Hay Festival 2014

The writer introduces his beautiful memoir that evolved out of stories the author told his children: stories about the Belgian border town of Bouillon, where his mother came from, and where he has been going three times a year since he was a child. This town of eccentrics, of charm, menace and wonder, is recreated beautifully – ‘Most of my childhood,’ he says, ‘feels more real to me now than it did then’.

Tour led by Maria Carreras of the Friends of Hay Castle.

Celebrated illustrator and writer Shoo Rayner, whose drawing tips are a big hit on YouTube, and prize-winning author Heather Dyer, introduce their new books, Dragon Gold and The Flying Bedroom, at a stories-and-pictures event to celebrate the launch of brand new children’s publisher Firefly Press.

6+ years

With the help of her husband Malcolm on guitar, Julia brings her much-loved characters to life and celebrates the Gruffalo’s 15th birthday. Stories, singing and lots of fun! 

6+ years

See also event HF128.

Little Lollipop and her Grandpa are intrepid explorers, often on safari round their back garden. Join the author, broadcaster and storyteller for stories, then help her with some lovely craft activity.
Duration 45 minutes
3+ years

An opportunity to try your hand at traditional craft skills with a three-hour workshop in which you will develop hand woodworking skills with an expert craftsperson. During the workshop you will mark out, construct and assemble a rustic oak stool to take home with you at the end of the session; all without the use of modern power tools or measuring devices. The design is marked out using the same principles of daisy wheel geometry used to build the great medieval cathedrals and the Tithe Barn at Cressing Temple.
Suitable for all abilities and ages, 12+ years

Come and discover the secret world that lives in your garden with the RSPB. Grab a net and see what amazing creatures are hiding in the leaves and lurking underwater. Make a Bee and Bug B&B to take home and give nature a home in your garden.

4–12 years

The writer, producer and one of the stars of the television adaptation of Jennifer Worth’s East End nursing memoir share the pleasures of working on the stories.

The newly-conserved Roskilde 6 ship from Denmark measures over 37 metres. It is the longest Viking ship ever discovered and forms the core of the British Museum exhibition Vikings: Life and Legend. The Vikings used their shipbuilding skills to command the sea; their famous ships permitted the exploration, the colonisation and the raids with which they built their wealth. The curator explores the evolution of their sea-going vessels and celebrates this outstanding feature of the Viking Age.

Beyond The Script

Psychologist and writer Dr Terri Apter will address common myths about women and how to overcome them, with author Zoe Strimpel. They discuss why women’s lives are analysed in such detail, why their choices are so subject to scrutiny, and how they can resist and play with the stereotypes that define them.

As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly-democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face? From the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, this is a powerful story of love, race and identity spanning three continents and filling numerous lives.

Barkham delves into the fascinating natural and rich cultural history of the animal – from their prehistoric arrival in Britain to their savage persecution over the centuries, the cuddliness of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows character and the incompetent cull of 2013.

The broadcaster introduces his first novel, a riveting espionage thriller set in 1970s Westminster at the height of the Cold War. Can’t give away much about the plot, but it’s horribly plausible and absolutely outrageous!

The Welfare State ebbs away with the falling tide of public expenditure. Public services diminish yet individual, family and community needs remain: personal debt is at its highest; the costs of family breakdown are rising and many communities now lack publicly funded services that they once relied upon. There are no longer gaps in services – there are chasms. Robert Thomas is Lead Executive Officer for Herefordshire Venture.

Home is where the herd is. Cow Girl is a dairy-inspired debut set in Wales, from Giancarlo Gemin. A heartwarming tale of friendship, community, family…and cows. You won’t see the bovine beasts in quite the same way ever again.
9+ years

Martin Sixsmith’s book Philomena has been made into a multi-award-winning film by screenwriter and actor Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge, The Trip, Despicable Me) and the director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things). They talk to Alan Yentob.

What do you do when a girlfriend’s 60th birthday party is the same day as your boyfriend’s 30th? Does the Dalai Lama actually Tweet or is it his assistant? Is sleeping with someone after 2 dates and 6 weeks of texting the same as getting married after 2 meetings and 6 months of letter writing in Jane Austen’s day? Pondering these, and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single-motherhood, Tweeting, texting and rediscovering her sexuality in what SOME people rudely and out-datedly call ‘middle age’.

Mixing current affairs with philosophical reflections, de Botton offers a brilliant illustrated guide to the precautions we should take before venturing anywhere near the news and the ‘noise’ it generates. Witty and global in reach, The News will ensure you’ll never look at reports of a celebrity story or political scandal in quite the same way again. Chaired by Sarfraz Manzoor.

The esteemed fashion commentator has produced a sumptuous and comprehensive study of clothing design that explains from head to toe why and how we wear what we wear. He pays brilliant and fascinating attention to how the great couturiers work with human anatomy. Come and enjoy the clothes – and his conversation with the editor-in-chief of Mr Porter.