The Hay Festival programme is out. Details arrived by email on Saturday, which is fortunate as the next letter of the A-Z writing challenge is H.
The Hay Literature Festival is more than a book event. It is two weeks of stimulation and reflective entertainment. This year the dates are 26 May to 5 June
We are not going to make the trip to Wales, but that does not stop me looking through the programme and highlighting writers, drooling over books, and soaking up ideas.
Here are a few events, just in the history section, that caught my eye.
The 2015 Nobel Literature Laureate talks about Russia and the USSR. Her Nobel citation was for “her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time.”
The director and writer of this documentary introduce a special screening of the film in which Sands, a human rights lawyer, conducts conversations with two men, Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter, whose fathers were indicted as war criminals for their roles in the Second World War.
Philippe Sands THE ERIC HOBSBAWM LECTURE: EAST WEST STREET: ON THE ORIGINS OF GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY Event 117 • • Venue: Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage
The lawyer and writer explores how personal lives and history are interwoven. Drawing from his acclaimed new book – part historical detective story, part family history, part legal thriller – he explains the connections between his work on crimes against humanity and genocide, the events that overwhelmed his family during the Second World War, and an untold story at the heart of the Nuremberg Trial. Chaired by Helena Kennedy.
Maggie Andrews THE ‘ACCEPTABLE FACE OF FEMINISM’: 100 YEARS OF THE WOMEN’S INSTITUTE – UNIVERSITY OF WORCESTER SERIES Event 206 • • Venue: Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage
The WI is fondly thought of in terms of ‘jam and Jerusalem’, but its roots are intertwined with the women’s suffrage movement and the many campaigns that have sought to articulate the needs of women since the First World War. The Professor of Cultural History will explore the political and social initiatives that helped define the radical organisation.
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I won’t add any more; else I will end up with most of the history section.
We have not been to “Hay” for a few years. If we were in the UK, we would probably go, but the pull to travel is not great enough, which is our loss, I guess.
The last time we went Jim saw Alan Bennett from a distant seat in a large tent. I sat in the Festival Cafe with a couple of other people who had not paid £25 to hear and see the man in the flesh, present his funny and fabulous talk. Fortunately for them and me, the organisers broadcast an up-close presentation of what was happening in the main tent, onto a screen in the cafe. When Jim came out of the packed tent, he said, “you should have come, it was great.” I grinned and said, “I know.”
I do hope the organisers record more of the presentations, so the Hay sparkle is shared without the journey.
The fascination with water mills, both tidal or river based abounds in literature. With the mill in the background, Victorian master painters record magical summer times. Mills tell us much about societies and their ability to harness natural forces. Although occasionally difficult to find now, as most are in ruins, many can still be identified all over Europe,…
Here is a quick post for the letter N. It could have been Neil Young or Neil Armstrong. In the end, it was Neptune. Part of a Mosiac of the god of the sea was unearthed near Faro Railway Station in 1976. Occupying a large room the Mosiac was relocated to the 16th Century Infante Dom Henrique Archaeological…
I wonder if anyone else is getting that urge? That urge to sow seeds? Some of us who love pottering and growing fruit and vegetables are just about to see the pay off of scanning seed catalogues and poking soil. Does anyone else go round in circles with an inner dialogue, at this time of…
Pessoa’s cafe in Tavira is a place for artistic expression, coffee and tapas. A new exhibition opens on the last Friday of each month. This month, October 2015, John Lamonby’s work is on display. John is an English artist living in Faro. He has been exhibiting around the Algarve region for over 15 years. This exhibition is…
I was contacted by the association ACTIVE ECOTOPIA to translate documents and help spread the message about a possible threat to the Community Gardens in Tavira. Jim and I were part of the protest a few years ago to save the historic Agricultural Centre in Tavira where the Community Gardens are now flourishing.I have translated…
Edward Lear was a 19th Century English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet. He is known mostly for his literary nonsense poems and prose and especially his limericks. His poetry takes an irreverent view of the world. Lear’s nonsense poems delight in the sounds of words, both real and imaginary. A stuffed rhinoceros becomes a…
One Comment
Oh, thanks. Now you’ve made me drool and wish I could go to Wales. 🙂
Rebecca at The Ninja Librarian
Oh, thanks. Now you’ve made me drool and wish I could go to Wales. 🙂
Rebecca at The Ninja Librarian