Hay Festival brings five award-winning Young Adult (YA) writers direct to thousands of Year 7-10 school pupils across Wales next year with the free Scribblers Tour, 29 January-9 February 2024. Now in its thirteenth year, Hay Festival Scribblers Tour aims to engage and encourage the next generation in storytelling and conversation, inspiring empathy and creativity. Compèred by YA novelist Jenny Valentine, sessions for Year 7-8 pupils will feature interactive activities with novelist Emma Carroll and poet Karl Nova, while sessions for Year 9-10 pupils will feature Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates and author and screenwriter Nikesh Shukla. Events will be hosted at five Welsh universities – University of South Wales, Swansea University, Aberystwyth University, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Wrexham University – offering pupils a chance to visit their nearest university and experience a taste of life on campus. In addition, a special Hay Festival Scribblers Tour event will take place for adult learners at University of South Wales with programming details to be announced soon. The event’s follow last week’s Scribblers Cymraeg, which saw 579 pupils take part in Welsh language events all over Wales, led by writers Aneirin Karadog, Casi Wyn and Nia Morais. Julie Finch, Hay Festival CEO, said: “We believe ideas can change the world. Hay Festival Scribblers Tour offers thousands of young people a free chance to experience this inspiration, meeting their writing heroes and getting creative with workshops all over Wales.
"We’re delighted to welcome this inspiring line-up of writers to our 2024 programme: Jenny Valentine, Emma Carroll, Karl Nova, Laura Bates and Nikesh Shukla make for a dream team to embark with pupils on their creative journeys.” Hay Festival Scribblers Tour and Scribblers Cymraeg are funded by the Welsh Government and are part of Hay Festival’s outreach and education work that includes the free Programme for Schools and Hay Academy in the UK, and Hay Joven, Hay Communitario and Hay Festivalito internationally. The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said: “It’s great to see Hay Festival Scribblers Tour inspiring pupils with workshops by writers and poets, and offering them an opportunity to visit local universities. I hope to see lots of young people getting involved and discovering a passion for storytelling, reading and writing.” Hay Festival is one of the world’s leading literary charities, running Festivals to inspire, examine and entertain globally, featuring Nobel Prizewinners and novelists, scientists and politicians, historians, environmentalists and musicians. Over the past year, the Festival earned 1.5 million web visits and passed one million event views online, while its social media following climbed to 350,000, making it one of the most impactful literary events in the world. For more information visit hayfestival.org/scribblers/the-scribblers-tour.aspx. And to support Hay Festival’s continued work to reach new audiences, become a Hay Festival Friend, Patron or Benefactor today at hayfestival.org/support-us.