Meta whistleblower’s lawyer says he too is prevented from promoting her book
Ravi Naik says legal ruling that forced Sarah Wynn-Williams to make silent appearance at Hay festival also applies to him
Sajid Javid says backing Liz Truss to lead Tories was his ‘biggest political mistake’
Former chancellor also tells Hay festival ‘good riddance’ to Tory MPs defecting to Reform
Ian McEwan says pessimism ‘a bigger problem than climate change’
Speaking at Hay festival as UK breaks May heat record, author says optimism is a ‘moral duty’
Gisèle Pelicot tells Hay festival she has found love and trust again after rape ordeal
French campaigner was drugged by her ex-husband and sexually assaulted by dozens of men over almost a decade
Gisèle Pelicot and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe among Hay Festival 2026 speakers
The line-up for this year’s festival includes Emma Thompson, Malala Yousafzai, Ian McEwan and other prominent authors and figures
Stephen Fry launches campaign to boost reading for pleasure
The Hay festival president is asking readers for book recommendations that will ‘entice the most reluctant reader’ to help combat the decline in leisure reading
Salman Rushdie says AI won’t threaten authors until it can make people laugh
Author tells Hay festival AI has no sense of humour but when it writes a funny book ‘we’re screwed’
Jacqueline Wilson ‘very wary’ of writing adult Tracy Beaker novel
Author says she won’t revisit the beloved character because it would seem ‘inappropriate’ to discuss her sex life
Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter says she believes online pornography played role in rape case
Caroline Darian tells Hay festival that pornography websites are ‘part of the system’ of misogyny and violence
‘Not everybody spoke posh’ in Jane Austen’s era, says top producer
Jane Tranter’s The Other Bennet Sister will ditch the ‘fetishisation’ of period drama to draw viewers into the novelist’s world
Trump has ‘never evolved, which is dangerous’, his niece Mary Trump says
Mary Trump tells Hay-on-Wye book festival in Wales that her uncle, the US president, ‘isn’t close with anybody’
Challenge use of ‘nefarious’ news sources, says environmentalist
Mike Berners-Lee tells Hay festival audience to make spread of political deceit more socially embarrassing
Stephen Fry’s ‘vocal double’ to be used in AI installation at Hay festival
The actor, who has spoken about artificial intelligence on multiple occasions, said the installation ‘reveals both the wonders and pitfalls of AI’
Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil and Hanif Kureishi join packed Hay festival lineup
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader, is also due to appear, in a festival dedicated to activism and an exploration of the impact of AI
After Baillie Gifford: are literary festivals on their last legs?
Over the past 75 years, the idea of the book festival has become embedded in the British cultural landscape. But as costs rise sharply and reading habits change, many are finding it a struggle to survive