For the first time, on 2 June 2011 British Council streamed an event live to an audience in Mexico to celebrate the launch of the inaugural Xalapa Festival in Mexico. The event was part of the British Council Series at Hay Festival Wales 2011 – Gillian Clarke’s ‘Nothing is until it has a Word’, in which she reflected on her Laureateship, and the place of poetry in the life of the nation. Following the live streaming, questions were then taken from the audience in Mexico as well as from Kerala and Kenya via twitter.
Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales, on the live streaming:
‘To hear a question coming through this very minute, from the other side of the ocean was thrilling… their questions made me realise that they are just my next door neighbours and that we are exactly like each other.’
Simon Armitage, Michael Morpurgo, Germaine Greer and David Crystal also spoke at the Hay Festival as part of the British Council Series, a programme of five events and discussions that took place from 26 May to 5 June 2011.
In order to bring British authors to an international audience, as well as the live streaming to Mexico – all the events were recorded and will be shared with audiences world-wide throughout the year during the international festivals in Xalapa, Segovia, Nairobi, Kerala and Cartagena.
The global partnership between British Council and Hay Festivals, which launched in May 2010, saw the first festival take place in Kerala, India in November 2010 and looks forward to launching the first festival in Xalapa, Mexico in October 2011.
Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales, on the Partnership between British Council and Hay Festivals:
‘…I think it’s progress. Because you get synergy; you get the energy of Hay and the energy of the British Council, and I think that’s more exciting than just being one organization ploughing one little furrow.’
In 12-14 November 2010, three Welsh poets Gillian Clarke, Menna Elfyn and Paul Henry – travelled to Kerala, India to take part in the first ever Hay Festival Kerala. The festival, held at Kanakakunnu Palace, was dedicated to literary readings from, and inspired by Wales, in which they explored the challenges and opportunities of writing poetry across different languages. These activities were part of India-Wales Writers Chain 2010-1012 programme that aims to develop cultural connections between Wales and India through literature. India-Wales Writers Chain 2010-1012 has been developed by the British Council in partnership with Wales Arts International and is generously supported by the Welsh Government.
During the event, Clarke explored the issues of poetry and bilingualism, and discussed her ideas with the poet and novelist CP Surendran.
The purpose of the British Council’s cultural relations work is to foster mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue with a greater appreciation of the UK’s ideas and achievements. Hay and the British Council are also both working to bring writers from the countries in which the festivals take place back to the UK, to increase audiences for writing from around the world.
Hay Festival Wales 2011 from British Council on Vimeo.
