– Hay Festival Winter Weekend

The wonderful Hay-on-Wye Christmas Lights have been switch on and the whole of the town is illuminated with the bright lights of literature, imagination and ideas.

We’ve enjoyed animated discussions, art, storytelling, comedy, music, family workshops, seasonal markets, the splendid Hay Castle and of course, many many bookshops. We’ve queued in the cold, in the darkness, but always warmed by tales from our fellow adventuring companions, many of whom have travelled from afar just for a taste of our home town of Hay. We hope they all had the best time and look forward to seeing them again very soon.

– Good Form! Emma van Woerkom Reviews :

The English Understand Wool by Helen Dewitt

“Could you spare an hour?” A phrase we are often asked, but rarely does it involve reading the whole of a 64 page novel and immediately wanting to spend another hour re-reading it again.

This is exactly where I found myself with The English Understand Wool by Helen Dewitt. It’s a superbly crafted, dark-humoured, satirical book. It subtly takes aim, among other things, at what is classed as ‘etiquette/connoisseurship’ or acting with ‘good form’, (“mauvais ton”). It also takes a well-mannered swing at the commercial deeds/misdeeds of the publishing industry. The reader is constantly being asked, what is good or not good, what is legal or illegal, what makes a victim, and what does it mean to me victimised.

This story really does reward it’s reader with numerous exquisite twists. Each line of text is beautifully edited down to the essentials; words are precious and the author is succinct in their usage. Even our main character is refined in every way.

Are you beginning to see why this clever little book deserves more than a single glance?

As Heather Cass White, Times Literary Supplement wrote:

“It is a heist story, an ethical treatise, a send-up of media culture, a defence of education and an indelibly memorable character portrait. Its pages are rife with wicked pleasures. It incites and rewards re-reading.”

Although the quintessential review of this book (and perhaps modern life in general) is by Sheila Heti of Electric Literature, and is featured on the rear cover………I urge you to enjoy both!

– Reminder our 2025 Fiction Competition is now OPEN!

Submissions are now invited for our annual Fiction Competition, The Frances Copping Memorial Prize 2025, named in fond remembrance of our Lifetime President who sadly passed away in 2020.

The competition is open to everyone, members of Hay Writers’ Circle and non-members too. Pieces of 500-1500 words on any fiction theme are accepted. Closing date for entries is Tuesday 6th January 2026. Prizes are awarded for first, second and third place.

Please follow the guidelines listed on our COMPETITIONS page if you would like to enter.

You can contact writers4haycomp@gmail.com if you have any questions or queries. 

Click on the link below to download the entry form :

Frances Copping Prize 2025 entry proformaDownload

Good luck!

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