Life advice from 16th century nuns, everyday monsters and butch bars: what you shouldn’t miss at Hay Festival 2026

Every year white tents and hordes of readers descend on Wales for the Hay Festival. They hear their favourite authors discuss their books, discover new writers and buy too many books in Hay-on-Wye, the World’s First Book Town.

And I will be one of them, notebook and tote bag ready to be filled.

It’s a packed programme, inviting authors, artists, performers and thinkers from across the world. So I’ve highlighted some of the talks I’m most looking forward to this year for you, whether you want to hear from the literary greats, discover debuts or learn something new.

Authors I can’t get enough of

I fell in love with Ocean Vuong’s poetry first, and then later his prose when I read the stunning ‘On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous’. Now he comes to Hay to talk about his latest book ‘The Emperor of Gladness’ which explores chosen family, and how unexpected friendships can heal us in ways we don’t expect.

Elizabeth Strout’s writing crawls into the minutiae of people, peels back our flaws, asks why people do what they do. Her new novel ‘The Things We Never Say’ tells the story of a man who doesn’t fit, of a secret that changes everything. Strout will discuss the book, and her unparalleled approach to character and I’ll be at the back wondering what everyone is thinking from moment to moment.

I’ve been following Kae Tempest’s music, poetry and playwriting for many years now. His new novel ‘Having Spent Life Seeking’ explores seeking meaning through art, family and forgiveness, and I can’t wait to spend time with it.

Powerhouses Kamila Shamsie, Tahmima Anam and Itamar Vieira Junior are coming together to talk to Pankaj Mishra about. They’ll discuss the craft of writing (which I always want to hear more about), writing against the backdrop of this complex world and representing global identities in fiction. 

Claire Fuller’s new book has me at its title: ‘Hunger and Thirst’. Already I can feel my stomach turning, my mouth widening. Claire will be discussing the story of reclusive sculptor Ursula, and how she unsettles with everyday horror and monsters that look far too much like we do. 

Authors who are new to my bookshelves

Hay’s gift is the opportunity to see authors you’ve admired for years alongside authors you are yet to discover. Their ‘Debut Discoveries’ series is one of my favourite parts of the festival. It is like being handed a really well curated list of book recommendations and then being given the chance to jump into the worlds of each of these books, to hear directly from their authors.

Liam Higginson’s debut novel ‘The Hill in the Dark Grove’ promises Welsh folklore, obsession and how startlingly a person you know so well can change. It sounds deliciously muddy, and I’ve packed my boots.

In Grace Murray’s ‘Blank Canvas’ a young woman starts her new life at university by telling a lie, but the truth is ever present just beneath the surface. This debut traverses Catholic guilt and queer identity, movement and the possibility of reinvention, and it sounds right up my street. 

Eden McKenzie-Goddard’s debut ‘Smallie’ explores the huge impact of the Wingrush scandal on ordinary lives, following a family from Barbados to Britain. He’ll be discussing his impulse to write about forgotten lives, and the novel’s themes of community and country, with Kamila Shamsie.

When Esther sees actor Ted in a park in London, an obsession is born. It starts with research, a fan site and then a one-way ticket to Canada. I am always interested in how far people will go for their obsessions, where we can be driven to, what’s on the other side, so Tanya Sweeney’s novel ‘Esther is Now Following You’ is certainly going on my list. 

Poet Stephanie Sy-Quia discusses her debut novel, which explores the gap between public identity and private self, through an unexpected love affair and an ageing family members decades apart. I love the way poets handle prose, how they place it on the page, turn it over, weave, so I look forward to seeing how Sy-Quia’s poetic background informs her prose.

Poetry

Poetry is king at this year’s Hay Festival. Poets Karen McCarthy Woolf, Scott McKendry, clare e potter and Roseanne Watt have all collaborated with musician Kathryn Williams to co-conceive new pieces which will be debuting on 30th May. 

And one of my all time favourite poets Joelle Taylor will be talking about her new collection ‘Maryville’ which explores a Maryville butch bar over decades, and the people who spill in and out of this underground dyke culture. Taylor’s writing is mesmeric as is her performance of it, so you’re in for a treat: Taylor will be performing from the new collection as part of her event and you won’t be able to stop listening. 

On Screen

Screen is also well represented at the festival. Writer of TV drama Adolescence , which sparked national conversation around social media and toxic masculinity, Jack Thorne will be discussing shaping the stories of our time. And there’s a programme of screenings running throughout the festival of films based on books, including Orlando, Hot Milk, Die My Love and Mysterious Skin.

Let’s change the world

Hay isn’t just about the worlds within books. It is also firmly about the world we live in. This year’s programme includes Maria Alyokhina, founding member of Pussy Riot, in conversation with investigative journalist Olivia Bullough. Maria will discuss grassroots organisation, opposing Putin’s regime and how to stand up to state-sanctioned repression.

Lyse Doucet (Chief International Correspondent, BBC), Maryam Alemzadeh (Professor in the History and Politics of Iran) and war journalist Jon Lee Anderson are coming together to delve into the situation in Iran, going beyond the headlines to understand the country’s internal political and social dynamics and what is really at stake. This is set to be a powerful and important conversation, so make sure it’s on your radar.

You probably already know some of Gisèle Pelicot’s story. She was sexually assaulted by her husband and 50 other men for years, horrifyingly orchestrated by him whilst she was unconscious. When he was finally caught and brought to trial, she waived her right to anonymity, refusing to be shamed by what had been done to her. Her decision made headlines, starting a national debate on sexual violence in France and leading to a change in the legal definition of rape. She will be discussing her new memoir ‘A Hymn to Life’ with Helena Kennedy, and readings from actor Juliet Stevenson. 

That’s just a smattering of what the festival has to offer its guests. The programme traverses stories real and imagined, and is a reliable source of inspiration each year. One final recommendation for you: I’ll be doing everything I can to attend Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life with Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita. The event promises edifying advice from 16th and 17th century nuns on everything from procrastination to imposter syndrome, friendship drama to creative slumps. See you there?

Photo credits: Adam Tatton Reid, Billie Charity and Sam Hardwick

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Finn Brown’s (they/ them) writing lives in publications including Queer Life, Queer Love 2 (Muswell Press), The Raven Review, Booth Journal, Annie Journal, Meniscus Journal, The Bombay Review, The Bittersweet Review, Penumbra Literary, Snowflake Magazine and Texlandia Magazine. Their writing has also been shortlisted for the Creative Future 2024 Writers' Award and commended for the Moth Short Story Prize 2025, and they won one of Spread the Word’s 30th Anniversary LGBTQIA+ Emerging Writer Commissions. They are also an artist and a curator, and a co-founder and editor at arts and literary collective t’ART.