0:00:04 > 0:00:06On the border between England and Wales
0:00:06 > 0:00:08the market town of Hay-on-Wye
0:00:08 > 0:00:10is now home to Britain's biggest annual celebration
0:00:10 > 0:00:12of literature and ideas.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18It's estimated that 80,000 people will come here
0:00:18 > 0:00:21to enjoy a vast and eclectic range of events.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23They'll also get the chance to mingle
0:00:23 > 0:00:25with some of the world's most distinguished
0:00:25 > 0:00:27authors, performers and thinkers.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37There are authors being interviewed, long queues for book signings,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41comedy, music and, like all good festivals, loads of mud.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48In this programme we'll be hearing from the world-famous ballet dancer
0:00:48 > 0:00:49who has written his first novel.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53I can't be Romeo all the time.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Romeo must go.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Karl Ove Knausgaard, the publishing phenomenon,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01is described as Norway's Proust.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03I wanted this to be a literary suicide.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06How we shocked a book group from Bristol.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08- Oh!- Thank you.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12And we'll also be exploring a new take on the Bard.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I'm working on Shakespeare and Islam and people go,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17"Shakespeare and Islam... Othello."
0:01:17 > 0:01:21An exciting new generation of children's authors
0:01:21 > 0:01:24and the rise of self-publishing and fan fiction.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Well, I wrote about Lord of the Rings
0:01:26 > 0:01:29but I combined it with Bridget Jones' Diary.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33And Stephen Smith has been delving into celebrity memoirs.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I've set up my confessional couch
0:01:35 > 0:01:39here in the lovely BBC gazebo.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I'll be kiss-and-telling with celebrity authors,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44including Jennifer Saunders,
0:01:44 > 0:01:45Suggs from Madness,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and the Star Wars legend Carrie Fisher.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Whatever happened to Carrie Fisher? She used to be so hot.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Now she looks like Elton John!
0:01:53 > 0:01:57So, whether you want to indulge your curiosity,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59stretch your mind,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01or just track down some good reads,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04welcome to the wide-ranging world that is Hay.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28They close the shops at five anyway, you know.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30They do.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Hay has long been a mecca for book-lovers.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40The town has an unusually high number
0:02:40 > 0:02:42of second-hand and new book shops
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and life tends to revolve around them.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51This town has no fewer than 23 book shops
0:02:51 > 0:02:54so, with a population of just over 1,800
0:02:54 > 0:02:57that means there's one book shop for every 80 people.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01When the festival at Hay was launched in 1988,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04it was a relatively modest affair.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07But under its director, Peter Florence, it flourished.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10The point is the essence, the creativity.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Within a few years,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16this small town had become synonymous with books and ideas,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18so much so that, during his visit,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20former US President Bill Clinton called it
0:03:20 > 0:03:22"the Woodstock of the mind".
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The backdrop to the Festival is the wilderness of the Black Mountains
0:03:30 > 0:03:31and fields of grazing sheep
0:03:31 > 0:03:35rather oblivious to all this high-octane, intellectual activity.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Inside, there are more than 700 events
0:03:38 > 0:03:40crammed into nine days.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46This year, one of the big themes of the festival
0:03:46 > 0:03:48is the First World War,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51marking 100 years since the conflict began.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55So many millions of lives were lost
0:03:55 > 0:03:56in an outcome so traumatic
0:03:56 > 0:03:58that in the decades afterwards
0:03:58 > 0:04:01few novelists chose to write about the conflict.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03But in this centenary year
0:04:03 > 0:04:06many authors have chosen to tell the stories
0:04:06 > 0:04:08of the pain, heroism and sacrifices
0:04:08 > 0:04:11at the Western Front and beyond.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19The psychological aftermath of the war for those who fought
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and then tried to pick up the threads of their lives
0:04:22 > 0:04:23in the years following
0:04:23 > 0:04:26has been preoccupying a number of novelists,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29among them Helen Dunmore.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Her novel, The Lie, is about a soldier returning to Cornwall,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36traumatised by the death of his childhood friend,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39killed beside him in a shell hole.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43It's interesting that we have so much poetry
0:04:43 > 0:04:45written during the First World War,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48but very few novels in the immediate aftermath.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51That's one of the things that interests me as a novelist,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53is that silence.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55And why there was the silence
0:04:55 > 0:04:58and also how to break it, how can it be broken?
0:04:58 > 0:05:00It's very natural, I think,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02that people came back from the trenches
0:05:02 > 0:05:07and they felt those at home couldn't and wouldn't understand
0:05:07 > 0:05:09what they had experienced.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12One of the ideas you explore in your novel The Lie
0:05:12 > 0:05:14is the way that the war endures
0:05:14 > 0:05:17long after the conflict has ended.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23Yes, we tend to think of the duration as being 1914 to 1918.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Of course, technically, that's right,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29but I would argue that the aftershocks, the echoes of that war,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32have gone on and on for generations.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And that's why, when we look back and we commemorate,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39we're not looking at something that has nothing to do with us,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41that's a strange place far off,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43we're looking at what has made us.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And the experience of the First World War generation
0:05:48 > 0:05:50is now more widely available to us
0:05:50 > 0:05:52than at any point since the conflict ended,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56with so much material being available to access online,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59something Helen Dunmore made full use of
0:05:59 > 0:06:02in researching The Lie.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07Voices that have been closed up in archives for decades
0:06:07 > 0:06:10are now being heard worldwide.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Maybe that can be part of our commemoration,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16actually listening and thinking
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and wanting to hear,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20wanting to break that silence.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27The trauma of returning soldiers is also the focus
0:06:27 > 0:06:31of the first two books in a trilogy of novels by Louisa Young.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34It doesn't have a lot of war in it,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36because I'm not interested in explosions,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38but I'm very interested in...
0:06:38 > 0:06:40aftermath and results
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and how people can actually survive.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Her central character had half his face blown away.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49With trench warfare, you know,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51your head is the most vulnerable part,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55especially if they didn't even have helmets until sometime in 1915.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57So...
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Suddenly there was a flood of these young men
0:07:00 > 0:07:03with very bashed-up faces.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06If your face is shot to bits, how are you going to eat?
0:07:06 > 0:07:08How are you going to speak? To breathe?
0:07:08 > 0:07:11All these things will need attending to.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15The novel explores the early pioneering days
0:07:15 > 0:07:17of reconstructive surgery.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20They were learning on the go,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24working all the hours God sends and...
0:07:24 > 0:07:27You just sit there and think, well, who is more brilliant here?
0:07:27 > 0:07:28Who is more of a hero?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31The surgeon inventing all this stuff and doing it and his staff,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34or the man who has to be strong enough
0:07:34 > 0:07:36to submit to having all that done to him?
0:07:38 > 0:07:41In Kamila Shamsie's novel, A God In Every Stone,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44the wounded protagonist Qayyum
0:07:44 > 0:07:46has a different kind of trauma to deal with.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49One that is as much political as personal.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Qayyum's a young Indian soldier
0:07:53 > 0:07:57who's fighting on the Western Front for the British Empire
0:07:57 > 0:08:00and he loses an eye and has to go to Brighton,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02is in hospital there,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and starts to question his loyalty to Empire.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09Qayyum is someone who goes from being an unthinking soldier of the Empire
0:08:09 > 0:08:11who will go and kill an enemy he doesn't know,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15to one who becomes aware that, as an Indian soldier,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19he's being treated differently than the English soldiers,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21which first makes him question
0:08:21 > 0:08:23the whole idea of Empire and loyalty.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27But then he's also struck by another soldier, who says,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29"If a man must die defending a land,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32"let the land be his land, the people his people."
0:08:32 > 0:08:35And this has a big impact on him.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39It's been actually quite nice
0:08:39 > 0:08:43to be able to talk about the Indian soldiers' contribution.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47In this country it's mainly about people from Britain
0:08:47 > 0:08:50ho fought in the war, or we talk of it as a European war,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52but there were reasons it was a world war.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Half a million Indian soldiers went and fought in it.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09The first two days of this year's Hay Festival
0:09:09 > 0:09:12were devoted to children's books.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16There has been near mass hysteria here
0:09:16 > 0:09:19as children come face to face with their favourite authors,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22a sign that the written word is alive and well
0:09:22 > 0:09:25for at least some of the younger generation.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28But with so many computer games and social media
0:09:28 > 0:09:32how can books continue to compete for their attention?
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Around 6,000 children from all over the country
0:09:37 > 0:09:38have been bussed into Hay
0:09:38 > 0:09:40to take part in the festival's
0:09:40 > 0:09:43extensive programme of events for schools.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44For two days, the festival's venues
0:09:44 > 0:09:47are alive with the sound of excited children
0:09:47 > 0:09:49who have been given the opportunity
0:09:49 > 0:09:52to meet some of Britain's most distinguished authors
0:09:52 > 0:09:53of children's books.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55The children here have been thrilled
0:09:55 > 0:09:58to meet their literary heroes.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59I think the best thing about it
0:09:59 > 0:10:02is that it encourages the younger audience
0:10:02 > 0:10:04to maybe read books or write books
0:10:04 > 0:10:08when usually at this age it's when people usually go off books,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11but this could actually help them get back into them.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15It's a really good vibe, there's lots of people smiling and eating.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19- Enjoying it, basically, and laughing.- Enjoying themselves.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Enthusiastic responses like those are welcome,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24given that books face stiff competition
0:10:24 > 0:10:27from the lure of digital entertainment.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Some surveys suggest that literacy rates amongst children
0:10:31 > 0:10:33have declined in recent years.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36In reading, 15-year-old British children
0:10:36 > 0:10:40have slipped from seventh to 23rd in the international league tables.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43It's a problem that's causing some anxiety
0:10:43 > 0:10:45right across the educational establishment.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48From your experience, is there a literacy problem?
0:10:48 > 0:10:52I think the state of literacy is declining somewhat.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Each year a new cohort comes in,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57their literacy levels are less than the year before.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Children who are coming in on quite low levels, twos and threes,
0:11:01 > 0:11:02aren't reading.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05They're, "Oh, Miss, we've got to read again!"
0:11:05 > 0:11:06And if they are reading,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09they're reading books that are way, really, below
0:11:09 > 0:11:11what age range they should be at.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15I think perhaps they are settling for really easy, simple reads,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17rather than trying to challenge themselves a bit,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20because they're not interested, not engaged, they're switched off.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22How do you turn those attitudes around?
0:11:22 > 0:11:26We try and turn it around by this - coming here, the Hay Festival, it's just amazing.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29One of the great champions of reading for children
0:11:29 > 0:11:31at this year's festival
0:11:31 > 0:11:33is the American actor and author Henry Winkler,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37famous for his role as the leather-jacketed hipster The Fonz
0:11:37 > 0:11:39in the hit sitcom Happy Days,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Winkler has written 17 children's books
0:11:42 > 0:11:46featuring the academically challenged boy Hank Zipzer.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48The man who played a character
0:11:48 > 0:11:50who was too cool for school in the '70s
0:11:50 > 0:11:54is now on a mission to promote learning and literacy.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57So I had the worst teacher.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58Her name was Miss Adolf.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03I think she was related. LAUGHTER
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Given you've had great success with these books,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09what do you think is the key to encouraging more children to read?
0:12:09 > 0:12:12You don't have to remind a child
0:12:12 > 0:12:14that they're not doing well.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16They know all on their own.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19So, if you support a child,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23if you tell them it is all right
0:12:23 > 0:12:25that learning is difficult for you,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29we will figure out a way to get in there.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33All of a sudden reading doesn't become a chore,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36reading is not scary...
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Reading can then be so much fun.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43And this is very much based on your own childhood experiences?
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Yes, it is. When I was growing up I took geometry.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49I failed it for four years.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51I felt bad, I was punished.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55My professional life started on June 30th, 1970.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Not one human being has said the word
0:12:59 > 0:13:01"hypotenuse" to me.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04OK. Hypotenuse!
0:13:04 > 0:13:06There you go. You're the first one!
0:13:06 > 0:13:09But here it is. What were they thinking?
0:13:09 > 0:13:13What did I need to struggle over geometry for
0:13:13 > 0:13:15if it has never been part of my life?
0:13:15 > 0:13:17And you had troubles reading as well.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I still do.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Reading is difficult, spelling is out of the question,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26math so difficult my brain just doesn't do it.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29So every child needs to know
0:13:29 > 0:13:32they're not defined by school.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35You try as hard as you can.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Once you get out of school, you soar like an eagle.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42I was told that I would never achieve.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I was told that I was over, that I was finished,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47that I was so bad in school
0:13:47 > 0:13:50that there were very few chances for me in the world.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53HE CHUCKLES
0:13:55 > 0:13:57The festival's dedicated programme for schools
0:13:57 > 0:14:00isn't the only offering for youngsters at Hay.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03It's followed by Hay Fever,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07a series of special sessions featuring star writers.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Among the most coveted tickets this year are for Cressida Cowell,
0:14:15 > 0:14:17whose How To Train Your Dragon books
0:14:17 > 0:14:19have sold nearly 7 million copies worldwide
0:14:19 > 0:14:22and have been turned into a series of blockbusters
0:14:22 > 0:14:25by the Hollywood studio DreamWorks.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29- Do we go back?- We've nowhere to go,
0:14:29 > 0:14:30nothing to sell,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and no heads to call our own.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34If we don't turn up with dragons, and fast...
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Aaagh!
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Careful what you wish for!
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Do you think that is a way of introducing children
0:14:43 > 0:14:45to reading nowadays, through film?
0:14:45 > 0:14:50One of the wonderful things about the books being made into films
0:14:50 > 0:14:52is that you get a lot of readers
0:14:52 > 0:14:54who have come into my books
0:14:54 > 0:14:56from seeing the films, and that's so exciting.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58One of the reasons I write the books
0:14:58 > 0:15:01is I want to get children excited about reading.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I actually get a lot of readers who have seen the films,
0:15:04 > 0:15:05they love the characters,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08and so they think it's worth their time and effort
0:15:08 > 0:15:10to try the books.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13So given all the competition that there is in modern childhood,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15how do you grab a child's attention?
0:15:15 > 0:15:18What I do is I make it very visual.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21So, I'm an illustrator as well so I put in loads of pictures,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I put ink splats, so it's visually very exciting.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26I tell the story in a different way
0:15:26 > 0:15:28from the books that I read when I was a child.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- No-one can stop me now. - Except for me.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34We're attached, genius. Quit trying to steal all my glory.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39- It's my glory!- It's ruining everything.- No sheep, no glory.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40Gotcha! Ha-ha!
0:15:40 > 0:15:44While Cressida Cowell's fiction is primarily aimed at younger readers,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47another of the festival's superstar visitors
0:15:47 > 0:15:49draws the majority of her fans
0:15:49 > 0:15:52from what the publishers call the young-adult market.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Ask teenagers flocking to Hay whom they most want to see
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and you hear one name above all others.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59Here to see Cassandra Clare.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01- Cassandra Clare.- Cassandra Clare.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03I've been talking to loads of teenagers at the festival
0:16:03 > 0:16:06and I ask them which books they like and they go,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08"Cassandra Clare, Cassandra Clare."
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Really, you've been phenomenally successful.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12Why do you think that is?
0:16:12 > 0:16:14You know, I wish I did know.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16When I first started out
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and City Of Bones was my first book,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23I didn't expect anything like the response that I did get.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25When I talk to kids about it,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28I think that the big answer that I usually get
0:16:28 > 0:16:31is they can relate to the characters.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35There is a fantastical setting with fairies and warlocks
0:16:35 > 0:16:38and werewolves and vampires and magical spells,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42but they very much feel that the characters are grounded
0:16:42 > 0:16:45in the reality of real teenagers and their real lives
0:16:45 > 0:16:47and so they relate to their problems.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Cassandra rose to fame after writing what's known as fan fiction,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52an online literary phenomenon
0:16:52 > 0:16:55in which enthusiasts of popular literary works
0:16:55 > 0:16:58write their own sequels and spin-offs,
0:16:58 > 0:16:59often featuring the same characters
0:16:59 > 0:17:02as those that appear in their favourite books.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Well, I wrote about Lord Of The Rings,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- but I combined it with Bridget Jones' Diary.- Seriously?
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Yeah, I did diaries. Bridget Jones' Diary versions for all the characters
0:17:12 > 0:17:14in which they were looking for love.
0:17:14 > 0:17:15That was fun.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19And I did a story about Harry Potter
0:17:19 > 0:17:22where Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had to switch lives
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and see what the other one's life was like.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Do you have people writing fan fiction about your books?
0:17:28 > 0:17:31I do now. There's a pretty healthy fan-fiction community
0:17:31 > 0:17:34about The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35In the publishing world,
0:17:35 > 0:17:39the emergence of fan fiction is an exciting development
0:17:39 > 0:17:42that has the potential to propel talents like Cassandra Clare
0:17:42 > 0:17:44to literary stardom.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49And to create a new generation of writers for young readers to love.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- Hello. Who is this to?- Ellie.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07All these people waiting to get books signed by Jennifer Saunders
0:18:07 > 0:18:09show how incredibly popular she is,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12but also demonstrates the appeal of the celebrity memoir.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16It's become an increasingly lucrative genre.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Stephen Smith's been to meet some of the stars
0:18:18 > 0:18:21who have been making hay in the sunshine and indeed the rain.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24CHEERING
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Few could have guessed that Katie Price had it all in front of her
0:18:27 > 0:18:29when she published her memoir.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32The man who took the plunge
0:18:32 > 0:18:35was Miss Price's first publisher, John Blake.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40It was his punt that would transform the world of commercial publishing.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Most of the publishing establishment
0:18:43 > 0:18:45are nice middle-class women
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and the perception is, they will always tell you, men don't buy books,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51working-class girls won't buy books,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54you've got to aim at middle-class women to sell.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Of course, when we produced Jordan, there was this tremendous demand,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02because the girls were longing to read something like this.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06These days comedians, cooks, even TV presenters -
0:19:06 > 0:19:09it seems every famous figure has a book in them.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12What it takes to get it out of them is a sweet advance
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and perhaps a ghostwriter to do the boring bit
0:19:15 > 0:19:18of bashing away at a keyboard.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20When Dawn French got in on the act,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22she sold a million copies of her memoir.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Her long-time comedy partner Jennifer Saunders has followed suit
0:19:28 > 0:19:33and released her own autobiography, Bonkers: My Life In Laughs.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36I did set out to try my best
0:19:36 > 0:19:39to make it as funny as possible,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41rather than make it an autobiography.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45It doesn't have the chronology you would expect,
0:19:45 > 0:19:50so it just has as many funny anecdotes as I could muster.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Did you draw inspiration from any other such memoirs,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56once you made the plunge and decided to write one?
0:19:56 > 0:19:59- Your dear friend Dawn, of course.- Well, Dawn, yes.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03Because Dawn had done such a cracking one I was a bit put off, actually,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I thought, "She's got a really good way into it",
0:20:06 > 0:20:07which is the idea of letters.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Hers was about letters to people
0:20:09 > 0:20:13which incorporated bits of life and anecdotes.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It took me a long time to find a way into it
0:20:16 > 0:20:19and I think mine deliberately was more lightweight,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21but I hope I got across the fun we had.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25I just wanted to get across the amount of fun I've managed to have
0:20:25 > 0:20:26and that Dawn and I had.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31- And the Ab Fab period. That was a riot.- Actually bonkers.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34It was the moment that Joanna and I both said to each other,
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"Look, this might not last.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39"We are in a kind of popular bubble here."
0:20:39 > 0:20:42It was when it became a hit in America and we said,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45"Look, if it involves a hotel and a free flight
0:20:45 > 0:20:47"let's just say yes to anything."
0:20:47 > 0:20:51And we did, and we had an absolute ball.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54In the book you're almost apologetic about, as it were,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56burdening the reading public
0:20:56 > 0:20:58with another celebrity memoir,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01because perhaps you have mixed feelings about those.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03- Well, there's an awful lot about. - There are.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07From Bonkers to Madness.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09The always-in-demand David Beckham
0:21:09 > 0:21:11was one of many celebrity authors
0:21:11 > 0:21:13to retain a ghostwriter.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17But another famous face from London was having none of that.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19I got an offer for a huge amount of money
0:21:19 > 0:21:21some time ago,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23but to work with a ghostwriter.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26And they said it's the most successful ghostwriter of all time,
0:21:26 > 0:21:30but it turned out to be somebody who'd written David Beckham's book
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and I realised that I could have written David Beckham's book
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and sold millions.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38What persuaded you to do the book and do the book now?
0:21:38 > 0:21:43Well, the first thing that happened to me was I hit 50 years old,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47and on my 50th birthday I was lying in the bath
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and my cat fell off a shelf and died right in front of me.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52I suddenly had this epiphany
0:21:52 > 0:21:55that half a century of my life had gone.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58A lot of things started to come into my mind. I never knew my dad,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02you know, he left when I was three. I'd never thought about death before.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05How did you find the process of writing?
0:22:05 > 0:22:09- Did you find it easy? Difficult? - I found it extremely difficult.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Hats off to all authors and everybody who writes books.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17But I also thought, you know, I'm a working-class person,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I didn't go to university.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Sitting down for me as a working-class person
0:22:21 > 0:22:24to spend that much time in front of a blank piece of paper
0:22:24 > 0:22:26seems to me like a complete waste of time,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29because I could be over there actually doing something.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32My intention is to absorb
0:22:32 > 0:22:35every moment of my life the best I can.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37# Oh, what fun we had But at the time it seemed so bad
0:22:37 > 0:22:41# Trying different ways To make a difference to the days. #
0:22:41 > 0:22:46I think the first kind of six or seven chapters are aimed at me,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48and I think the last sort of four chapters
0:22:48 > 0:22:50are aimed at what the publishers wanted,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52which was something that would sell.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55But I should say, if you get to chapter eight
0:22:55 > 0:22:57you will find some kind of epiphany,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59because I was really writing from my heart.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Carrie Fisher gave the world a great hairdo in Star Wars -
0:23:07 > 0:23:09the Danish pastry.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Later she described her highs and lows - often pharmaceutical -
0:23:14 > 0:23:15as Hollywood royalty,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19the daughter of America's sweetheart Debbie Reynolds.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22But even when Carrie Fisher was losing the plot,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24she still told a rattling tale.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Did people say to you, "Carrie, you're out of your mind.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32"This is going to ruin you. It's going to upset people.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36"We don't do that in Hollywood, we don't do that in this town."
0:23:36 > 0:23:39Everyone gets ruined in Hollywood.
0:23:39 > 0:23:40If not, they should do.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- That's the point of it? - That's why people go to Hollywood.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Why not say it first before someone says it about you?
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Get your version in?
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Well, it used to be that you'd say you were your own worst enemy.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Well, that's not true. People can say much worse stuff about me
0:23:55 > 0:23:58than I could ever have thought of myself.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02The best one was that I read, "Whatever happened to Carrie Fisher?
0:24:02 > 0:24:06"She used to be so hot. Now she looks like Elton John."
0:24:06 > 0:24:08See, I couldn't have thought of that.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11What did you think when you came across that remark?
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Well, it hurt my feelings but I thought there was something to it.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18I don't know! You know, there was one recently that said,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20"Carrie Fisher sort of gives me a bit of the creeps."
0:24:20 > 0:24:24I thought, "I know what you mean sometimes!"
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Carrie's most celebrated book, Postcards From The Edge,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30which was adapted into a hit Hollywood comedy
0:24:30 > 0:24:33starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine,
0:24:33 > 0:24:37didn't exactly portray the mother figure in a flattering light.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40What was the fallout from writing the books?
0:24:40 > 0:24:43How did they go down with everybody?
0:24:43 > 0:24:48Well, I had to apologise to my mom about the film.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51She wanted, actually, to play the part,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55- but Mike Nichols told her she wasn't really right for it.- What a trouper.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57And you've carried on writing.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I've just made another book deal, like, two days ago.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- But I've been blocked for a bit.- Have you?
0:25:03 > 0:25:07- What would be the cause of the block, do you think?- Sick of myself.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12You're over that, that's good, so what will the new book be about?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Myself!
0:25:16 > 0:25:20The market may be changing, with smaller advances on offer,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23but it's fair to say we haven't heard the last of celebrities
0:25:23 > 0:25:26who put the "me" into memoir.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And now for a publishing phenomenon.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Zadie Smith says she needs his books like crack.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46He's been described as Norway's Proust.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Karl Ove Knausgaard has turned his own life into a series of books
0:25:50 > 0:25:52that have been highly controversial.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56He describes his family in unflinching detail,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59including the death of his father from alcoholism
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and intimate details of his two wives and children.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Knausgaard's six-book cycle,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15provocatively called Min Kamp, or My Struggle,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18has gone down a storm in his native Norway
0:26:18 > 0:26:20and is on the way to becoming a worldwide hit.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24The first book detailed the author's adolescence
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and the death of his father.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34The next, his marriage to second wife Linda,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37and the third, just translated into English,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40tells of his primary-school days on a small Norwegian island.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46The recipient of this year's Hay Medal For Prose
0:26:46 > 0:26:49joined me to talk about the books' success.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52Here we are at a literary festival
0:26:52 > 0:26:55where, I imagine, you'll be meeting many of your readers
0:26:55 > 0:26:58who know the most intimate details of your life.
0:26:58 > 0:26:59It's very strange,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and I never imagined that would happen when I wrote the book.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I thought this book is going to have no readers whatsoever.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07It's obsessed with details,
0:27:07 > 0:27:10it is kind of description of daily life.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13- It's incredible, the descriptions. - It shouldn't be possible to read it.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15It should be unreadable, really,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17and I thought it was,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20so I was so amazed when people started to connect to it
0:27:20 > 0:27:22and to identify with it.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25And...it still puzzles me why.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Why is that? I don't know.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Even reading it, I was puzzled.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32The hours to make a cup of tea and all of these things.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34In fact, I think the novelist Hari Kunzru
0:27:34 > 0:27:37has said you're on the edge of being boring a lot of the time.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Yes, that's a good point.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44And the controversy of the book meant that, particularly in Norway,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46it was a literary sensation, wasn't it?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I was reading there were even days in offices and factories
0:27:49 > 0:27:51when they had Knausgaard-free days,
0:27:51 > 0:27:53they weren't allowed to talk about your books.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Yeah, I heard about that.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57I wish I could have a Knausgaard-free day,
0:27:57 > 0:27:58but that's impossible.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01You know, there were a lot of problems
0:28:01 > 0:28:02surrounding this book as well.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05It wasn't easy, it was controversial,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07and very difficult on a moral level for myself.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10So when it first started to sell, I thought,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14"I have to give away the money. I can't keep the money."
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Then my wife said to me,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19"No, you can't do that to us." So in the end I didn't.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21And you've had quite an angry reaction
0:28:21 > 0:28:24from some of the people that you've been writing about.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Yes, some of them.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28If you are going to tell the story of your life,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30you have to include other people.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33If I could, I would have written only about myself.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37There is no such thing as only myself. It doesn't exist.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41You write very vividly about your own father's descent into alcoholism
0:28:41 > 0:28:43and you seem to be suggesting
0:28:43 > 0:28:46that there are parallels with yourself and your writing,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49that there are similar self-destructive impulses, almost.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Yeah.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55One of the mysteries and the starting points in this novel
0:28:55 > 0:29:00is the fact that my father didn't drink until he was 40.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Then he divorced and he started to drink...
0:29:04 > 0:29:06and he became addicted,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08and he lost his job. He lost everything basically,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10and moved back to his mother, and died there.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12That has always puzzled me.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17I didn't understand, you know, why and how.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Then I found myself being 39, 38.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26I have three small children. I didn't feel any joy at all.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I just wanted to get away from everything
0:29:29 > 0:29:31and even in a self-destructive way.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35I needed to write about that to find out why that was.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40Then I see, in my writing, there is a certain aggression in writing.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43It is. I mean, for me it is self-destructive,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46I know I shouldn't do it, you know, but I do it.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49My wife says that I don't understand nothing
0:29:49 > 0:29:52until I have written about it, and I think that's true.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54But it's very strange.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56How does she feel about your writing?
0:29:56 > 0:29:59The second book, as you know, is about us.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02She read it on a train trip
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and she called me.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07She'd read 20 pages and she said,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11"This is OK. I can tolerate this. I don't like it, but it's OK."
0:30:11 > 0:30:14The second time she called she said, "Goodbye, romance,"
0:30:14 > 0:30:18because I am revealing all the unromantic part of our life.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21And then the third time she called she was just crying, you know.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24And I was crying as well.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25She came back home and she said,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27"We have to talk."
0:30:27 > 0:30:30But she never said, "Don't publish it."
0:30:30 > 0:30:32She never said, "You can't write this."
0:30:32 > 0:30:34But she said, "WE have to talk," you know?
0:30:34 > 0:30:37But now we have moved on and now we are back in line
0:30:37 > 0:30:41- and making it work, you know? - That's good to hear.- Yes.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44What will you go on to write next? There are six books now.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Your latest book returns to your own childhood.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51- Is there more to write about your life?- No. No.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54I wanted this to be a literary suicide.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Actually every idea I had, I put out in the sixth book,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01just to write them dead, you know, so I can't use them.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05There should be completely nothing left when I have done the sixth book.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08That was my aim - use everything.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Really? Literary suicide?
0:31:10 > 0:31:14Yes, that was the way I thought of it myself,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17because there is some rules in writing
0:31:17 > 0:31:21and one is you should never use inner, main conflict directly,
0:31:21 > 0:31:22and I thought,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24"Why not? I'll do it."
0:31:24 > 0:31:26And then there's nothing left.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30If I'm going to write more, it should be something completely different.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33I like the challenge and I like the fact that I could fail.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36It's risky, you know, and that's good.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51One of the more unusual things you can do at Hay
0:31:51 > 0:31:53is to imagine yourself to be Dylan Thomas,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55sitting here at his writing desk,
0:31:55 > 0:31:56or a replica of it,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59with old fag butts in the background,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01empty beer bottles and some doodles.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05So why are people attracted to events like this?
0:32:05 > 0:32:10There are now 350 literary festivals right across the country.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13We asked people from a book club based in Bristol
0:32:13 > 0:32:16to share their impressions of a place that never fails to surprise.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22The Hay Festival is to book-lovers
0:32:22 > 0:32:24what Glastonbury is for music-lovers.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29A place to rub shoulders with their favourite authors
0:32:29 > 0:32:33and to share enthusiasm for books they feel passionate about.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36One group based in Bristol
0:32:36 > 0:32:38is making its first-ever pilgrimage to Hay,
0:32:38 > 0:32:42and its members have accepted a challenge by the BBC
0:32:42 > 0:32:46to read a book that they wouldn't normally discuss in their group.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48They usually read novels.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51We've given them the former Labour minister Alan Johnson's
0:32:51 > 0:32:53critically acclaimed memoir This Boy,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56winner of the Orwell and Ondaatje prizes,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58and asked them to attend his Hay talk.
0:32:58 > 0:33:04- Ah! It's a nice picture on the back as well.- That's lovely, isn't it?
0:33:04 > 0:33:07THEY EXCLAIM
0:33:08 > 0:33:12- I'm very pleased to be reading this. - Definitely a page-turner.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16It looks more about his childhood than his life as an MP.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20So, in other words, it stops before he really becomes an MP?
0:33:20 > 0:33:21There'll be another volume, I think.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24It's the influential years of his early childhood.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Oh, that's brilliant. Really interesting.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32"As she cooked dinner on Sundays,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36"the Bakelite switch on the radio would be set at number one,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40"The Light Programme, for Two-Way Family Favourites."
0:33:41 > 0:33:43"The period before Steve's departure
0:33:43 > 0:33:46"had been worse than anything we'd ever experienced.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50"His idleness and our poverty had grown more acute."
0:33:50 > 0:33:52"It's beyond question, he said,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55"that your brother will have to be taken into care.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59"He's likely to be placed with foster parents and, as for you,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03"I'm sure Dr Barnardo's could facilitate your childcare studies
0:34:03 > 0:34:06"as part of a programme of care at one of their homes."
0:34:06 > 0:34:11It's the day of the festival trip, and they're off to Hay.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16We're very, very excited. We've read Alan Johnson's book.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18We all liked it very much.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20I thought that it was so brave
0:34:20 > 0:34:24to be able to write about such difficult circumstances
0:34:24 > 0:34:28and then to turn out such an amazing person at the end of it.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31I'm just hoping it's not like Glastonbury,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33because I don't like paddling in the mud.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54When we came in, we happened to glance Alan Johnson going past.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58It's that slight frisson of excitement when that happens.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07First of all, my sister and my mother,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I was extremely fortunate to have two such women.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11They were amazing women.
0:35:11 > 0:35:12So I'm telling their story
0:35:12 > 0:35:15and they were the ones that were dealing with this trauma,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19trying to find my father, trying to get money out of him,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22trying to get the bills down, trying to pay the tallyman.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25They are genuinely the heroes of the book.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27With the discussion over,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31the group reconvened to have a final say on the book.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34What I liked so much was the human story
0:35:34 > 0:35:37and also picking up all the strands of his politics.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41That was really, really important to me. Maggie?
0:35:41 > 0:35:43- Let's join this reading group.- Oh!
0:35:43 > 0:35:45THEY EXCLAIM AND CHUCKLE
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- Welcome. Thank you very much. - Nice to see you.- What a surprise.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53- Thank you.- It's one of the BBC's little devious tricks.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56We wondered what this seat was for.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Just before you arrived we were looking at this and saying,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01"Oh, you're so sweet, you haven't changed!"
0:36:01 > 0:36:04You're the first readers' group I've ever spoken to.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06You've come to the right place.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10I would be very disappointed if you were throwing the book at me
0:36:10 > 0:36:13saying, "Never write another word."
0:36:13 > 0:36:17I thought it was a lovely story about your mother and your sister
0:36:17 > 0:36:19and I so admired your sister
0:36:19 > 0:36:23because, to take on that responsibility so young,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27and do it so well, was amazing, I think.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30- She's formidable. - How much research did you do?
0:36:30 > 0:36:32You must have prodigious memories.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34I've always had a very good memory
0:36:34 > 0:36:36but it's surprising what comes back to you
0:36:36 > 0:36:41when you sit down to really think about it and go back to that age.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45I was trying to live in that period and remember lots of little details.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50I think when you look at what life was like in that period,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52and you see what life is like now,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54I tried to puncture this myth
0:36:54 > 0:36:57of the '50s being an age of golden innocence.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59This wasn't golden. It was terrible for women,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02it was terrible for people from...
0:37:02 > 0:37:04"No room to let. No Irish, no dogs, no blacks."
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I grew up seeing those kind of signs.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08Inequality ruled.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11It's a much more civilised society now, I believe,
0:37:11 > 0:37:12and that's credit to...
0:37:12 > 0:37:16I'm not saying one political party produced that.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20That's... If it's anything, it's saying that politics,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23actually, in a democracy, is good.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26It's messy but, actually, things get done.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Alan, this is really the icing on the cake.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31We didn't expect to see you today.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33It's a real pleasure to join you
0:37:33 > 0:37:35and I'm so thrilled you enjoyed the book.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37This is an amazing book, so thank you.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39- I'm recommending it to everyone.- Thank you.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55For nine days in early summer,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58this place gets attention from all over the world,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00but how much do we know about the town
0:38:00 > 0:38:02which gave the festival its name?
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Stephen Smith has been exploring the place
0:38:05 > 0:38:08which is both charming and enchanted.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Just a short distance from the bustle of the festival there's another Hay,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16a place of ancient legend and myth.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22It's said that a man has declared himself King of Hay
0:38:22 > 0:38:25and he lives in a palace made out of books.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30- Derek.- Hi.- Stephen. How are you? - Very well. Pleased to meet you.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Could I see your kingdom?
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Yes. It's King Derek, who believes it's his birthright
0:38:36 > 0:38:39to be sovereign of the second-hand book scene.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42I'm the only local born-and-bred book-seller.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46I was actually born in Hay, in Lion Street
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and, over 59 years,
0:38:48 > 0:38:52I've moved 200 yards along this street.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56In fact, I've given myself a title of Prince Fitzbooth Addyman,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59a kind of bastard son of King Richard.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Are you carried through the town in a procession
0:39:03 > 0:39:05when the festival's on?
0:39:05 > 0:39:07No, I just walk about. I do a walkabout.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11- A little wave?- Well, "Hi," yeah.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Hay is a sort of living riposte
0:39:14 > 0:39:18to this idea we hear all the time that the book is dead,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20or at least the book is electronic.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25A Kindle is not sexy. A book is sexy. It's got soul.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27You open a book and the smell...
0:39:27 > 0:39:32If you go into somebody's house and you see a wall of books,
0:39:32 > 0:39:34there's a conversation piece.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37If you go into a house and there's a Kindle, where's the conversation?
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Oh, a bit of plastic.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Janet. Hello.
0:39:42 > 0:39:48'Preserved for the ages in a secret chapel - icons of Welshness.'
0:39:54 > 0:39:57The actor Michael Sheen is a hero in these parts,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00as are his fellow thespian Jonathan Pryce,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03the captain of the Welsh rugby XV, Sam Warburton,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07and Celtic song thrush, Bonnie Tyler.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13'Actually, they're portraits by Janet Lance Hughes.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15'These kings and queens of the valleys
0:40:15 > 0:40:19'have been on show at the so-called king of book festivals.'
0:40:19 > 0:40:21This would be TV's Rob Brydon.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Yes, that's Rob.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Now, he's a very busy man,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28how did you get time with him and how much time did he give you?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Well, I was with him for a morning
0:40:31 > 0:40:33and it was enough time,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36- because he's got such an incredibly...- Lined.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40- ..sort of strong face. - Sorry, yes. Just joking.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48I like the understated frames
0:40:48 > 0:40:50that you've given them(!)
0:40:50 > 0:40:52I love Russian icons,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55and so I love this sort of crudeness
0:40:55 > 0:40:58and the kind of craftsmanship,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01the sort of passion that goes into making an icon.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05- This is your Faberge-egg room. - Exactly, that sort of thing, yes.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11Surely there's a special magic in this place.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Maybe there's something in the water -
0:41:13 > 0:41:15after all, there's no shortage of it.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40And "the rain it raineth every day" from Twelfth Night
0:41:40 > 0:41:43certainly could be the motto for the early days of the festival,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46as you can see from the River Wye in full spate here.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49But that certainly hasn't dampened the celebrations
0:41:49 > 0:41:53for the 450th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55which is being marked by authors and actors alike.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04The historian Jerry Brotten is appearing here
0:42:04 > 0:42:06to share some fascinating insights
0:42:06 > 0:42:08that have emerged from his research
0:42:08 > 0:42:11into Shakespeare's interest in the Islamic world.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15What kind of Shakespeare do we want
0:42:15 > 0:42:17for this next generation?
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Do we want something that's very parochial
0:42:20 > 0:42:22and inward-looking and national?
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Or do we want something that's much more outward-looking and global?
0:42:26 > 0:42:29'If you look at Shakespeare's works, and the settings and characters,'
0:42:29 > 0:42:31hardly any of them are set in England,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33apart from the history plays.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37He has this incredibly global and international dimension.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38What I've been interested in
0:42:38 > 0:42:42is thinking about the way in which Shakespeare is looking eastwards.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46He's looking at the way in which Elizabethan England
0:42:46 > 0:42:50really had this moment of encounter with what we might call the East -
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Islamic cultures, North Africa,
0:42:53 > 0:42:54the Ottoman Empire -
0:42:54 > 0:42:58and how that erupts in the plays.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Tudor England started to look to the East to replace lost markets
0:43:03 > 0:43:06following the excommunication of Elizabeth
0:43:06 > 0:43:09from the Catholic Church in 1570.
0:43:10 > 0:43:15One of the consequences of that is that she, or the Elizabethan world,
0:43:15 > 0:43:16is not under the edict
0:43:16 > 0:43:20of being forbidden to trade with the so-called infidel,
0:43:20 > 0:43:21the Islamic Empire.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23So Elizabeth turns around and says, "Great,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26"I'm fighting for my political and economic survival here."
0:43:26 > 0:43:30So she starts doing deals with the Moroccan Empire,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32with the Ottoman Empire.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35There is this extraordinary rapprochement
0:43:35 > 0:43:38between the Elizabethan and Islamic worlds.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43By the time Shakespeare had come to London,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46the Tudor court even had a Moroccan ambassador...
0:43:47 > 0:43:50a figure of some intrigue and great interest
0:43:50 > 0:43:52to the Elizabethan public
0:43:52 > 0:43:54and, possibly, to the playwright himself.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58This is an extraordinary picture,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02which is of the Moroccan ambassador who comes to London in 1600.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04And it's remarkable for many reasons.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08The detail that we're given... We're told it's in 1600.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11We're given a version of his name, he's known as Mohammed Al-Annuri,
0:44:11 > 0:44:15so we've been given a sort of Anglicised version here.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17We're told his age, he's 42.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Over here it says in Latin
0:44:19 > 0:44:23that he's the royal ambassador from Barbary in England.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26And just a few months after this is painted,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Shakespeare starts writing Othello.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31So when I think of Othello, I think of this figure.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36He has the scimitar, the sword -
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Othello talks about the scimitar and the sword.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41He has this extraordinary turban -
0:44:41 > 0:44:44again, Othello talks about "turbaned Turks".
0:44:44 > 0:44:46And this is an elite figure.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Shakespeare is not exclusively interested in race
0:44:53 > 0:44:55when he's writing Othello.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59He's interested in questions about religion and ethnicity,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and that's what I think the Moroccan connection
0:45:01 > 0:45:04and this character Al-Annuri tells us.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19Whether they are here to buy Herodotus or Horrid Henry,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22the thousands of book-lovers at this year's extravaganza
0:45:22 > 0:45:23can't fail to have noticed
0:45:23 > 0:45:26that they are living through momentous times
0:45:26 > 0:45:27in the world of books.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29Reading is changing for all of us.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32The arrival of new technology and emerging digital services
0:45:32 > 0:45:35mean that there are challenges for publishing
0:45:35 > 0:45:38that are unprecedented in modern times.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41But it isn't all bad news, as I've been finding out.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47Electronic forces are certainly transforming the world of books,
0:45:47 > 0:45:51making the digital e-reader part of everyday life for many of us.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58This is the biggest moment in 500 years.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02This is the biggest change in book-selling, in IT,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06in writing, in print, in books, you name it, since Caxton.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11This is a golden age of reading.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15There is more reading going on now than ever before in human history,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18on every kind of screen, every kind of format.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Contrary to the gloomy forecasts of the literary pessimists,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25the readers' switch from page to screen
0:46:25 > 0:46:27has been good for the written word.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31New technologies have helped create a reading renaissance.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35People were very nervous about e-books
0:46:35 > 0:46:37and they made all kinds of dire predictions.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Actually what's happened is that the e-book
0:46:39 > 0:46:41has been the saving of the hardback.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It has regenerated hardback sales
0:46:43 > 0:46:46because the e-book has taken the place of the cheap paperback,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48and what it has done is it has made people value
0:46:48 > 0:46:52the printed word in book form far more than they did before.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Yet there is a paradox.
0:46:57 > 0:47:02While reading seems to flourish, traditional book-publishing suffers.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Competition from discounting online retailers
0:47:05 > 0:47:07and a sluggish recession-hit economy
0:47:07 > 0:47:12have seen publishers' profits dip by £50 million since 2007.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17The truth about book-selling in England is there's not enough money.
0:47:17 > 0:47:18Compared to America, we're poor.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21There's a smaller market, there's less money in the system
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and so, for the first time in a long time,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26publishers have cut right back
0:47:26 > 0:47:29on advances on books which are speculative.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33They now put money into cookery books, thrillers, celebrity books.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35Those are the books which generate the turnover
0:47:35 > 0:47:38and that's where the money has been going.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43In response, some writers have made use of the same technologies
0:47:43 > 0:47:45to self-publish.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Many writers are now beginning to realise
0:47:48 > 0:47:52that they can publish and market and sell their books
0:47:52 > 0:47:54more effectively as a self-published author
0:47:54 > 0:47:58than they can working with a traditional publisher.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01The web-based digital publisher Smashwords
0:48:01 > 0:48:05has created a 20 million business distributing e-books.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09Founder Mark Coker is evangelical about the advantages
0:48:09 > 0:48:11this service can offer to writers.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Self-published authors enjoy total creative control,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20unlimited distribution to a worldwide market,
0:48:20 > 0:48:22and they can set the prices low.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25A book is only a few clicks away.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29It's click, click, discover, sample, purchase.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Instant delivery of reading pleasure.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38It's clear that self-publishing gives writers autonomy
0:48:38 > 0:48:40and let's them publish their works in an instant,
0:48:40 > 0:48:44but while it's created a few bestsellers,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47for most, it's hardly been a money-spinner.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50We're publishing close to 300,000 books.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53Some of these authors don't sell a single copy ever.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57The average author in Smashwords
0:48:57 > 0:49:00probably earns about 500 a year.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06E-books may not be lucrative,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10but they do give aspiring writers a real alternative
0:49:10 > 0:49:14to the relatively closed world of mainstream publishing.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17And readers too have more influence than ever before.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22And that's partly because of the growing power of crowdfunding,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26where members of the public give authors the finances necessary
0:49:26 > 0:49:29to make their writing projects become a reality.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30The online operation Unbound
0:49:30 > 0:49:33specialises in this new form of publishing,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36as its corporate video explains.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40It's simple. An author pitches an idea for a book on the Unbound site.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44You read the pitch. If you like it, you can subscribe to it.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48It's involving the reader in a much earlier stage in the process.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Not as some people have characterised it,
0:49:51 > 0:49:54as sort of interfering in the process, but feedback.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Everybody who pledges gets access to the authors shared on the site,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01so we can share early drafts of chapters, early drafts of jackets.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03People love that.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07People love giving their opinion on what jacket we should choose.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10With only 50 books published so far,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12Unbound remains a small imprint.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15But they've managed to attract authors
0:50:15 > 0:50:17who've already had some literary success.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20After 30 years as a writer,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23Julie Burchill chose Unbound to publish her 17th book.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27Hello, I'm Julie Burchill.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30I was inspired to write my book Unchosen
0:50:30 > 0:50:34because, since the age of 14, I've been obsessed with the Jewish people.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41I read about my friend Katy Brand, the comedian, who I love.
0:50:41 > 0:50:46She had written a novel and was doing it with something called Unbound.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48And that occurred to me,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51wow, if I sold it to them and they told me to do it,
0:50:51 > 0:50:53even though I wouldn't get an advance,
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I'd know the book was going to be published
0:50:55 > 0:50:57and that would give me the impetus...
0:50:57 > 0:50:59- To do it.- ..to do it.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03So, I just went behind my agent's back, just slap, bang, did it.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05So that was that.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07If I can compare it to one book,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10it would probably be Lynn Barber's An Education, which is a book I love,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13but with more sex, more violence, and a lot more Jews.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Now, the route Julie Burchill took, of course,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20isn't the entire future of publishing by any means,
0:51:20 > 0:51:25but crowdfunding does bring together the power of the reader and writer
0:51:25 > 0:51:28in ways that we couldn't have imagined just even a few years ago.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Over the past 25 years,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Hay has become a real international phenomenon,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47spawning ten sister festivals in cities as far afield
0:51:47 > 0:51:52as Budapest, Nairobi, Dakar and Cartagena.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55And this cosmopolitan dimension
0:51:55 > 0:51:58is reflected in the international line-up this year,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01of authors, travel writers and musicians,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04who add a dash of global glamour to the event.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17Toumani Diabate performed on stage with his father, Siddiqui.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21The celebrated Malian musicians delighted audiences with the kora,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24a traditional West African instrument
0:52:24 > 0:52:26that's a cross between a lute and a harp.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Meanwhile, a debut novelist took centre stage at Hay
0:52:33 > 0:52:34and felt right at home.
0:52:41 > 0:52:46Carlos Acosta is one of the greatest male ballet dancers in the world,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48but he also has a passion for writing,
0:52:48 > 0:52:52which began with his memoir about growing up in Havana,
0:52:52 > 0:52:53the youngest of 11 children.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56He's here in Hay to discuss his first novel,
0:52:56 > 0:52:58it's called Pig's Foot.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03The book begins in the 1860s
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and takes in more than a century of modern Cuba's development.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Against this historical background,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Acosta tells the story of a fictional village
0:53:11 > 0:53:13in the south of the country,
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Pata de Puerco - pig's foot.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21It's a huge sweep of the history of Cuba
0:53:21 > 0:53:24but I think particularly striking are the early passages
0:53:24 > 0:53:28- about slavery and the brutality of that period.- Yeah.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30I mean, it's a reminder.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34I wanted to also explore the kind of ethnic group
0:53:34 > 0:53:38that came into Cuba as slaves from these parts of Africa.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42There was a lot of gaps in the history of Cuba that I didn't know.
0:53:42 > 0:53:43And so I was interested
0:53:43 > 0:53:47to look back and see what shapes the country then,
0:53:47 > 0:53:48who were the heroes,
0:53:48 > 0:53:54who were these personalities who actually shaped that past?
0:53:54 > 0:53:57But I heard that you didn't read a book until you were 25.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01That's right. My vocation, I was going to be a ballet dancer
0:54:01 > 0:54:05because, at the age of eight or nine years old, that's all I ever knew.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08Writing's a world that is relatively new.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10But I like to tell stories
0:54:10 > 0:54:13and I like to read great stories.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Your childhood was certainly a striking one,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18the youngest of 11 children, a very poor background.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21And you've told this story in different ways, haven't you?
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Through your memoir and also through ballet.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28Why is it important for you to go back and look at your childhood?
0:54:28 > 0:54:31There were a lot of wonderful things about my childhood
0:54:31 > 0:54:33that I wanted to recreate.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Also, at the same time, it was very raw
0:54:36 > 0:54:39and there were a lot of picturesque characters
0:54:39 > 0:54:42that you could feed from and try to recreate.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45And very difficult for you, I imagine,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48leaving that family behind, the Cuban culture behind,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50when you came here to London,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53all round the world, to pursue your career as a dancer.
0:54:53 > 0:54:54It was always very difficult
0:54:54 > 0:54:57because always what I wanted to do was be at home with them
0:54:57 > 0:54:59and share my life.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02But obviously my career took me to a different path
0:55:02 > 0:55:07and I love my career as well, so how you get both - you can't.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11At the end, I chose my career because also I needed to help them.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15In a way, I needed them to have this kind of light of hope,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19knowing that I am one of them, you know, who's doing very well.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21What about dancing?
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Could this be your last season coming up at Covent Garden?
0:55:24 > 0:55:27Two more seasons as a classical ballet dancer.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31And then there will be a new dance,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35probably more contemporary, completely different.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37But that's the course of evolution.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40I can't be Romeo all the time.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43You know, Romeo must go.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48The festival's international content
0:55:48 > 0:55:51also includes some outstanding travel writers.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55As it gets easier to journey to far-flung places,
0:55:55 > 0:55:57so it gets harder for writers
0:55:57 > 0:56:00to find new and unfamiliar stories to tell.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Horatio Clare's Down To The Sea In Ships
0:56:09 > 0:56:12chronicles his unconventional journeys
0:56:12 > 0:56:14across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
0:56:14 > 0:56:16on two giant container ships.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23During several months on board, Clare developed close relationships
0:56:23 > 0:56:26with the vessels' multinational crews,
0:56:26 > 0:56:30the hardy merchant mariners travelling the high seas
0:56:30 > 0:56:33on ships operated by the Danish shipping line Maersk.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39The book's actually about seafarers, the men who operate the ships,
0:56:39 > 0:56:40and the ships are vast.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44I mean, 115,000 tonnes. Takes you half an hour to walk around
0:56:44 > 0:56:45and you've gone a kilometre.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48And they carry everything that the world requires.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53Given little or no shore leave,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55the crews live together tightly confined,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57sometimes for months at a time.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01The men who operate them are very few.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04There are about 23 people on a ship that size.
0:57:04 > 0:57:06So, you live in a strange mixture of great intimacy
0:57:06 > 0:57:09and the rest of it is this vast space,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11full of cargo and engine and tanks
0:57:11 > 0:57:14and whatever hazardous cargo you're carrying.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Navigating some of the world's most hazardous waters,
0:57:19 > 0:57:24these seafarers risk their lives for the cargoes inside the containers,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27yet often they have little idea what goods they're actually carrying.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Everything we're wearing, everything we'll touch today,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36every piece of cutlery, everything in every shop, it all comes by sea.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40It's cheaper to rear chickens in Denmark,
0:57:40 > 0:57:41ship them to China to be filleted,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45and then bring them back to be sold than not.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47I felt fairly quizzical about capitalism to start with
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and now I feel it's a sort of comical enterprise, really,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53because it really is eating the planet
0:57:53 > 0:57:54and these sweet man,
0:57:54 > 0:57:57they don't know what they're risking their lives for,
0:57:57 > 0:57:59and I'm not really sure either.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13We've now come to the end of our journey.
0:58:14 > 0:58:17And despite the downpours and drenches,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20the crowd showed great resilience against the elements.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26The rain certainly hasn't spoiled the enormous pleasure I've taken
0:58:26 > 0:58:29from all the stimulating ideas and inspiring people
0:58:29 > 0:58:31I've encountered during my time here,
0:58:31 > 0:58:36sampling the unique intellectual ecosystem that is the Hay Festival.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Now I'm off to dry out.
0:58:47 > 0:58:50If you would like to see more of the events at Hay,
0:58:50 > 0:58:53then do visit our website: