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I’ve just enjoyed one of my annual treats, a day in Hay-on-Wye. The little Welsh border town is famous because it has more bookshops than some large cities, attracting visitors from all parts of the world, and especially this week with the Hay Festival in full swing.

Spiced with lots of music and comedy, and lashings of fun for the children, this is essentially a literary occasion, because just about everyone appearing on stage has a book to sell, and will be very happy to sign a copy just for you.

As you queue for a session licking your sheep’s milk ice cream, your shoulder might be brushed by a poet or a politician, a lawyer, astronomer, adventurer…almost certainly someone who looks familiar from television. And it’s that chance to get close, however fleetingly, to a person who’s been there, done it, seen it, which is part of the appeal...