The case for celebrities at book festivals
Cheltenham literary director says the word literature 'frightens people' and appeals to book festivals to 'stop knocking each other'
Simon Hoggart’s week: No country for ordinary folk
More and more, Britain is run by the rich and well-placed on behalf of the rich and well-placed
Simon Hoggart’s week: Keeping the good life in the family
Fifa is a cosy organisation which – like Soviet Union party trusties – looks after its own
Love bluebells, give up the dogs – Germaine Greer tells Britons
Author calls for banning dogs from woodland, claiming their excrement is killing the spring flower
Illiteracy in London’s schools is a scandal
Books might be aplenty at Hay, but one in three of the capital's pupils don't own a single one
Book festivals bring out the brains in Britons
Jonathan Jones: Turn off the TV, put down the papers, and take a tour of Britain's book festivals. We are a lot more cultured than you think
Puffin of Puffins? Why, Goodnight Mister Tom of course
Alison Flood: With all due respect, small children, your choice of the admittedly excellent Artemis Fowl as the 'Puffin of Puffins' is deranged and wrong. It should clearly be MY choice: Goodnight Mister Tom
Far from the maddening crowds…
Literary festivals may want to shout it from the rooftops but, asks Robert McCrum, shouldn't a writer have the right to remain silent?
Hay festival diary: The search for the Real PM
Mandelson exposé concealed; visceral entertainment; and yet another historic battle
Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language by Robert McCrum
Deborah Cameron examines Robert McCrum's history of linguistic globalisation
Operation Mincemeat, Operation Heartbreak, and The Man Who Never Was
The story of 'the man who never was' deserves its latest incarnation. By James Buchan
Beyond the politics of temporary remedies
John Harris: John Gray provides an incisive diagnosis of the modern political malaise – if only our politicians were listening
Hay festival 2010: Goodnight Mister Tom voted favourite Puffin of all time
Michelle Magorian's classic second world war novel for children voted top Puffin title at Hay festival
Hay festival 2010: 12th century was one long holiday
Our forebears may have had to contend with bad dentistry – as well as rape, pillage and torture – but they also had a healthy suspicion of the work ethic, the Guardian Hay festival has heard
Literature’s great sister acts
Sarah Crown: Fiction has long outstripped psychology in exploring the bond between sisters. Who are your favourite female siblings in literature?
Trying to revive the Renaissance
Jonathan Jones: One of the things that attracted me to the story of Leonardo and Michelangelo's titanic clash in Florence was the chance to annoy revisionist art historians
Hay festival hears Byron and Shelley were ‘monsters’
Biographer tells the Hay festival how she discovered an explosive memoir accusing Byron and Shelley of 'cruelty'
Christians and Muslims are distorting crusades, says historian
Comparisons between modern Muslim-Christian tensions and the crusades of 1099 are a 'distortion', announces Tom Asbridge at the Hay festival
Hay festival 2010: Overpopulation fears nonsense, says author Fred Pearce
Global fertility patterns suggest population crash more likely than the much-anticipated explosion, claims environmental writer
The social dreaming experiment
Alison Flood: Two therapists believe that sharing our dreams can help make society less violent. Are they away with the fairies?
Poetically speaking at the Hay festival
The question of what makes a poem a poem has reared its head among this year's festivalgoers, inspiring a search for a useful definition
Tim Minchin’s mouth-watering demands at the Hay festival
The Hay festival has been blessed by the multitalented Tim Minchin – but I've discovered the startling truth about his rider, writes Charlotte Higgins
A defence of poetry at the Hay festival
The audience was spellbound by Simon Armitage's ponderings about the place of poetry in our society, writes Charlotte Higgins
Is fictionalising historical figures OK?
A fascinating discussion is ongoing at the Hay festival about whether it's permissible to put words in the mouths of real people from history, writes Charlotte Higgins
National Theatre Wales puts Cymru centre-stage
Michael Billington: According to a lively debate at Hay festival, immersive theatre is opening our eyes to the rich diversity of Wales
Jo Brand charms Hay festival with anecdotes of her pre-comedy life
Sarah Boseley: The standup Jo Brand's tales of her former career as a psychiatric nurse had the Hay audience in stitches – and also displayed plenty of warmth towards her former patients
Monty Don calls on Hay festival audience to fight for their back yard
Celebrity gardener defends nimbyism as he, Simon Schama and Fiona Reynolds discuss the 'spirit' of the British landscape
Poster poems: the Hay festival
Billy Mills: The genre of 'poems about literary festivals' is a narrow one, so get writing – even a haiku about portable toilets will do
Confessions of a first-time festival-goer
Decca Aitkenhead approached Hay with trepidation. But despite the terrible puns and overriding niceness of it all, she was smitten almost immediately
William Boot: Evelyn Waugh’s legendary journalist
Tina Brown, editor of the Daily Beast, agreed to be interviewed by William Boot (as played by James Naughtie). Why has the character survived in the public consciousness?
The Hay festival: a refuge from the World Cup?
When Nadine Gordimer asked: 'Who cares about the World Cup?' she appeared to speak for the whole of the Hay festival