Morpurgo and Riddell on Hay Children's line-up

Michael Morpurgo, Meg Rosoff and Chris Riddell are among the famous names who will be appearing at the inaugural International Children’s Literature Hay Festival Aarhus 2017.

Taking place in Denmark, from 26th to 29th October, the festival will be free to attend, and will feature events in French, English, Danish and Spanish. The event will be a "global celebration" of writing for young people and is the first Hay Festival exclusively for writers of children’s and young adult literature.

Talks, workshops and performances will offer a "memorable look" at the world of books for young people, parents and teachers, according to the organisers. It will feature appearances from writers and illustrators from around the world: Cressida Cowell, Meg Rosoff, Riddell, Oliver Jeffers, Eoin Colfer, Anna Woltz, Arne Svingen, Kim Fupz Aakeson, Endre Lund Eriksen, Stian Hole, Jan Blake, Janne Teller, and also the Aarhus 39 selection of Europe’s best new writers, including Ævar Þór Benediktsson, Ana Pessoa, B. R. Collins, Katherine Rundell, Katherine Woodfine, Laura Dockrill, Maria Turtschaninoff, Sandrine Kao, and Sarah Crossan.

The festival will take place in Dokk1 public library and tickets can be booked online now on its website.

Cristina Fuentes La Roche, international director at Hay Festival, said: “A truly international children’s festival, Hay Festival in Aarhus will encourage new ways of engaging with children’s and YA literature, highlighting the importance of reading about lives lived in other cultures in promoting empathy. In a world in which it’s easy to feel isolated, this borderless programme aims to engage young people across Europe in a fresh exchange of ideas and conversation.”

Juliana Engberg, programme director at European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017, added: “Stories open the hearts, minds and imagination in children. Stories take young people on journeys of discovery, challenge and place them in the centre of thoughts through the actions and adventures of characters. In Denmark, which has its own wonderful history of literature, stories for children also encounter darkness, magic and the contemporary dilemmas that make up life. We are thrilled to be partnering with Hay Festival on this amazing inauguration of international literature to bring wonderment and engagement to thousands of children and to launch the writing of many young authors from all over Europe.”