News, Blogs & Updates

House of Names by Colm Tóibín is Hay Festival's Book of the Month for August. Here he answers our '10 questions' and talks about the process of writing, his favourite books of the moment, and what he's working on now...

Conoce mejor a los invitados al Hay Festival Querétaro. Gabriela Jauregui, es una escritora mexicana, integrante de la lista Bogotá39-2017 y autora, entre otros libros, de ManyFiestas.

Sé parte del programa literario para escritores y editores emergentes mexicanos del British Council, en colaboración con el Hay Festival Querétaro, y disfruta de una oportunidad única.

The beginning of this new edition of the Hay Festival in Querétaro is less than two months away from now, so we are very happy to finally be able to share with thousands of readers the work we have done throughout the year and to offer them a festival and a programme at the height of their expectations.

Estamos a menos de dos meses de que dé inicio una nueva edición del Hay Festival en su sede de Querétaro, muy contentos con poder finalmente compartir con miles de lectores y lectoras el trabajo realizado a lo largo del año, para ofrecerles un festival y una programación a la altura de sus expectativas. Es bien sabido que no sólo México sino buena parte del mundo atraviesa una época de cambio, de incertidumbres, de transformaciones, y ante un entorno tal estamos más convencidos que nunca de la importancia que tienen la escritura, el pensamiento, y las artes en general, para proporcionarnos formas novedosas y originales de aproximarnos a la vertiginosa realidad.

Professor Alice Roberts challenged the common narrative of Celtic identity and its origins, as she examined artefacts and material evidence in a fascinating lecture.

For novelist and historian, Michael Ignatieff, we live in a society that’s experienced a moral revolution. From decolonisation to feminism and the advent of human rights as we know them, he has examined the moral fabric of our communities in order to understand exactly how they work.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to Hay to urge Britain to take seriously the anger and frustrations that caused voters to back Leave in the Brexit referendum, but said we need to fight to keep Britain in the European Union itself.

Richard Holloway explores death and ageing with unsentimental fortitude, wisdom and great clarity of thought.

"Speak up, rise up and dream big" – Chelsea Clinton’s message to girls at Hay Festival today 

Bridget Kendall understand war and how it shapes our societies. Following her Radio 4 programme, Cold War: Stories from the Big Freeze, the now Cambridge academic has released a book that looks at the 20th century war that divided the globe.

A new BBC2 documentary is anything but polite. Delving into the writer and academic’s life, Germaine Bloody Greer mixes new interviews with archive footage to give a fuller picture of who Germaine Greer really is.

Kate Brandt, Google's Sustainabiltiy Director, launched Project Sunroof at Hay Festival on one of the sunniest days of the year.

Philip Pullman and Marina Warner paid tribute at Hay to the world expert on folklore and fairytales, Jack Zipes, who turned 80 last year.

Daniel Hahn introduced the author, Philip Pullman, today as ‘one of the great builders of worlds’. Discussing his novel, La Belle Sauvage and his collection of essays, Demon Voices, Pullman let the Hay audience in to his world, revealing his greatest literary secrets along the way.

The last time McCall Smith was in Hay, he was presented with a pig (and a lot of champagne) as the winner of the Wodehouse prize for comedy. No prize was awarded this year, and McCall Smith said he was worried that perhaps Britain was slightly losing its sense of humour.