Hay Festival has announced the line-up for Hay Festival Forum Dallas 2025 in Texas with over 25 artist and 30 events, 17–19 October.
Explore the full Hay Festival Forum Dallas 2025 programme online now here and sign up to the newsletter for updates.
Confirmed guests include poet and essayist Claudia Rankine; novelists Eimear McBride, Junot Díaz, Marc Haber, Laila Lalami, Rodrigo Fresán, Tim Z Hernandez and Katie Kitamura; poets Gabriela Jauregui and Sara Uribe; writers Jorge Carrión; anthropologist Jason de Leon; essayist Marina Azahua; science writer Angela Saini; journalists Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Arwa Mahdawi and John Gibler; musicians Brendan Canty, Hugo Burnham and Manuel “Pantro Puto” Viamonte; plus there will be a special concert from rapper and poet Bocafloja.
Now in its eighth year, this will be the largest and most inclusive Forum yet, offering big stage conversations, workshops and book clubs in venues across the city, including The Texas Theatre, Dallas Public Library, Whose Books, Oak Cliff Assembly, and The Wild Detectives bookstore.
The bilingual programme promises a world of different perspectives, celebrating the range of backgrounds, languages, and experiences represented by its guests, while bridging the border with local writing stars and headline names from further afield
Since its founding in 2018, seven editions of Hay Festival Forum Dallas have taken place, featuring guests including Viet Thanh Nguyen, Valeria Luiselli, Mircea Cărtărescu, Mariana Enriquez, Douglas Stuart, John Valliant, Alma Guillermoprieto, Jon Lee Anderson, Hernan Diaz, Michelle Tea, Pilar Quintana, Ben Fountain, Emiliano Monge, Juan Cardenas, Dolores Reyes, and many more.
The event takes place with the support of SMU Project Poetica, UTD Centre for Translation and Bass School and the City of Dallas.
Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said:
“What better way to mark our eighth year in Dallas than with a dynamic Forum to tackle some of the country’s – and world’s – most pressing questions? Spanning four different continents, this is a programme to broaden horizons. As a global charity, we connect millions of readers with essential storytellers through our one-of-a-kind Festivals, Forums, programmes, and digital platforms. We are delighted to offer more Texans than ever a chance to enjoy Hay Festival inspiration in person. See you there!”
Hay Festival International Director Cristina Fuentes La Roche said:
“Dallas is a city full of fresh perspectives and new ideas, a vibrant chapter in our global calendar of events. This year’s Forum will celebrate the very best writers and thinkers locally and internationally, while enhancing bilingual engagement across continents and all over this wonderful city. Please join us!”
Writer and cultural critic Jorge Carrión said:
“It’s both interesting and important to be in Dallas in October 2025 given the technological and political context we find ourselves in. Defending bookstores and libraries, literature, ideas, freedom of expression, physical and ritual encounters, human prescription, multilingualism and translation is more necessary than ever.”
Hay Festival, one of the world’s leading cultural charities, was founded in Hay-on-Wye, Wales in 1987, providing audiences with dynamic platforms to come together to share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world.
Expansion of the Dallas event is the latest chapter of Hay Festival’s global projects, forging creative connections across four continents with year-round events, partnerships and far-reaching education programmes.
Find out more here.
