Wasn’t it fun! Didn’t we all have a great time, saw lots of interesting events and buy lots of books! Wouldn’t we do it all again next year! If, like me, your answer is a resounding YES then you won’t be surprised with the following figures released by the Hay Festival this week.
“Over 11 days of wonder and hope, Hay Festival 2023 reached…”
36% higher footfall
17% higher ticket sales
28,500 pupils and teachers with free events
43 libraries with free streaming
The Hay Writers’ Circle event, which took place on Wednesday 31st May was well received and our audience was engaged, attentive and very appreciative. A huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported us, it was greatly appreciated. Many pieces in our varied programme were especially created for our Hay Festival event, some were prize winning pieces and others were published or soon-to-be published excerpts. We are so glad you enjoyed our work and thank you for showing our writers your appreciation.
Hay Writers’ Circle is extremely grateful to the Hay Festival for it’s continued, unwavering support of our writing group and the amazing opportunity it gives us to share our writings with the festival crowd. Our intern, Sophie, our magical sound technician, door crew, photographer-supreme, Billie Charity and of course, Mr Media himself, Chris Bone were, as always, a credit to Hay Festival and we would like to extend a special “thank you”, for all your hard work, professionalism and diligence.
National Crime Reading Month 2023
“Run by the Crime Writers’ Association in partnership with national charity The Reading Agency, NCRM is a festival that takes place throughout June across the UK and Ireland, culminating in the prestigious CWA Daggers ceremony at the end of the month. It aims to promote and celebrate crime reading across the genre through exciting events and activities in bookshops, libraries, museums, theatres and online.” http://www.crimereading.com
Hay Writers’ Circle is delighted to announce that our Secretary and crime novelist, Mark Bayliss, will be taking part in Welsh Crime Diamonds: A crime fiction fiesta at Cardiff Central Library Hub. Saturday 24th June – Ten crime writers, four free events, and one thrilling Super Saturday at Cardiff Central Library Hub! This is a FREE but ticketed event and tickets can be secured via Eventbrite – CLICK HERE FOR YOUR TICKET
Mark will be on-stage at 2pm with fellow crime writers GB Williams and Phil Rowlands discussing “Ordinary People in Extraordinary Situations”.
Head on over to our Books and Publications page by CLICKING HERE to check out Mark’s works.
Mark is a man of many literary talents. Not only is he currently completing an MA in Creative Writing at Cardiff University, he already has a few novels under his belt, adding to this a Highly Commended result for the 2023 Hay Writers’ Circle Poetry Competition for his entry, “Taste the Darkness” as judged by Alex Josephy.
A copy of Marks Poem can be viewed below:
Alex wrote :
“Taste the Darkness
I enjoyed this serious game in which I found myself engaged. ‘What3words’ is a great way to find random words on which to build this poem of a place and its awful history. Is the idea a bit over-complicated, and do the words work hard enough? But the maze-like approach to the subject matter adds to the sense of a place imprinted with a dreadful, ineradicable past.
The haikus are moving, especially the first two (the third feels a little more forced, pushed into slight awkwardness by the constraints, perhaps, interestingly in much the same way as can sometimes happen when rhyme gets the upper hand). I think in the end I wanted more – it is a rich seam. Is haiku too gnomic to do justice to the story? But there again, the sense of focus in a dark place does come across strongly, and I love the way the poem has made me return to think and re-think.”
THE HAY WRITERS 