One of the things I like about living in the more central part of England is that it’s not impossible to get to the Hay On Wye literary festival as either a day trip or as an overnighter. I’ve seen some great things at the Hay Festival, heard some great speakers, such as Lionel Shriver and PJ O’Rourke speaking about their lives and work and also listened to some absolute stinkers like AC Grayling banging on about how Brexit will turn the European civilisation clock back.
I love the Festival Bookshop where I can buy not only the latest offering from an author featured but also browse through and possibly buy their previous writings. There’s also second hand bookstalls at the Festival and a children’s play area and activities for kids to do.
I have many happy memories of the Hay Festival including being honoured to type the word ‘hello’ into a genuine WWII German Enigma machine which was being demonstrated and discussed with a small group of which I was member. About the only thing I would say that I actively dislike about the Festival is the food that is available. The food’s nice and there’s plenty of vegetarian options for those such as myself who keep Kosher at home but eat vegetarian when out and about. The problem is that for many attendees the food is ruinously expensive. I’d certainly advise anybody attending Hay Festival to take a picnic or you might find that your lunch is almost as expensive as the ticket to see your chosen author.
As much as I love the Hay Festival and have missed going to it during the pandemic, there is I’ve found something missing from it. It started off as a small nagging doubt but later coalesced into a more concrete sense that something was missing. I eventually managed to identify what was missing and that thing is viewpoint diversity. Whilst there are occasionally good conservative figures who speak there and who promote their books at Hay, the whole event does lean towards the liberal/left side of the political divide.
There’s nothing wrong of course with a literary festival having a left / liberal slant, there is a place for this. However, should there not also be a place for a more wide ranging literary festival that encompasses not just the liberal / Left but also the Right and Centre Right as well? I cannot for example think that books like Douglas Murray’s ‘The Madness of Crowds’ or Abigail Shirer’s ‘Irreversible Damage’ book about the dangers of the Trans Cult are well received by a lot of those who would likely attend something like the Hay Festival. On the other hand authors who bemoan Brexit or condemn patriotism and civic nationalism are probably more often than not celebrated by the sort of audiences that attend Hay.
Hay has its place and long may it continue to do what it does so well. But, should it not face some form of competition? Could there be a literary festival that has a much broader political diversity than Hay has in order to air viewpoints that maybe don’t normally get aired in places like Hay?
Why not have a literary festival that features working class writers like Paul Embery or Jewish conservatives like Ben Shapiro or which invites Black conservatives such as Kemi Badenoch to speak? I also believe that some of those who speak for Turning Point UK might also be good people to have speak at such a festival. Then there are the writers of fiction who, because of their politics are not in favour among those who work in the increasingly centralised and increasingly corporate world of publishing where censorship by the use of ‘sensitivity readers’ is becoming the norm. There is a whole world of writing and of thought that some other literary festivals and gatherings of those who are interested in intellectual pursuits that might not be catered for properly by other similar events. It should be quite possible to put on such an event and curate it sufficiently to keep it balanced between left and right whilst keeping the extremists from either political pole from taking it over.
There is a lot of intellectual and literary talent out there contained in people whose political allegiances are from the sensible Left to the civic nationalist Right who might not be getting the sort of exposure on the literary festival circuit that those from the Liberal / Left get. I believe that there could be a place for an alternative to what is currently being offered by the current literary festivals . What do you think? Discuss this in the comments below.
