Elif Shafak, Anne Enright, David Nicholls, Judi Dench, Gary Lineker and Theresa May are among those lined up to speak at this year’s Hay festival.
Novelists including 2023 Booker winner Paul Lynch, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Amor Towles, Jacqueline Wilson, Marian Keyes and Jhumpa Lahiri are also scheduled to appear, festival organisers have announced.
Along with May, the lineup features a number of current and former politicians including Rory Stewart, Caroline Lucas, Andy Burnham and Dawn Butler. “We’ve got [a] breadth of people with political ideology”, said festival CEO Julie Finch. “We are definitely a civic platform.”
“In a year when more voters than ever in history will head to the polls, as at least 64 countries hold their elections, we present a programme to bring people together, respectfully exploring different perspectives and the power of storytelling to unite us,” Finch said. The festival, which begins in May, is also introducing a new event series, the News Review, with daily morning news analysis.
“We’re very conscious of our role as a place for that civic dialogue and also for that democracy across all of our stages and platforms,” said Finch. “What we hope we’re achieving is reaching into everyone’s minds, and so there is truly something for everybody.” Finch has previously said that the festival is “apolitical”.
A discussion between three journalists covering the Israel-Gaza war is scheduled to take place. “With any topic it’s really important that we present different viewpoints,” said Finch. “A one-sided conversation isn’t where we’re at.” The organisers are looking for “a very rich debate on the future and where that might go”. Palestinian novelist Adania Shibli and Palestinian-British author Isabella Hammad will also speak to audiences.
Holly Jackson and Danielle Jawando are among the several young adult authors appearing on this year’s programme. “We want to bring back all those people who love writing, who love listening and sharing ideas with authors, and being in that audience space with the authors that they’ve read and loved for a long time, but as well as that, we are really thinking about the next generation,” said Finch.
“Young people today see the world in a very, very different way, and what we want to do is acknowledge that and then really lean into who they might be interested in, because they are the audiences of the future,” said Finch. More than 30 of TikTok’s content creators will be attending this year’s festival, she added. “We know BookTok is hugely popular, so there’s a way in for us with new audiences there.”
Colm Tóibín, Jeanette Winterson, David Mitchell, Sunjeev Sahota, Michael Morpurgo, Elizabeth Day, George Monbiot, Naomi Alderman and Hay festival president Stephen Fry are also lined up to speak.
A group of writers including Joseph Coelho will lead a celebration of the life and work of Benjamin Zephaniah, who died in 2023, and a music performance will mark the centenary of Franz Kafka’s death.
• Tickets are on sale now to Hay festival members, patrons and benefactors at www.hayfestival.com and the general sale begins at noon on Friday.
