions. Craftland chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions such as thatching, hedgelaying and weaving which used to govern every aspect of life.

Fox, director of studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, talks to writer and broadcaster Kate Humble, known for promoting traditional rural crafts and skills through her smallholding, Humble by Nature. The pair discuss why skills passed down the generations must not be allowed to disappear, and celebrate the craftspeople who keep them alive.

Join us this Hay Festival Winter Weekend and be taken on a behind the scenes journey of the upcoming Amgueddfa Cymru exhibition, and explore fresh perspectives on the celebrated Welsh artist's work and life in the experienced hands of the senior curator of the exhibition Lucy Wood, and senior paper conservator at Amgueddfa Cymru Fiona McLees, and is a chance to gain fresh new perspectives on John’s work and her artistic legacy.

Gwen John, a groundbreaking modern artist. Gwen John’s work is both instantly recognisable and era-defining. She is known for the quiet strength of the solitary women in her portraits and the reflective stillness of her interiors. Gwen John defied convention to forge her own, independent existence. She trained at the progressive Slade School of Fine Art, then one of the few art schools that were accepting women on the same terms as men.

Ymunwch gyda ni ar gyfer Penwythnos y Gaeaf Gŵyl y Gelli wrth i ni fynd a chi ar daith tu ôl i’r llenni o arddangosfa sy’n dod fyny, gan archwilio persbectif newydd o waith a bywyd yr artist o Gymru trwy law profiadol uwch guradur yr arddangosfa Lucy Wood a Fiona McLees uwch gadwraethwr celf ar bapur yn yr Amgueddfa.

About the exhibition
Gwen John: Strange Beauties at National Museum Cardiff has been organised by Amgueddfa Cymru in partnership with National Galleries of Scotland, the Yale Center for British Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. The exhibition is generously supported by Principal funder, the Colwinston Charitable Trust. Amgueddfa Cymru are also grateful for support from the Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Charity, Friends of Amgueddfa Cymru, Art Fund, Michael Marks Charitable Trust, The Finnis Scott Foundation and The Gibbs Trust.

A rare chance to hear from the author whose generation-defining book offered readers an essential understanding of China’s recent history, and whose follow-up promises to do the same again.

Jung Chang’s epic personal history Wild Swans was a publishing sensation. The story of herself, her mother and her grandmother spanned the final days of the rule of China’s last emperor through the Cultural Revolution and into the late 1970s, as Jung herself emigrated to Britain, as one of the first Chinese people to leave Communist China for the West.

Chang’s follow-up, Fly, Wild Swans, has been almost 35 years in the making, and will once again change how we think about China, bringing in the story of the past few decades of Chang’s life. A love letter to Chang’s mother, and a call to the family’s losses, Fly, Wild Swans is about how the past has shaped and moulded not only Chang, but also China.

Chang will be interviewed by journalist, author and critic Erica Wagner.

Meet the characters of Vikki Heywood’s novel about the hidden lives of women, inspired by the real life of her former head teacher, who came out aged 70.

The titular characters in Heywood’s novel live in a leafy Buckinghamshire village, where they maintain their careful facade as respected local spinsters. But their public façade masks a story of passion; they met as suffragist activists in the 1900s, danced in London’s secret gay clubs between the wars, and comforted one another during the Blitz. Now they face heartbreaking decisions as changes begin to take place following the end of the war.

Heywood introduces her warm and witty debut, speaks about her real-life inspiration, and discusses how her life in the theatre influenced her writing. Heywood was executive director of the RSC from 2003 until 2012 and before that joint chief executive of the Royal Court Theatre.

Ever wondered how Hay-on-Wye became known as a book town, and who was behind it?

In this session, hear the story of bookseller and entrepreneur Richard Booth, the 'King of Hay', who created the world’s largest second-hand bookshop, attracting thousands of visitors from across the globe to the town.

Author of The Bookseller of Hay, James Hanning, tells the tale of the deeply divisive Booth’s eccentric and chaotic life, including how he created the bookish backdrop which – to his frustration – allowed a rival attraction, the now world-famous Hay Festival, to flourish.

Hanning, a frequent visitor to Hay since the 1960s, interviewed dozens of local people and booksellers in the writing of The Bookseller of Hay.

A former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, his other books include a look at the phone hacking scandal, and Love & Deception, about Soviet mole Kim Philby's time in Beirut.

Hanning talks to Hay Festival Director of Programmes, Helen Bagnall.

Author Alison Weir uncovers the lives of five queens from the turbulent 15th century.

In the surroundings of Hay Castle – which local legend has it was built in one day by the Lady of Hay, Matilda de Braose, who carried the stones to build its walls in her apron – hear Weir talk her latest book Queens at War, about the women who stood by England's sovereigns, caught up in wars that changed the course of their lives, and the course of history.

Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville and Anne Neville were formidable women who defied the limitations of their times, often living out the brutal consequences of their determination.

Weir is one of Britain’s top-selling historians and the author of numerous works of history and historical fiction. She specialises in the medieval and Tudor periods.

Politician and academic Vince Cable examines what the rise of Asian superstates means for the future of the world.

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats is the author of Eclipsing the West, an incisive look at what the new international order will be. As the Western-dominated world we have known for the past 300 years comes to an end, and as America withdraws from its role as enforcer of the international order, Cable looks at the other countries moving to fill the void, including superstates China and India.

Cable, who has insight into both countries as a professional economist and later as a senior government minister, draws on his lifetime of experience to offer a compelling account of what comes next when it comes to global power.