Hay Festival launches live Q&A series

Hay Festival has launched a series of Book of the Month live Q&A sessions with authors, to expand its digital offering. It comes as the festival launches season two of its podcast.

The Q&As will be regular free digital events, showcasing authors through an interactive conversation on Crowdcast. Poet and playwright Inua Ellams will feature at the launch event on 21st July to discuss his collection The Half God of Rainfall, which was performed to critical acclaim at London's Kiln Theatre last year. Other upcoming sessions will see novelist Anne Enright and David Mitchell discussing their work.

Kicking off the first episode of the second season is the topic of global health, which will be discussed by experts including Devi Sridhar, Jeremy Farrar, Sally Davies, Thomas Bollyky and Chelsea Clinton. New episodes will be released every Thursday, with upcoming themes including artificial intelligence, ageing and war poetry.

Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, said: “The new format podcasts will sample a range of expert insight to interrogate ideas that are intriguing. Everything needs to be reimagined.”

The launch of the two platforms follows the success of Hay's digital festival this year.

Michelle McLeod, sponsorship manager at Baillie Gifford, said: “With such an impressive back catalogue of events in the Hay Player that resonate with many of the challenges and opportunities that we face today, series two of the podcasts will bring different perspectives to the conversation. With the addition of the new Book of the Month events, Hay remains dedicated to inspiring and connecting readers, and providing opportunities to hear directly from an array of remarkable writers.”