The famed literary event, Hay Festival, returns in 2026 with a packed line-up of headliners and speakers, and among them is Gisèle Pelicot who became an outspoken icon of feminism after waving her right to anonymity in one of the most pivotal and high-profile rape trials. Pelicot wrote and published the book, Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, which accounts her experiences, taking its name from her declaration that “When you’re raped there is shame, and it’s not for us to have shame, it’s for them.”
Pelicot will also be joined by other campaigners including, Malala Yousafzai; a Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner whose first book I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban details her almost-fatal experience. Her latest book, Finding My Way, published in late 2025, returns to the story of her life detailing her time at university, her friendships, her mental health struggles with PTSD, and her marriage, in an intimate exploration.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe a British-Iranian woman who was detained in Iran from 2016-2022 will also appear at Hay Fest. Nazanin, alongside her husband, Richard Ratcliffe who spent years campaigning for the release of his wife, wrote A Yard of Sky. The memoir chronicles her years of wrongful imprisonment and the campaign for her freedom in a tale of struggle, resilience and love.
Other speakers including: actress and screenwriter, Emma Thompson; Welsh actress, comedian and writer best known for co-creating the much-loved sitcom Gavin & Stacey, Ruth Jones; British actor Ashley Walters whose memoir Always Winning opens up about Walter’s past; and Irish-British novelist Maggie O’Farrell whose novel Hamnet has recently received an award-winning film adaptation.
O’Farrell’s latest book, Land is set to publish this Summer, and is described as “a richly evocative novel of upheaval and loss set in mid-nineteenth century Ireland, as a family is pulled apart whilst mapping the country.”
About 150,000 people visit Hay-on-Wye in Powys for the arts and literature festival each year, and this year’s event will see more than 500 events take place over eleven days. Hay Festival 2026 will run from 21st to 31st May. Tickets are on sale now, including an online festival pass which grants access to a curated selection of talks from the comfort of your own home.
