The Hay Festival, which is known as perhaps the premier literary festival organizer in the English-speaking world, has significantly expanded its international programming over the past several years, launching editions in Ukraine, Panama, and Spain. Not only that, it has enhanced its program in Dallas, Hay's only event in the U.S., turning it into a standalone "forum." Now with more than a dozen international festivals and forums, the Wales-based organization has positioned itself at geopolitical flashpoints and underserved literary markets worldwide.

The expansion comes as Hay has prioritized promoting freedom of expression and creative freedom—themes that have only become more urgent amid global political polarization. Since converting to charitable status in 2022, Hay has added four countries to its roster while operating with some 20 full-time staff globally and generating two-thirds of its revenue from ticket and book sales.

"We live in a world where the unthinkable is happening in so many ways," said CEO Julie Finch. "Our positioning is very much about empowering through writing, through words, through discussion and debate, so people have autonomy over their futures rather than being the flotsam in the water."

Bringing writers to a war zone

The most prominent new partnership is the Hay Festival BookForum in Lviv, Ukraine, which began in 2022 when the forum's organizers approached Hay for assistance during the early months of Russia's invasion. The partnership has brought prominent international authors including Margaret Atwood and Hannah Rothschild to Ukraine for hybrid events while showcasing Ukrainian writers—including Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk—at Hay festivals worldwide.

A sold-out London event on Oct. 2 at The Conduit Club in London marked the start of this year's Lviv BookForum in Ukraine, which runs through Sunday. It brought together Ukrainian writer Tanja Maljartschuk, British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, and American-British-Libyan author Hisham Matar with Ukrainian Institute London director Olesya Khromeychuk to discuss "Fighting Forgottenness." The panel explored "stories of redrawn borders, displaced peoples and broken identities to offer lessons for the future from the shatter zones of empires." Notably, the organizers offered free tickets for displaced Ukrainians.

This year Hay has arranged for a roster of internationally prominent authors to appear in-person at the festival in Ukraine, where they will discuss war, displacement, and resilience. Stephen Fry, who serves as Hay Festival president, is speaking with Ukrainian psychoanalyst Yurko Prokhasko on October 5 on the topic of "Our Damaged Souls," and will explore mental health challenges during times of upheaval.

Other programming includes Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk in conversation with Ukrainian novelist Sofiia Andrukhovych on "The New Role of Literature," examining whether literature can shape the future or only reflect the past. Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo will discuss "Women Writing in War" with Ostap Slyvynskyy, while Irish novelist Colm Tóibín and Ukrainian author Bohdan Kolomiychuk explore how historical fiction engages with the past "when the present itself feels so pressing."

"The conversations in Lviv have been really raw, very much needed," international director Cristina Fuentes La Roche said. She observed that "It's very interesting to see how young women are taking responsibility in wartime Ukraine,” with the majority of men fighting.

The Ukrainian connection extends to Herefordshire, on the Wales-England border, where Hay's flagship festival takes place. The region has hosted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in the U.K., with some working as volunteers at Hay Festival events, Finch said. U.K. artists have traveled to Ukraine for the festival, though Finch acknowledged "we've had a few interesting security moments" during the partnership.

The Lviv collaboration exemplifies Hay's approach to international programming. "We don't take the easy route," Finch said. "The more difficult the terrain, the more likely we are to go there."

Dallas is Hay's home in the U.S.

In North America, Hay has separated its Dallas programming from its Mexican operations after six years of collaboration. What began as a small outreach connected to the Hay Festival Querétaro—with direct flights between the Mexican city and Dallas facilitating author visits—has evolved into an independent forum, this year scheduled for October 17-19..

"Last year was the first year we did a standalone, not just Latin American and North America, but many international writers, but still keeping a strong link with the Americas," Fuentes La Roche said. These authors included María Enriquez, Dolores Reyes, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Robert Samuels, co-author of a biography of George Floyd. As the program happened just before the U.S. presidential election, the event "became a great space to discuss the diversity of America" and drew audiences beyond the organization's typical Latin America-focused crowd, she said. "It was packed with different people, very diverse audiences."

This year's Dallas program features Junot Díaz, Rodrigo Fresan, Mark Haber, Katie Kitamura, and Joe Sacco, among others. The forum takes place in Bishop Arts District venues including the Texas Theater, with local interviewers including Lori Feathers, owner of Interrabang Books in Dallas. Will Evans, publisher of Dallas-based Deep Vellum/Three Percent Press, and Eduardo Rabassa, co-owner of Sexto Piso Press, will offer a seminar on independent publishing. . The forum receives funding from the City of Dallas, university partners, and the Open Society Foundations.

"Geography matters—the city, the place, the location is one of the protagonists of the festivals," Fuentes La Roche said. "Many of the interviewers, many partners are from the place, and I think that roots the festival to the place."

Hay is now considering further U.S. expansion, with Seattle and Los Angeles among cities that have approached the organization. "We're asked every week to hold a Hay Festival somewhere," Finch said, though she noted Seattle is "really, really well served" with existing literary programming and questioned what value Hay could add.

Any new U.S. editions would require local funding, diverse venue partnerships, and community engagement programs serving children, prisoners, and underserved populations—not financial support from the U.K. operation. "Each of our international editions are funded locally," Finch said, describing the resource requirements as "financial resources, a suite of venues, and the ability to engage with diverse audiences, with communities, with children, with people in prisons."

Perhaps most important is whether a city will benefit from Hay's charitable mission. "It's about where are we needed and what difference can we make—two questions that we ask ourselves," Finch said. "We're not a commercial corporate kind of animal, in that sense. People think Hay Festival is rich, and it's not. It's a charity," Finch said, noting the organization's lean staff and mixed funding model combining commercial revenue with support from trusts, foundations, individual sponsors, and public donations. “The charity has very little money, but we use what resources we have in very interesting ways.”

Spanish-language programming is a priority

The organization's international success has been built largely on Spanish-language programming across Latin America and Spain. Fuentes La Roche traces Hay's first festival in Colombia 20 years ago, when the curated festival-of-ideas model that emphasized thematic discussions rather than pure book promotion, was still relatively novel in the region.

"This idea of creating events and as well bringing new voices or voices we knew very well, especially initially from the English-speaking writers, who didn’t go as much to Latin America—I think we helped them to connect," she said. The Colombian festival's immediate success led to editions in Mexico (now in its 15th year) and Peru (11 years). The newest festival is in Panama.

Latin American literature is experiencing a particular renaissance, Fuentes La Roche said. "Latin American female writers are doing extremely well, writing very boldly, very bravely, more than almost in any other country" over the last decade. She cited Mariana Enriquez and Samanta Schweblin as examples of authors who "have been translated all over the world."

Recent programming has emphasized "South-South and South-North conversations" supported by the Open Society Foundations, bringing voices from the global south to festivals worldwide. At this year's Nairobi festival, Latin American authors appeared alongside African diaspora writers and local voices offering programming in Swahili. The Nairobi partnership with iKitabu and the city's library system has created what Fuentes La Roche described as an intimate environment: "It's small and you get very much inside the festival when you come as a guest"—similar to Dallas.

The organization’s model positions Hay as what Fuentes La Roche called a "hybrid” space. “On one hand we are part of the entertainment business, but in a very serious way, we are also activists, bringing topics that very much need to be discussed to different communities. The art of tackling difficult subject matter is a critical part of what we do," Finch said.

Creating alchemy, looking ahead

Unlike traditional book fairs focused on new titles and commercial promotion, Hay festivals emphasize creating what Finch called "alchemy on stage,” where speakers with different viewpoints engage. "Breaking news, breaking stories is really an important part of what we try to offer," she said. "We have an idea, we think about the principles behind an event, what speakers might be saying—but ultimately we don't control it once they have the microphone." She added that one misconception about Hay is that it is just about books. “Yes,” Finch said, “It’s about books, but it's ideas, it's every which way the word can be used, including performance, theater, music, and workshops.”

Programming requires "many, many balances," according to Fuentes La Roche, weighing A-list authors against emerging voices, popular writers against prestigious literary figures, different political viewpoints, and urban versus rural perspectives.

Looking ahead, Finch is optimistic, and identified a significant demographic shift among audiences. "We’re seeing younger and younger people attending the festivals, both in the U.K. and internationally. There’s an appetite for books, for escape, right now. The next generation is really showing their presence with their feet right now."

Younger festival goers are seeking "inspiration and solutions" to problems previous generations created, she said. Hay has responded by developing The Platform, a fringe program showcasing emerging voices, and partnering with BookTok influencers, such as star Jack Edwards, while programming graphic novels and genre fiction that appeal to younger readers.

Festivals naturally draw younger crowds due to fewer opportunities to interact with the international communities. In the global south, where "there isn't a saturation of activities, so many young people attend our international festivals, and it's up to us to inspire that knowledge here as well," Finch said.