Hay Festival has announced the participants of Writers at Work 2026, a creative development programme for Welsh writers at Hay Festival this spring (21–31 May) with the support of Literature Wales and Folding Rock, funded by Arts Council of Wales.
Offering a fullyprogrammed ten days of creative development opportunities, Hay Festival Writers at Work allows the selected writers to engage in Festival events, attend workshops with publishers, agents and, crucially, with established international artists.
Open to writers working in English and Welsh across genres – fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry – this year’s 10 successful applicants are:
· Sophie Calon
· Ben Huxley
· Steffan Wilson-Jones
· Holly Müller
· Naomi Pearce
· Silvia Rose
· Emily Paradice-Ruan
· Carys Shannon
· Stacey Taylor
· Rolant Tomos
Writers at Work is a Hay Festival project supported by Literature Wales – the national company for the development of literature – and run by writer Tiffany Murray.
Many participants to date have enjoyed global publishing success after the experience and achieved a spread of award wins and shortlistings, including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Wales Book of the Year, Waterstones Welsh Book of the Year, The New Welsh Writing Award, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize, Wales Media Award, Welsh Rising Star Award, the Guardian’s Best New Novelists, and Creative Wales Award.
Established in 2016 to nurture Welsh talent writing in both languages, Writers at Work was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2026 will mark its eighth year.
Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said:
“We are delighted to unveil our 2026 Hay Festival Writers at Work participants: a snapshot of Wales’ writing talent, pushing the boundaries of fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. Over the 11 days of the Festival, this group will enjoy a programme of workshops and events tailored to their needs, guarding and growing our creative community for the future.
“As a charity Hay Festival exists to open access to creative inspiration around every corner. In this spirit, our spring Festival is a great convener of writers, curious readers and – crucially – creative opportunities. Join us.”
Sophie Calon said:
“It still feels brilliantly surreal that I'll be part of the Writers at Work 2026 cohort. Try telling that to seven-year-old me in the Festival line for Jacqueline Wilson's signing! I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity to learn from others, share experiences, and grow as a writer. Hay Festival is a magical place, and I can't wait to immerse myself in the programme. Diolch!”
Steffan Jones said:
“I feel both honoured and excited to join this year’s cohort of Writers at Work at Hay Festival 2026 and hopefully follow in the footsteps of the successful authors that have taken part in previous years. Hay Festival is a genuinely global event, and the doors it opens are truly endless. I can’t wait to get started!”
Literature Wales Artistic Director Leusa Llewelyn said:
“Llenyddiaeth Cymru | Literature Wales is a charity dedicated to supporting writers at every stage of their journey, and we are delighted once again this year to be supporting Hay Festival’s Writers at Work development programme. There is no other programme like it on earth where Welsh writers can be trained, inspired and mentored by such a high‑calibre and eclectic range of writers, agents and publishers, and we look forward to seeing what our talented cohort will gain from this once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity.”
Hay Festival runs its 39th spring edition in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, with more than 600 events over 11 days, 21–31 May 2026.
Hay Festival Writers at Work 2026 participant bios:
Sophie Calon is a writer from Cardiff. Her first book, Long Going (Honno, 2025), is a memoir of her dad who drank. Long Going sold out within a fortnight and is on its fourth print run. Featured in The Bookseller’s annual top five picks from Wales, the book has been endorsed by authors including Jacqueline Wilson, Louis de Bernières, and Amy Liptrot. Sophie has spoken about her memoir on BBC Radio and at more than 20 events, from bookshops and museums to a homeless shelter and a recovery festival. She is now writing a novella set on the Welsh border, where she lives with her husband and daughter.
Ben Huxley is a writer and journalist based in Colwyn Bay. With a focus on video games, his writing has been published by Radio Times, The Escapist, TechRadar, Live Science, WhatCulture, and the mental health charity Safe in our World. Shortly after finishing his MA in creative writing at Bangor University, he was selected for Literature Wales’ Representing Wales programme. In that year he finished his first novel. In 2024, his short fiction was published in (un)common: Anthology of new Welsh Writing, with Lucent Dreaming.
Steffan Wilson-Jones (he/him) is a bilingual writer and theatre producer from the Vale of Clwyd, now living in Cardiff. He enjoys all kinds of writing, with a great enthusiasm for Welsh identity, dark comedy and political satire. Steffan has worked for Theatr Cymru as an assistant producer, as an assistant producer on the film Y Sŵn by Roger Williams, and as a script editor on Pobol y Cwm, as well as writing an episode for the show earlier this year. His short story, A Hint of Dawn (Awgrym o Wawr) was featured in Sebra’s Pelydrau short story anthology in 2025. He was a member of the 2025-2026 Representing Wales (Literature Wales) cohort, where he was mentored by Llwyd Owen, is now working on his debut novel to be published in 2027, and is also in the R&D phase of a brand new musical with Onnen Productions.
Holly Müller is a writer and musician living in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. Her debut novel My Own Dear Brother(Bloomsbury, 2016) was Waterstones’ Book of the Month and garnered positive reviews in the Guardian, Independent, Sunday Times, Sydney Morning Herald and more. Her short stories are published in Rarebit (Parthian Books, 2013) and New Welsh Fiction (Seren Books, 2015). Holly achieved a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of South Wales where she taught undergraduates. She has written for national press as well as prominent online publications and has performed at Cheltenham, Hay, Laugharne, and Cardiff Literature Festivals.
Naomi Pearce is a writer living in Ceredigion. Her debut novel, Innominate (MOIST Books, 2023), was described by Iain Sinclair as “a classic of local archaeology". Drawing on a background in textiles, her work weaves together feminist and queer histories, place, ecology, and art. She has been published in British Art Studies, LA Review of Books, TON Magazine, and The White Review, and performed live at Experimentica (Chapter, 2024) and Y Tu Allan i’r Ffrâm | Out of the Frame (National Library of Wales, 2025). Naomi was selected by Literature Wales for the Writing Fiction cohort 2025 and teaches interdisciplinary practice at Aberystwyth University. She is currently writing a revisionist Western set in West Wales, alongside non‑fiction about bogs, bisexuality, and the politics of lying down.
Silvia Rose is a published writer born, raised and living in the mountains of Eryri. Working across creative non-fiction, fiction and poetry, her writing is shaped by her Welsh and Serbian heritage, travel and place, and the symbolic language of myth and fairytale. In 2023 she was selected as an Emerging Welsh Writer by Literature Wales and shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Short Story Award. Her work has since appeared in a range of print and online publications including anthologies by Parthian Books and Honno. She was recently awarded a place on the 2025-26 Representing Wales programme. Alongside her writing, she works as a creative facilitator running workshops and retreats and is co-director of Inclusive Journalism Cymru.
Emily Paradice-Ruan is an autofiction and children’s book writer and illustrator from Swansea whose work explores liminality, belonging and marginalisation. Her debut short story Adref was published in the Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme 2024-25 anthology for which she was shortlisted. She interned at Trill Mag covering life, music, travel, and trends and is now pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at Cardiff University. Emily acts as a teaching assistant in undergraduate creative writing seminars and is a prose editor and resident artist at The Tonic Review, a literary magazine run by and for Welsh university students. She is currently working on her novella Fledglings and has plans to pursue a PhD in Creative Writing in Wales.
Carys Shannon is originally from north Gower, Swansea, and now divides her time between Wales and the Spanish Pyrenees. She has had short stories published by Honno Press, Parthian Books and Mslexia Magazine, as well as broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her debut novel, Truth Like Water, was published by Parthian Books in Octobe, 2025. The novel has been described as ‘an absolute belter of a story’, ‘a sublimely written work’ and ‘Welsh Noir at its best'.When not writing, Carys is happiest enjoying slow time in big nature.
Stacey Taylor is a writer from Cardiff. In 2023 she won a place on Penguin Random House’s WriteNow programme, and has been mentored by an editor at Penguin Michael Joseph. She was selected for The London Library Emerging Writers programme and was featured in the programme’s anthology: From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise. She was also part of the Literature Wales Representing Wales 2023-24 cohort.
Rolant Tomos was born in Dolgellau and now lives in the Vale of Glamorgan. He has directed TV drama and run a microbrewery with lots of other work in between. His first novel, a YA fantasy – Meirw Byw (Living Dead) – was published in 2025, followed by Raaarrr in 2026. Meirw Byw 2: Didudydd will be published later this year, followed by a Western – Brithdir – his first novel for adults, in 2027.
