Live from Hay Literary Festival - Elizabeth Strout and Julia Donaldson
At the Hay Festival, Elizabeth Strout's latest novel; Kully Thiarai's plans for the National Theatre of Wales; Julia Donaldson and Katherine Rundell discuss empathy through books.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Elizabeth Strout, discusses her latest novel, Anything is Possible, which looks in detail at some of the lives of those in a small town in Illinois and explores the long term impact of war, abuse and extreme poverty upon the human condition.
Kully Thiarai took up her post of Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Wales just a year ago and has recently unveiled two major projects which take steel and the NHS as their inspiration. She reveals more to John.
As the Hay Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary, its founder Peter Florence joins John to remember conceiving the idea around a kitchen table, and reflect on how it's grown to become the UK's largest literary festival.
And recent studies reveal that reading encourages empathy and putting ourselves in the mind of someone else could improve our social skills. Children's authors, Julia Donaldson, Katherine Rundell and Elizabeth Strout discuss.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.
Last on
Elizabeth Strout
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout is out now.
Image: Elizabeth Strout
Image credit: Leonard Cendamo
Kully Thiarai, Artictic Director of National Theatre Wales
We're Still Here, National Theatre Wales' production about the lives of people who lived and worked around the Port Talbot steelworks is from 15 - 30 September 2017 in Port Talbot.
Get involved in NHS:70, National Theatre Wales' countrywide celebration of the 70th anniversary of the NHS, which was the brainchild of the Welsh MP Aneurin Bevan.
Image: Kully Thiarai, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales
Image credit: Dan Green/National Theatre Wales
Peter Florence, Hay Festival Director
Hay Festival, in conjunction with the this year’s European Capital Of Culture, Aarhus in Denmark, has launched Arhus 39, two new short story collections, Quest and Odyssey, 39 stories on the theme of 'journey' by 39 children's and YA authors.
Image: Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festival
Empathy through reading discussion
The Giant Jumperee, a picture book by Julia Donaldson and Helen Oxenbury is out now in hardback.
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell is published in August 2017 as an ebook and in hardback.
Images:
Main image above: Julia Donaldson
Image credit: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images
Image to the right: Julia and Michael Donaldson
Image credit: Steve Ullathorne
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | John Wilson |
| Interviewed Guest | Elizabeth Strout |
| Interviewed Guest | Kully Thiarai |
| Interviewed Guest | Julia Donaldson |
| Interviewed Guest | Katherine Rundell |
| Producer | Rebecca Armstrong |
Broadcast
- Fri 26 May 2017 19:15BBC Radio 4
BBC Arts Digital
The best of British culture live and on demand.
Inspire
A season discovering where artists find inspiration and helping listeners get creative.
Podcast
-
![]()
Front Row
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
