An East Anglian writer whose work explores the climate crisis, protest, and British culture has been selected for a prestigious emerging artists programme at this year’s Hay Festival.
Emma-Louise Howell is one of six young creatives chosen for The Platform, a Hay Festival initiative designed to showcase new artistic talent from across the UK and beyond. The programme gives artists aged between 21 and 28 the opportunity to present new work at one of the world’s best-known literary and cultural festivals.
Howell, whose writing spans theatre, screen and poetry, will present a new piece titled You told us to talk about the weather during the festival in Hay-on-Wye later this month.
The work explores Britain’s relationship with the climate crisis through humour, poetry and conversations with climate activists. Drawing on the familiar national habit of discussing the weather, it asks why everyday conversations about climate breakdown so often remain superficial despite growing public concern.
The project notes, “In the past six hours, 90% of Brits have spoken about the weather. … In the past five years, 7,000 Brits have been arrested for speaking out about the climate crisis.”
Howell uses satire, interviews and the spoken word to examine how conversations about the weather might become “a tool for meaningful change”.
From East Anglia to Hay-on-Wye
Howell has already built a growing reputation as a playwright and writer. A graduate of RADA, she won the academy’s Michael Ross Award for Best New Writer, and has since been shortlisted for several national awards, including The Stage Innovation Award and the Off-West End Playwrights Award.
Her work has appeared through platforms including BBC Introducing, Soho Theatre and the Zebra Festival, and is currently being developed for both stage and screen.
Speaking about her selection for The Platform, Howell says being invited to Hay Festival feels “surreal”.
“I’ve always looked to Hay Festival as a place where the most exciting writers and thinkers gather and share ideas, so to be included in this year’s line-up feels incredibly surreal,” she explains. “It’s a genuine honour to share my work in such a vital and inspiring cultural hotspot.”
The six selected artists represent a range of creative disciplines including sculpture, sound art, spoken word, music and journalism. Their work will be showcased during a dedicated series of events at the festival’s Creative Hub on 29 May.
Focus on emerging voices
Hay Festival says The Platform is intended to help younger artists build professional networks while introducing audiences to emerging creative talent. The initiative is supported by funding from the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and the Garrick Charitable Trust Foundation.
Julie Finch, chief executive of Hay Festival Global, says the programme is designed to encourage collaboration between established and emerging artists.
“These six young artists promise to offer a fresh perspective on how we relate to one another and the world around us,” she says.
This year, the wider Hay Festival programme includes more than 600 events across 11 days. It will bring together writers, politicians, historians, scientists, campaigners and performers from around the world.
Alongside major literary launches and political discussions, the programme also includes events focused on climate, international politics, reading culture, comedy, film adaptation and emerging creative industries.
Climate and culture increasingly intertwined
Howell’s selection also reflects the growing prominence of climate themes within contemporary arts and literature. In recent years, theatres, festivals and publishers have increasingly commissioned work examining climate anxiety, activism and environmental change.
Her project arrives at a time when climate protest itself remains politically contested in Britain. Campaigners linked to groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have faced arrests, prosecutions and prison sentences over direct action protests. However, supporters argue that civil disobedience is necessary when governments fail to respond adequately to the climate crisis.
Rather than focusing directly on protest tactics, Howell’s work appears to centre on something quieter but deeply British: conversation itself. By using humour and familiar social rituals, the project asks whether everyday language about the weather can become a starting point for more serious discussions about the changing climate.
The Platform events at Hay Festival are free to attend, with audiences able to reserve tickets through the festival website.
This article is based on a press release from the Hay Festival, compiled with assistance from AI tools and edited by East Anglia Bylines.
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