Writers at Work emerging Welsh talent unveiled for Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024

Hay Festival Global has announced the participants of Writers at Work 2024, a creative development programme for emerging Welsh talent at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye
(23 May–2 June) with the support of Literature Wales, funded by Arts Council of Wales.

Offering a fully-programmed ten days of creative development opportunities, Hay Festival Writers at Work allows the selected writers to engage in Festival events, attend workshops with publishers, agents and, crucially, with established international artists.

Open to writers working in English and Welsh across genres – fiction, non-fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry – this year’s 10 successful applicants are:

• Dylan Huw
• Hammad Rind
• Isabel Adonis
• JL George
• Joshua Jones
• Katie Munnik
• Megan Angharad Hunter
• Rachel Dawson
• Taylor Edmonds
• Zoë Brigley

Writers at Work is a Hay Festival project supported by Literature Wales – the national company for the development of literature – and run by writer Tiffany Murray, whose latest book, My Family and Other Rock Stars, is published in May.

Participants to date have achieved a spread of award wins and shortlistings, including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Wales Book of the Year, The New Welsh Writing Award, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize, Wales Media Award, Welsh Rising Star Award, and Creative Wales Award.

Established in 2016 to nurture Welsh talent writing in both languages, Writers at Work was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2024 will mark its sixth year.

Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said:

“Hay Festival Global is a convener of writers, readers and – crucially – creative opportunities. As one of Wales’ largest cultural institutions we are proud of our Welsh roots and take our responsibility to the cultural landscape of Wales seriously. We are delighted to showcase our Writers at Work 2024. This year’s programme of activities will meet the challenges Wales’ emerging creatives face today, guarding and growing our creative impact for the future.”

Literature Wales Artistic Director Leusa Llewelyn said:

“Congratulations to the ten writers selected to take part in the highly coveted Writers at Work opportunity this year. It was a privilege to read so many high-quality applications from Welsh writers, and to be introduced to a wide variety of voices and themes. The creative energy amongst the applications was palpable, and they were all full of ambition and eagerness to further their professional careers. We look forward to seeing how the writers develop from the wonderful offerings of Writers at Work 2024.”

Writer and former participant Darren Chetty said:

“Being part of Writers at Work was a superb experience. I got to hear from leading writers and be part of a supportive community of Welsh writers. Three of us who met as Writers at Work went on to co-edit Welsh (Plural): Essays on the Future of Wales.”

Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024 is supported by lead sponsors Baillie Gifford, Welsh Government, Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales, lead media partner the BBC and digital media partner TikTok.

Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, while offering insights and debate around significant global issues, the programme sees writers, policy makers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world, offering big thinking and bold ideas.

Events offer something for all, beginning with the free schools programme, 23–24 May, and including a vibrant strand for families throughout.

New projects woven across the Festival include The Platform for new creatives, the daily News Review offering analysis of the latest events, the first-ever Hay Festival Sports Day, and Hay Festival Green, prompting innovative solutions to the climate crisis.

Late nights at the Festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances around the site keeps audience entertained between sessions.

Events will take place across eight stages in the redesigned free-to-enter Festival site at Dairy Meadows – which also offers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the Bookshop, Wild Garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés and restaurants, and the new Family Garden where young readers can kick-start their creative journeys ¬– as well as in and around Hay-on-Wye, including music performances all week at St Mary’s Church.

Hay Festival Writers at Work 2024 participant bios with statements:

Dylan Huw is a writer, critic and curator living in Caernarfon, North Wales. His writing and collaborations with artists take myriad forms, often guided by interests in translation and vocabulary-making, experimental documentary media, and gay and queer histories. He is a former Future Wales Fellow (2022-3), editor of the Artes Mundi 10 journal, and a contributor to e-flux Criticism and Frieze, among others.

Hammad Rind is a multilingual Welsh-Pakistani writer and translator. His debut novel Four Dervishes (Seren Books, 2021) was longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Award. In 2022, he translated Knotted Grief by Indian poet Naveen Kishore into Urdu (Zuka Books). He was part of the 2023 cohort of the Representing Wales programme by Literature Wales. His stories and articles have appeared in various publications, including The Aleph Review, The Madras Courier, Y Stamp, Poetry Wales, and James Joyce Broadsheet. Hammad holds a BA in English and Persian literature from the Punjab University, Lahore, and an MA in film-making from Kingston University, London. A passionate language enthusiast, he teaches Persian and Urdu, and has led workshops on creative writing and Eastern literature. He is currently working on his second novel.

Isabel Adonis was born in London to West Indian and Welsh parents. A writer and artist, she was raised and educated in London and North Wales, where she now lives. Her artwork has been exhibited online at The Weavers Factory of Uppermill Manchester and at the Mostyn Llandudno. She won the Wales Book of the Year (Non-Fiction) in 2023 for her memoir, And…a Memoir of My Mother.

JL George was born in Cardiff and raised in Torfaen, South Wales. Her fiction has won a New Welsh Writing Award, the International Rubery Book Award, and been shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Short Story Award. Her first novel, The Word, is published by New Welsh Rarebyte. In previous lives, she wrote a PhD on the classic weird tale and played in a glam rock band.

JL said: “I’m thrilled at the chance to join a diverse and supportive community of Welsh writers and to spend a week learning from peers and established writers and professionals at the Glastonbury of literature. It feels like the first step forward into a wider literary world and is a huge boost in confidence as a writer. I’m equal parts excited and intimidated, but determined to make the most of it!”

Joshua Jones is a queer, neurodivergent writer and artist from South Wales. He co-founded Dyddiau Du in Cardiff, a library and artspace led by and for LGBTQ+ and d/Disabled communities. He was the creative editor for the Room/Ystafell/Phòng (Parthian Books, 2023) anthology, celebrating queer voices from Wales and Vietnam. His visual art considers the physicality of text and poetics through installation – often incorporating collage, found objects, sound and text. He also occasionally releases poetry and music under the name Human Head and collaborates with Howl Hubbard in Howl&Jones. Local Fires (Parthian Books, 2023) is his first book, and was recently shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize.

Joshua said: “I am delighted to be a part of Writers of Work this year, to be within a cohort of writers I already consider friends and colleagues, and a few who I am yet to meet. I’m excited to see how we’ll work together and hopefully form some longstanding creative connections. Welsh writers are known to be extremely supportive of each other and this programme proves just that.”

Katie Munnik is a Canadian writer living in Wales. Her debut novel The Heart Beats in Secret was a USA Today bestseller, and her mostrecent novel, The Aerialists, was Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month in April 2023. Her prose and poetry have been published in the UK, the USA and Canada.

Megan Angharad Hunter is an author and screenwriter from Penygroes, North Wales, living in Cardiff. Since graduating in 2022 with a degree in Welsh and Philosophy, she has been working as an author and children’s book editor. tu ôl i’r awyr, her debut novel for young adults, won the Wales Book of the Year award in 2021, and her second novel, Cat, was published as part of the award-winning Y Pump series. She won the Urdd Prose Crown in 2020/21 and more recently co-led a creative writing course for d/Disabled writers alongside poet Bethany Handley; she’s currently co-editing an anthology of Welsh d/Disabled writers to be published in 2025 by Lucent Dreaming. She was among last year’s Representing Wales cohort, during which Astronot yn yr Atig was published, her first book for younger children, which has been shortlisted for the 2024 Tir na n-Og award.

Megan said: “It’s such a privilege to be a part of Writers at Work this year, and at one of the most prestigious literary festivals in the world. I look forward to learning from and alongside the other writers and am ready to be inspired, challenged and encouraged. Us Welsh, particularly the Welsh speakers in our midst lack the confidence to believe that we can succeed on wider platforms. This is why we must grasp at opportunities like these that will allow us to showcase our nation, culture and language on a global stage.”

Rachel Dawson is from Swansea and lives in Cardiff. In 2020, Rachel won a New Writer’s Bursary from Literature Wales, and she was mentored by novelist Rebecca F. John. Neon Roses, her debut novel, was published by John Murray Press in 2023. It is a lesbian love story set against the backdrop of the politically and culturally turbulent 1980s. She is inspired by the resilience of our queer ancestors, and the joy of loving other women. The Ghostly Cruiser, a short story about rural Wales, queer heritage and the hanky code, was featured in Unreal Sex, an anthology published by indie press Cipher. She is currently working on a second novel exploring queer parenthood and a love for history.

Rachel said: “I’m so excited to be part of the Hay Festival Writers at Work scheme. Hay Festival is an iconic festival, and it feels surreal that I will be part of the programme! Last year I was lucky enough to publish my debut novel, and I am currently working on my second. I am really looking forward to learning from other writers and developing my craft. I have a toddler and a regular job, so the Writers at Work scheme presents a rare and precious opportunity to be able to immerse myself into reading and writing for a whole week. Hay Festival attracts a diverse range of writers from all over the world and I can’t wait to meet other writers from different places and with expertise in different genres.” 

Taylor Edmonds is a poet, writer and creative facilitator from Barry, South Wales. Her work explores themes of womanhood, identity, connection, nature and empowerment. Taylor’s debut poetry pamphlet Back Teeth is out now with Broken Sleep Books. She was the 21-22 Poet in Residence for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. She has received a Rising Stars Award from Literature Wales and Firefly Press for her writing for young people. Taylor is currently working on her debut YA fiction novel.

Taylor said: “I am thrilled to be a part of this year’s Writers at Work cohort. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in all the festival has to offer, developing my skills and networks, and sharing the experience with the rest of the cohort.”

Zoë Brigley is the author of three books of poetry published by Bloodaxe: Hand & Skull (2019), Conquest (2012), and The Secret (2007). All three are UK Poetry Book Society recommendations and together they have won an Eric Gregory Award for the best British poets under 30, were longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize for the best international writers under 40, and were Forward Prize commended. Her writing appears in the publications Australian Book Review, Chicago Review, Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, Poetry Ireland Review, Orion, Poetry Review, PN Review, Women’s Studies Quarterly, Copper Nickel, and Waxwing. She became editor for Wales’ leading poetry journal Poetry Wales in 2021, and she is now Poetry Editor for Seren Books jointly with the poet Rhian Edwards. With Kristian Evans, she co-edited 100 Poems to Save the Earth (Seren 2021), and together they founded MODRON: Writing on Nature and the Ecological Crisis. She teaches in semester time in the United States at the Ohio State University. At Writers at Work, she will be working on her fiction.

Zoe said: “As a mid-career writer, I am grateful to be able to take part in Writers at Work. I’ve always written poetry and fiction, but somewhere along the way poetry took over, and I am seeking help particularly with developing my fiction. I’m a single mum, with many plates to juggle, and I do a lot of mentoring of newer writers through my roles at Poetry Wales and Seren Books. I’m grateful for all the successes I’ve had, while I’m also mindful that mid-career can sometimes be tough in a different way to when you are starting out. Having a week or so to concentrate on my own writing is such a gift. I hope that it will spur me on to finish my collection of short stories, Tales for Wicked Wives.”