Hay on Wye Winter Festival
Having missed the Hay Literary Festival in the summer, I was really excited to get the chance to work at the Hay Winter Festival last weekend. Smaller than the famous summer one, it coincided with the Christmas Light Switch On by Ben Fogle, a winter food fayre and a vintage fayre, so the town was both busy and festive. I was honoured to get a free pass to one of the talks by children's author Piers Torday, and also a complimentary copy of his book, There May Be A Castle . His talk was aimed, naturally, at children but the message for clear for anyone, old or young, who is aspiring to write a book: write from the heart and never give up! Hay is a lovely town, all winding streets, interesting shops and alleyways full of secondhand bookshops. I didn't get time to browse the bookshops, sadly, but did get in a lovely walk along the river Wye on my first morning. The weather was festive too, crisp and sunny, and the rolling landscape absolutely stunning.