Peter Florence in Powys, Wales

Peter Kenrick Florence CBE[1] (born 4 October 1964) is a British festival director, most notable for founding the Hay Festival with his father and mother, Norman Florence and Rhoda Lewis, funding the first festival with winnings from a poker game.[2]

Education and career

Peter Florence was educated at Ipswich School, Jesus College, Cambridge, and the University of Paris and has an MA in Modern and Medieval Literatures. He holds honorary doctorates from The Open University, Queen Mary University of London, Worcester University[3] and The University of Glamorgan, and is a Fellow of Hereford College of Arts, The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the British-American Project, and an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University and of Cardiff University.

He was made a "Colombiano de Corazon" by President Álvaro Uribe for his work in Colombia.

As well as the Hay Festival, Florence founded similar festivals around the world in Mantua, Segovia, the Alhambra Palace, Cartagena, Nairobi, Zacatecas, Thiruvananthapuram, Dhaka, Xalapa, Belfast and Paraty.

He is the co-editor of the Oxtales and Oxtravels anthologies with Mark Ellingham of Profile Books, in partnership with Oxfam. He is a Friend of Oxfam.

He has written for a number of publications including Index on Censorship,[4] The Guardian,[5] The Telegraph and The Spectator.

A number of his interviews with writers appear in the Hay Festival's 30th-anniversary book Hay Festival Conversations.

He is a trustee of the Baillie Gifford Prize. He is a member of the Board of The Deborah Rogers Foundation. He was a governor of Fairfield High School in Peterchurch, Herefordshire, and a trustee of Hay Castle Trust.

He is a member of the European Festivals Association EFFE Jury.[6]

He is an honorary fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.[7]

Florence chaired the jury of the 2019 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and notably defied the foundation's 1993-established rules to award the prize to two authors. Bernardine Evaristo - the first black woman to be awarded the prize - shared the prize with Margaret Atwood.

In late July 2021 Florence resigned as director of the Hay Festival following an independent investigation that upheld a complaint of bullying against Florence. He had been suspended in October 2020. Florence commented "I consider that my role had become untenable due to the conduct of the board and its insistence on holding a disciplinary hearing in my absence whilst I was off sick after a breakdown."[8]

Personal life

Florence and his wife Becky Shaw have four sons. They live in Herefordshire.[9] He is cousin to Trevor Jones the South African composer.

Honours

Florence was awarded an MBE in 2005 for services to Arts and Culture.[10]

He was awarded a CBE in 2018 for services to Literature and Charity.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "New Year's Honours 2018" (PDF). Gov.uk. Government Digital Service. 29 December 2017. p. 15. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Channel 4 The Hay Festival 2006 from Channel4.com, retrieved 2007-01-26
  3. ↑ "Graduation News". Worcester University News. Worcester University. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Index (25 January 2017). "Freedom of Speech". index on censorship. Index on Censorship. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  5. ↑ The Guardian (3 March 2017). "Guardian profile". The Guardian. Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "EFA Jury". EFA Newsletter. EFA. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "RSL elects 31 new Fellows". Royal Society of Literature. 5 June 2018.
  8. ↑ Thorpe, Vanessa (1 August 2021). "Hay festival in disarray as director quits after bullying claim upheld". The Observer. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Ideas 2007: Creativity Beyond Borders: Peter Florence Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2007-01-26
  10. ↑ "Hay Festival organisers recognised in New Year Honours List". Brecon & Radnor Express.
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