Former children’s laureate and household favourite Michael Rosen has been awarded the Medal for Poetry today at Hay Festival in Wales.
Rosen is the third recipient of a Hay Festival Medal for 2026, the others being activist Malala Yousafzai (Medal for Education) and actor Emma Thompson (Medal for Drama).
Awarded annually since Britain’s Olympic year in 2012, Hay Festival Medals draw inspiration from the original Olympic medal given for poetry. With Athena as muse, silversmith Christopher Hamilton crafts the owl-themed medal locally.
Rosen was awarded his medal while at the Festival to discuss, alongside writer Rabih Alameddine, how hope lives in his work, not as naïve optimism, but as resilience, imagination and moral courage.
Hay Festival 2026 events are available to stream online at hayfestival.com/anytime
The author, best-known for books that include the 1989 bestseller, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Chocolate Cake, joins an alumni of poetry medal winners such as Lemn Sissay (2024), Mererid Hopwood (2023), Benjamin Zephiniah (2021) and Julia Donaldson (2019).
Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch says:
“It’s an honour to celebrate Michael Rosen’s body of work with our Hay Festival Medal for Poetry. Rosen has always championed children’s joy, curiosity and imagination — his performances at Hay Festival have been a highlight for so many children over the years. In the National Year of Reading, we’re delighted to spotlight an author who has encouraged young people to find pleasure in books and poetry throughout their life.”
Hay Festival ran its 39th spring edition in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, with more than 600 events over 11 days, 21 – 31 May 2026.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction books, while sharing insights around global issues, the programme saw more than 600 artists, policymakers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world.
A series of new initiatives and fresh programming strands featured across the programme:
• My Life in Books events see celebrities open their personal libraries
• Heard at Hay Festival panels spark thought-provoking debates
• America 250 conversations reflect on the changing face of a nation
• The Pleasure List campaign celebrates the joys of reading
• New genre days spotlight bestselling fiction
• Barrel of Laughs sessions spotlight funny people with new books
• Book to Screen events showcase adaptations in the MUBI Cinema
• Debut Discoveries series spotlights new writing talent
• The Platform elevates new creatives
• Matters of Taste demos take food from page to stage
• Creative Industry Insights sessions engage budding young creatives
• South to North Conversations explore international perspectives
Alongside the best new fiction and non-fiction, our changing world was drawn into focus with commentary from leading politicians, economists, historians and scientists, while journalists and commentators reflected on the UK’s recent local elections.
Nights at the Festival were given over to great music, comedy and entertainment with a renewed focus on innovative, immersive event experiences, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances delighted audiences between sessions.
Free to enter, the Festival’s Dairy Meadows site in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park offered up a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy between events, including the Bookshop, BBC Marquee, Wild Garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés, and the Family Garden.