Subscribe or Log In to Anytime
Access audio & film from your favourite writers and thinkers
Give the gift of Anytime
Treat someone to a Hay Festival Anytime subscription

Thangam Debbonaire and Julia Gillard

The Women’s Prizes 2026

Hay Festival 2026, 

Join the chairs of the 2026 Women’s Prizes for Fiction and Non-Fiction as they discuss the remarkable books recognised by this year’s prizes. Thangam Debbonaire is a politician, cultural strategist and CEO of UK Opera Association. Julia Gillard is the former Prime Minister of Australia, and a women’s rights campaigner. Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women’s Prize Trust, will introduce the discussion.

The Women’s Prize Trust is the charity behind the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the largest celebration of female creativity in the world, and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, which recognises brilliant writing by female thought-leaders, changemakers and experts.

Thangam Debbonaire and Julia Gillard