The final line-up for Hay Festival’s thought-provoking collaboration with The Independent has been confirmed.
The News Review will once again be reprised for a series of morning panels, featuring renowned guests and presented by The Independent’s journalists, to kick off the festival’s extensive schedule of talks, events and activities each day.
The 38th spring edition of the annual cultural festival will take place in Hay-on-Wye, the picturesque “Town of Books” in Powys , Wales, from 22 May to 1 June.
Spread over 11 days, the event comprises over 600 events, with a star-studded lineup that includes Mary Trump, Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil and more.
In the News Review, The Independent’s journalists will explore current affairs with leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy every morning. Among the cultural heavyweights to feature on the morning panels are historian Kehinde Andrews, world-renowned philosopher AC Grayling and broadcaster Anushka Asthana.
Running from Saturday 24 May to Sunday 1 June, The News Review sessions will be moderated by chief book critic Martin Chilton, chief international correspondent Bel Trew, and senior features writer Helen Coffey respectively.
Chilton will be in conversation with sustainability researcher Mike Berners-Lee, historian David Olusoga and Green Party MP Ellie Chowns, among others, during four panels running daily from 24 to 27 May.
From 28 to 30 May, Coffey will chair three sessions joined by renowned guests including political commentator Ash Sarkar, psychologist Mary Trump, leading academic Kehinde Andrews, philosopher AC Grayling, and director Havana Marking, whose documentary will be screened at Hay on 28 May.
The last two sessions will be hosted by award-winning international journalist Trew, who will bring geopolitical knowledge and frontline experience to her discussions with veteran BBC foreign correspondent Lyse Doucet, editor Jeremy Bowen and publisher Sigrid Rausing.
“Hay Festival remains the world’s greatest exchange for the best works of literature and a forum for ideas, philosophy, politics and provocative debate,” said The Independent’s editor-in-chief, Geordie Greig.
“I am so pleased that The Independent can once again be at the heart of this meeting of minds, bringing together our journalists with luminaries from all walks of life to discuss the pressing matters affecting us all. I’m looking forward to a fascinating, thought-provoking series, discussing and shaping the news of the day.”
