By Kate Farquhar-Thomson
It was down to the trustworthy sat nav that I arrived safe and sound at Hay Festival this year; torrential downpours meant that navigating was tougher than usual and being told where to go, and when, was more than helpful.
Despite the wet and muddy conditions that met me at Hay, and stayed with me throughout the week, the enthusiasm of the crowd never dwindled. Nothing, it seems, keeps a book lover away from their passion to hear, meet, and have their book signed by their favourite author. But let’s not ignore the fact that festival-goers at Hay not only support their favourite authors, they also relish hearing and discovering new ones.
My working holiday centres on our very own creators of text, our very own exponents of knowledge, our very own Oxford authors! Here I will endeavour to distil just some of the events I was privileged to attend in the call of duty!
Peter Atkins was an Oxford Professor of Chemistry and fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford until his retirement in 2007 – many of us, including myself, studied his excellent text-books at ‘A’ level and at university. What Peter Atkins does so well is make science accessible for everyone and none less so than an attentive Hay audience. Peter puts chemistry right at the heart of science. ‘Chemistry has rendered a service to civilization’ Atkins says ‘it contributes to the cultural infrastructure of the world’. And thereon he took us through just nine things we needed to know to ‘get’ chemistry.
Ian Goldin’s event on Is The Planet Full? addressed global issues that are affecting, and will affect, our planet. So, is the planet full? Well, the Telegraph tent for his talk certainly was! Goldin, whose lime green sweater brought a welcome brightness to the stage, is Professor of Globalisation and Development and Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. His words brought clarity and insight: “politics shapes the answer to this question,” said Goldin.
Hay mixes the young with the old and academics with us mere mortals, and what we publishers call the ‘trade’ authors with the more ‘academic’ types. This was demonstrated aptly by Paul Cartledge who right from the start referenced an earlier talk he attended by James Holland. Cartledge is A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at University of Cambridge and James (who is an ex-colleague and friend) is a member of the British Commission for Military History and the Guild of Battlefield Guides but a non-academic. The joy of Hay is that it brings everyone together. Paul Cartledge was speaking about After Thermopylae, a mere 2,500 years ago, but rather a more tricky period to illustrate through props and pictures which Holland so aptly used in his presentation.
OUP had 15 authors at The Hay Festival but the Hay Festival also had other visitors such as Chris Evans whose show was broadcast live from the festival as it was the 500 Words competition announcement and I was lucky enough to be there.
So what does Hay mean to me? It’s a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with heroes in literature and culture, as well as academia. It’s a week of friends, colleagues, and drinking champagne with Stephen Fry whilst discussing tennis with John Bercow – and wearing wellies every day!
Kate Farquhar-Thomson is Head of Publicity at OUP in Oxford.
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Image credits: Stephen Fry, Ian Goldin, and 500 Words competition at the Hay Festival. Photos by Kate Farquhar-Thomson: do not reproduce without permission.
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By Kate Farquhar-Thomson
I look forward to the last week of May every year and 2014 is no exception. To what am I referring? My annual pilgrimage to Hay-on-Wye of course.
Every year since I can remember, I find myself in England’s famous book town for the excellent Hay Festival. Now in its 27th year the eponymous book festival can be found nestling under canvass for 11 days in the Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Due to the breadth of our publishing at OUP we are lucky enough to field a great ‘team’ of authors every year at this internationally renowned festival and this year is no exception.
Sharing the Green Room with the likes of Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Monty Don, and James Lovelock, this year, will be Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalization and Development and Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, who will be speaking about ‘Meeting Global Challenges’. This talk kicks off a series of three talks inspired by the new book Is the Planet Full? Edited by Goldin, the book has 10 contributors and later in the week talks will also pull out some of the books’ major themes such as ‘The End of Population Growth?’ addressed by Professor Sarah Harper, Co-Director, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, ‘Can the World Feed 10 Billion People (Sustainably & Equitably)’ discussed by Charles Godfrey and with Yavinder Malhi who will be looking at the question ‘Bigger than the Biosphere? A metabolic perspective on our human-dominated planet’.
The Hay Festival site. Photo by Finn Beales.
A specialist in ancient Greek history, Professor Paul Cartledge will be talking about his latest book After Thermopylae. Illustrating the diversity of the OUP’s contribution to the festival this year and offering something for everyone, the week continues with Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones discussing spies and spying; John van Wyhe, who is flying in from Singapore, will talk about Alfred Russell Wallace of whom last year saw the 100 year anniversary of his death; Justin Gregg, who knows a thing or two about dolphins, asks Are Dolphins Really Smart? For the scientists among us Professor Peter Atkins will surely answer the question What is Chemistry? in a fully illustrated talk on the subject.
Frequent visitors to Hay will be familiar with David & Hilary Crystal who have entertained many a festival goer over the years and this year they plan to take us on a literary tour through the UK looking at how the language was shaped by Wordsmiths and Warriors in history.
There is not much Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, doesn’t know about Strategy. And his latest book on the topic gives us a panoramic synthesis of the role of strategy throughout world civilization, from ancient Greece through the nuclear age. He was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997 and more recently, in June 2009, served as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War.
During the final weekend of the festival Thomas Weber will bring insight and detail on Hitler’s formative experiences as a soldier on the Western Front when discussing Hitler’s First War and Julian Thomas will discuss ‘The Dorstone Dig‘ where over the last couple of summers, the archaeological team have uncovered two 6,000-year-old burial mounds and the remains of two huge halls that appear to have been ritually burned down.
I, for one, will be looking forward to being entertained and educated during my week at Hay and I hope you are too!
Kate Farquhar-Thomson is Head of Publicity at OUP in Oxford.
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Image credit: Hay Festival site. Photo by Finn Beales.
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