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When the storyteller Daniel Morden was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw, he realised that he wasn’t fighting cancer, he was fighting fear. It was an experience that showed him the power and importance of the stories he told. Daniel reads ‘The Monster over The Hill’, a story that he found helped him through his experience. Daniel and his storytelling and music troupe ‘The Devil’s Violin’ are currently touring their new show Stolen.

We asked Helen Mort to write us a poem especially for The Verb at the Hay Festival on our theme of resilience. Helen reads ‘Pointed’, a poem inspired by her teenage experiences on the endlessly practised resilience of the dancer. Helen’s collections ‘No Map Could Show Them’ and ‘Division Street’ are published by Chatto. 

Michael Morpurgo is one of our best-loved children’s authors. Michael has just published ‘In The Mouth of the Wolf (Egmont), a book telling the story of his own Uncle Francis, a pacifist and a spy during WWII. Michael explains why he has waited so long to write this family story, and what he thinks young people can learn from the kind of quiet, lifelong resilience practised by Francis. 

The Last Poets were formed  in May 1968 in East Harlem. Over the past 50 years the group have undergone many line-up changes, released over a dozen albums and have been christened ‘the godfathers of hip-hop’. Joining Ian onstage at the Hay Festival are founder member Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan and Baba Donn Babatunde, performing from their new album ‘Understand What Black Is’, and explaining why they now think revolution has to begin with evolution.