Category Archives: Writers

Last week (Thursday) saw the launch of the 2025 Hay Festival at Hay-on-Wye which runs until 1 June. It you’re not familiar with this huge literary event here’s what Hay Festival Global says: ‘It brings together diverse voices from the worlds of art, literature, science, politics, music and comedy to listen, talk, debate and create.’

This event has been on my bucket list for centuries and will problem remain there. However, there is coverage on BBC Radio 3 & 4, Radio Wales, and various podcasts, plus Hay Festival has its own Anytime channel. This is reached via the Hay website and it’s certainly worth taking out an Anytime Annual Subscription – considerably lower cost than travelling to Hay, but less fun. This gives you access to hours of audio and film recordings from each festival and, as they say, gives you front row access to the world’s great writers and artists.

A quick glance at the events to date (Monday 26th) and you’ll see:

Audio links for interviews with: Tim Minshall, Michael Morpurgo, Peter Lord, Mike Berners-Lee, Lucy Mangan, David & Yinka Olusoga plus many more.

Film links to watch: Naga Munchetty, Michael Rosen, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Emma Barnett & Stacey Dooley, Alexander McCall Smith, Alastair Campbell and Joanne Harris, to name only a small number.

Among those you can listen to or watch from previous festivals are: Maya Angelou, Muriel Spark, Stephen Hawking, Judi Dench, Tony Benn, Christopher Hitchens, Jacqueline Wilson, Margaret Atwood, Harold Pinter, Rose Tremain, Doris Lessing, Philip Pullman, Bill Bryson and Toni Morrison.

I met Mr Pineapple (aka French Canadian, Steve Mathieu) at the recent London Book Fair, attracted to his stand by a row of paper pineapples and a beaming smile from the man himself.

The man behind The Pineapple Theory(TPT) explains like this: ‘Theoretically, what if adding a pineapple to people’s life, leadership & business could assist living more “pineHapply”? Within you, there’s a seed for greatness, & it’s time for you to embrace the role that’s been given to you in life to make it bloom fruitfully!

The Pineapple Theory is an addition to ones’ life recipe – moving positivity forward with intelligence, reasoning & fruitful philosophy, by sharing fresh life & leadership principles, cultivating a growth mindset. Always moving forward in life, reaching new heights, like the gift of your own self-growth transformation.

Always work to achieve happiness, always work to remove misery, that’s upon yourself & it will define your character & fate. You will always harvest what you plant. The pineapple fruit is a metaphor & symbol of positivity, making your experience more fruitful.’

Now I’m all for more ‘pineHappily’, so I read Feel & Think Like A Pineapple. Did I feel pineHappily? Do I get TPT? Active syntax and literal translation needs careful study, so I’m back for a re-read.

To give Steve Mathieu credit where it’s due, he has written, edited and self published the TPT books. He’s clearly made a success of this and now travels the world promoting, smiling and keeping a pineapple close at hand!