The Hay Festival CEO, Julie Finch, has issued a warning after scam emails claiming to be from the festival have been sent.

The email, pretending to be from co-founder Peter Florence who quit the Hay Festival in 2021 following bullying allegations, has been sent to writers and artists.

Using AI, the person behind the email has scraped information about the recipient online in a bid to look genuine.

The email reads: “My name is Peter Florence, and I have the privilege of serving as Director of Hay Festival. I am delighted to invite you to participate in Writers at Work 2026, taking place September 4-6, as part of Hay Festival’s international celebration of literature, storytelling, and ideas.”

The Writers at Work scheme is something Hay Festival runs, but writers have to apply, and are shortlisted and chosen in time for the May literature festival.

Julie Finch told The Brecon and Radnor Express: “All artists should remain vigilant to phishing scams circulating – multiple organisations have been targeted to date. Any official Hay Festival invitation will be sent from a verified Festival email address and can be queried with a call to the office where there is any uncertainty."