Homepage

Accessibility links

  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
BBC Account
Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBeebies
  • CBBC
  • Food
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Video
  • Live
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBeebies
  • CBBC
  • Food
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Video
  • Live
Close menu
BBC Arts at Hay Festival
  • 2016 Home
  • Video
  • Radio
  • /
  • BBC at Hay archive
  • Hay Video Player
  • Hay 2025

Audio & Video

You must enable JavaScript to play content
Don't take another writing course, just write and free your subconscious
View More From Thomas Keneally on Napoleon's Last Island
The Australian author talks about how the act of writing engages the subconscious
  1. Don't take another writing course, just write and free your subconscious
    01:04
    Don't take another writing course, just write and free your subconscious
    View More From Thomas Keneally on Napoleon's Last Island
  2. The genesis of Napoleon’s Last Island
    02:25
    The genesis of Napoleon’s Last Island
    View More From Thomas Keneally on Napoleon's Last Island
  3. What Shakespeare and today's soap opera writers have in common
    01:37
    What Shakespeare and today's soap opera writers have in common
  4. Paapa Essiedu and Maxine Peake on how the character Hamlet surprised them
    03:41
    Paapa Essiedu and Maxine Peake on how the character Hamlet surprised them
  5. Letter to My Daughter
    06:24
    Letter to My Daughter
  6. Peter Carey: ‘Information and art are different things’
    02:01
    Peter Carey: ‘Information and art are different things’
  7. Imtiaz Dharker's In Wales, wanting to be Italian
    01:48
    Imtiaz Dharker's In Wales, wanting to be Italian
  8. Susan Calman on growing up gay
    02:42
    Susan Calman on growing up gay
  9. Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield: 'Aidan was our one and only choice'
    01:47
    Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield: 'Aidan was our one and only choice'
  10. The worst 'knock, knock' joke Shakespeare never told
    02:07
    The worst 'knock, knock' joke Shakespeare never told
  11. Russell T Davies on wanting to adapt A Midsummer Night's Dream
    00:44
    Russell T Davies on wanting to adapt A Midsummer Night's Dream
  12. Ruby Wax on the most flattering thing you can do for another person
    02:12
    Ruby Wax on the most flattering thing you can do for another person
  13. Now playing
    Up next

Featured Collections

  • The best of Hay 2016
    The best of Hay 2016
    A selection of highlights from the literary festival in Wales.
  • Shakespeare at Hay Festival 2016
    Shakespeare at Hay Festival 2016
    An incredible collection of actors, authors, writers and more celebrating the Bard
  • Literature
    Literature
    Conversations with great novelists at the 2016 Hay Festival.
  • Kids' corner
    Kids' corner
    Children's authors and illustrators at the 2016 Hay Festival.
  • Science, history and ideas
    Science, history and ideas
    The best thinkers at the 2016 Hay Festival, on everything from philosophy to feminism.
  • Film, television and music
    Film, television and music
    Directors, actors, TV personalities and singers - the best from the 2016 Hay Festival.

Act Videos

  • Andrew Davies
  • Baaba Maal
  • Ben Miller
  • Billy Bragg
  • Caitlin Moran
  • Chris Hoy
  • Chris Packham
  • Claire Harman
  • David Gilmour and Polly Samson
  • David Mitchell
  • Edmund de Waal
  • Edna O'Brien
  • Eleanor Tomlinson, Karen Thrussell and Debbie Horsfield
  • Fay Weldon
  • George Monbiot
  • Germaine Greer
  • Gregory Doran
  • Imtiaz Dharker and Gillian Clarke
  • James Shapiro
  • Jeanette Winterson on The Gap of Time
  • Jeanette Winterson: Shakespeare 400
  • Joan Bakewell
  • Jonathan Bate
  • Jonathan Dimbleby
  • Julian Clary and David Roberts
  • Lionel Shriver
  • Malorie Blackman
  • Marlon James
  • Maxine Peake and Paapa Essiedu
  • Michael Morpurgo
  • Michael Palin
  • Neil MacGregor and Richard J Evans
  • Paul Mason
  • Peter Carey
  • Ruby Wax
  • Russell T Davies and Maxine Peake
  • Salman Rushdie
  • Salman Rushdie, Kamila Shamsie, Valeria Luiselli and Juan Gabriel Vasquez
  • Sam Mendes
  • Sarah Millican and Hannah Dunleavy
  • Simon Schama
  • Stephen Frears
  • Steve Silberman
  • Susan Calman
  • Thomas Keneally on Schindler's Ark
  • Yanis Varoufakis
  • Cymraeg
  • Gàidhlig
  • Gaeilge

Explore the BBC

  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBeebies
  • CBBC
  • Food
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Innovation
  • Culture
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Video
  • Live
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you
  • Advertise with us
Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.

You might also like:

news | sport | weather | worklife | travel | future | culture | world | business | technology