Hay Festival, straddling the border of England and Wales, has come to an end. This year saw the likes of Malorie Blackman joining British rapper Stormzy, as well as historical novelist Alison Weir, presenter Lucy Worsley, and pop-star Dua Lipa step on the stages of the festival.

Let's take a look back at some of the highlights that took place at the festival this year.

Charles: The King and Wales

If you joined us on our live blog, you would have seen that we caught up with BBC journalist Huw Thomas, who has written a book on King Charles. Originally being written when King Charles was the Prince of Wales, Huw's panel discussion touched upon what Prince William needs to do to win the approval of Wales. "William’s got a lot of catching up to do in terms of the public perception of him as a Prince of Wales," Huw said. "The impression I get as well is that, after the coronation, there’s going to be a bit of a supercharge on the relationship of William with Wales. We’ll see what comes."

We spoke with Huw after his talk, and prompted him on Will's future relationship with Wales, now that he is Prince of Wales. "It will have to change because he's got so much more on," Huw says. "He's aware that William needs to show a connection to Wales. Charles will be impossible to replicate because he had so long to do it, but he at least set a standard, which hadn't been there before."

Alison Weir talks Henry VIII

Historical novelist Alison Weir took to the stage to talk about her new book, titled Henry VIII: The Heart and the Crown, where she allowed the audience to see another side of Henry. The public perception of the Tudor monarch is one of gluttony, hedonism, and ruthlessness. But Alison believes that there has been a lot of 'fake news' around Henry, and that the public perception stems from a 1933 film about him. She let the audience know that Henry was more prudish than we were led to believe and that he was 'unusually obsessed with hygiene' for that period of time. Despite many novels and observations on Henry, Weir believes that for Henry, there is still a lot to be discovered.

Anya Bergman at the Hay Festival
Anya Bergman at the Hay Festival (Jack Strange)

Witches at Hay Festival

This year, Hay Festival had a panel dedicated to witchcraft, and 'witcherature', a genre of fiction that has risen over the past year. We interviewed Anya Bergman, author of The Witches of Vardø, who was on the panel with authors Juno Dawson and Emilia Heart. The conversation centred around how books featuring women witches are giving voices back to those who lost their lives.

"This is something we need to write about more," Anya says on the topic of why fiction about witches is seeing a surge. "These are stories that need to be reclaimed."

It's this reclamation of executed and trialled women that Anya wanted to tackle with this work. Every character except for Zare, a Sami boy character, is based on a real person. "Every single woman really existed. I felt a huge responsibility to honour their voices. It weighed on me heavily. 'Make sure you raise their voices with tenderness' became my motto. But also, in some way, the story gave them back some of the agency they may have lost."

Dua Lipa Records Podcast

Pop star Dua Lipa certainly drew the crowds at Hay this weekend, having two sold-out talks on the biggest stage. Her podcast, titled Dua Lipa: At Your Service, is described as being a podcast that is full of 'inspiring stories' and 'tools, tips, and recommendations'. She was joined by Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo.

As she first took the stage, the audience cheered, with calls of 'icon' and 'queen' echoing throughout the arena. When questions were put to the audience, many were for Douglas, but some did speak to Dua directly, including one fan who had travelled over 3,000 miles to meet her.

On Sunday, Dua was in conversation with Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation. Here, Dua shared the books that shaped her life.

Stormzy celebrates five years of publishing imprint

On Sunday, another event that had buzzing excitement was Merky Books' five-year celebration of publishing diverse voices as an imprint of Penguin Random House. Here, acclaimed star Stormzy joined authors published under his imprint, including Jade LB, Jyoti Patel, and Malorie Blackman. It was here that Stormzy shared why Merky had been set up.

"The reason I wanted all these various memoirs, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, is black people are not monolithic, we are multi-faceted. Growing up where I was... people think, OK, you're a young black boy that raps, that's what you do. And it's like, no. There are days when I'm really angry, days when I feel on top of the world. Even with literature, we are multi-faceted."

Malorie Blackman advocates for libraries

The star of Merky Books' show was surprisingly Malorie Blackman OBE, a prolific writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She joined via Zoom, and talked about how libraries should be protected.

“I wouldn’t be talking to you now if it wasn’t for my local library. Libraries being closed and librarians being laid off, it’s such a wrong thing to do. This government’s always talking about social mobility, equalising, and making a level playing field between people. Well, one of the things that should be ring-fenced and protected then is libraries. They saved my life. They are the reason I became a writer."

Until next year...

Hay Festival wrapped up, with many books sold, many authors discovered, and many minds inspired. With pop stars, digital creators, and renowned authors taking to the stage, it will be interesting to see what the festival looks like next year.