Harriet reed-ryan

In the run-up to Henley Literary Festival, we talk to the Events Director Harriet Reed-Ryan who gives us an insider’s look at this creativity-fuelled event.   

Tell us about your role at The Henley Literary Festival? 

​I started working on the first one 12 years ago - it was originally the brainchild of my mum - in the evenings and around my full-time job, then it started becoming a bigger and bigger beast… now I run it with a team in Henley. The first one was three days long and now (for our sins!) it is nine days. 

What’s a typical day for you at work?

​The thing I love about HLF is there is no one "typical" day. I work with sponsors, venues and authors organising the logistics side so a lot of it is emails, databases and plans but also meetings and coffees.

How do you select festival speakers? 

​My favourite thing about the line-up is it is so varied; there is something for everyone. This year we have England Cricketer Moeen Ali and 95 year old The Tiger who came to Tea author Judith Kerr... we also have a live edition of the F**k you cancer podcast. All of our speakers come via publishers so in January/February, we go to London for many many meetings, followed by many emails going back & forth; with the line-up being finalised in July.

Where do you find inspiration for new names and ideas for the festival?

​I try and go to lots of other events (three children makes it slightly harder…) but keeping up-to-date with trends is really important. Social Media (for me Instagram is my preferred) is a great way of seeing what is going out there, and what books people are talking about. Basically I'm trying to excuse my social media perusing before bed! 

Do you have any highs and lows you can share from festivals past? 

​The joy of the festival is there are so many highs; things that make me laugh out loud on a random Thursday morning (as well as some lows that can make me cringe on a random Thursday morning...)

Last year my highs were the most fantastic debate on Feminism in the Kenton and feeling so inspired at the end. For me personally, having Judith Kerr, Michael Morpurgo, Michael Palin, Irvine Welsh and Russell Brand at festivals past has been amazing and do give me moments where I look around and think "we actually did this". (And Michael, Irvine and Judith are returning this year) 

A low; when Mary Berry decided she wanted to sign her 300 books beforehand so the team and I had to move 300 books, give them to her one at a time and then take them all back (all 25 minutes before the event started....) Saying that, Mary was amazing and it was a complete high watching her and Emma Freud chat. There are many more lows but, a bit like childbirth, I can now only remember the joyful moments!

Are you a writer yourself? If not, do you have a creative outlet? 

Absolutely not; I am surrounded by wonderful writers - I grew up surrounded by journalists and I can't write as well as any of them so I went down the creative/logistics route! 

In general, what makes your creative brain tick - what keeps you inspired?

Numbers rise every year for the festival and people seem to connect more and more… so I guess that is what makes me (and the festival) keep on ticking. I also love my job – what more can make you tick than not getting the dreaded Sunday night feeling.

What do you recommend this year at the festival for our creative community?  

​So many to pick from, so have whittled it down to my top 5:

​1) What would Boudicca do?  Wednesday 3rd October, 6.30pm 

This is my book club book and is so fantastic. E Foley and B Coates present this wonderfully irreverent concept in What Would Boudicca Do? Everyday Problems Solved by History’s Most Remarkable Women. They look to iconic women like Frida Kahlo, Josephine Baker, Cleopatra and Coco Chanel to help figure out modern life and work problems. 

2) Modern life; 60 minute guide. Thursday 4th October. 8.30pm

Daisy Buchanan chairs a panel looking at how to make adulting work for you. She’s joined by Chidera Eggerue (the award-winning Slumflower blogger), Emma Gannon (host of the Ctrl Alt Delete podcast and author of The Multi-Hyphen Method) and author Katherine Welby-Roberts.

3) Judith Kerr, Saturday 6th October. 3pm

One of the most inspiring speakers to get creativity flowing. A rare opportunity to hear one of our best-loved children’s writers, for an all-ages event looking back on a unique life and career including The Tiger Who Came To Tea, the Mog books and her latest, Mummy Time, the enchanting tale of a child’s adventures while his mother is distracted by her smartphone.

4) Scarlett Curtis. Sunday 7th October. 5pm

The much-anticipated Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (And Other Lies), published in partnership with the UN’s women foundation Girl Up, sees the likes of Keira Knightley, Jameela Jamil, Dolly Alderton and Helen Fielding share their personal take on the F-Word. The book’s curator Scarlett – blogger and Sunday Times Style columnist – joins Emma Dabiri (Radio 4, The One Show) for a frank, funny and fearless discussion of what it means to be a woman.

5) Monty and Sylvester, Friday 5th October. 10am

One for the young creatives (we have over 30 kids’ events!) Meet best friends Monty and Sylvester as they perfect their superhero skills. Come along to this interactive workshop with author-illustrator Carly Gledhill for some arty fun and get the chance to design your own superhero capes!

Find out more at the Henley Festival Website