Michael Rosen stars at Hay schools

Michael Rosen leads a star-studded cast of writers and illustrators at the 2012 Telegraph Hay Festival Programme for Schools. The Hay Festival, which will be celebrating its 25th year, takes place from 31 May to 10 June. Rosen, a former children\'s Laureate, will be appearing at the schools event, which takes place prior to the main programme, on Thursday 31 May (Key Stage 2). There will be Key Stages 3 & 4 events on Friday 1 June, featuring Phil Earle, the author of Being Billy, and fantasy writer Marcus Alexander. Francesca Simon, author of the popular Horrid Henry stories, and Phillippa Gregory will also be attending and there will be a talk on art from illustrator James Mayhew. Local schools are welcome to attend the Programme For School for free but tickets must be booked ahead (the closing date is 11 April 2012). Already announced for the main festival is comedian Tim Minchin and Booker Prize-winning author Hilary Mantel, who will be in conversation with Hay Festival Director Peter Florence about Bring Up The Bodies, her sequel to Wolf Hall. Earle, who also wrote Saving Daisy, is one of the many award-winning authors on the Hay Festival\'s Scribblers Tour, which will be visiting universities across Wales in February and March. Another feature of this year\'s children\'s events at Hay is the 500 WORDS children\'s writing competition. Teachers have one week left to volunteer to judge the stories. For details visit the BBC 500 WORDS website. All volunteers who mark stories will be entered in a draw to win passes to join the Chris Evans show team at Hay Festival on 1st June. From The telegraph