Hay Festival (26 May - 5 June 2016)
The prestigious literary festival is back this coming May and will again be featuring the Cambridge Series, with a myriad of Cambridge academics and alumni showcasing the breadth of research being undertaken at the University; 27 academics will be speaking and numerous alumni. Subjects to be covered will vary from addiction and climate change to artificial intelligence and politics.
We're delighted to see that Dr Chris Bickerton, Lecturer at POLIS and Queens' Fellow, will be weighing in on 'The future of Europe'. He and the panel of three will be hypothesising what the future holds for Europe in this time of political unrest. Dr Bickerton's book 'The European Union: a citizen's guide' will be out in June.
The Hay Festival will also be marking 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare with a series called 'Talking about Shakespeare', short films about the playwright featuring world renowned actors and academics, playwrights and directors, poets and novelists. Contributiors include: Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Toni Morrison, Germaine Greer, Simon Schama, Jeanette Winterson, Tom Stoppard, and Maxine Peake.
Below, watch Stephen Fry (1978)'s take on Othello.
About the Hay Festival
For 27 years Hay Festival has brought together writers from around the world to debate and share stories at its festival in the staggering beauty of the Welsh Borders. Hay celebrates great writing from poets and scientists, lyricists and comedians, novelists and environmentalists, and the power of great ideas to transform our way of thinking. We believe the exchange of views and meeting of minds that our festivals create inspire revelations personal, political and educational. Hay is, in Bill Clinton's phrase, 'The Woodstock of the mind'.
Hay Festival was founded around a kitchen table in 1987 and continues to attract the most exciting writers, filmmakers, comedians, politicians and musicians to inspire, delight and entertain.
For 10 days in May, Hay is full of stories, ideas, laughter and music.