Last week, I was in Wales for the 2026 Hay Festival, the first time I had been. If you haven't been before, it's a literary festival where all things books are celebrated. A dazzling array of author events are on offer, as well as bookshops, refreshments and lots of other activities. The festivities continue into the town itself, where bookshops are abundant and everywhere from the chippy to the castle seems somehow involved. Hay 2026 I was lucky enough to have been invited