Hay Festival: Sir Salman Rushdie and Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman to be honoured with medals at major book event

Author Sir Salman Rushdie and Alice Oseman, the creator of Netflix hit Heartstopper, are to be honoured with medals at one of the world’s biggest book festivals.

The Hay Festival is an annual event which takes place in the town of Hay-on-Wye just inside the Welsh border.

Sir Salman will receive the award virtually after he was stabbed around 12 times in a brutal attack last summer.

He had been due to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York when he was attacked, causing him to lose his sight in one eye and have limited feeling in his left hand.

The prize-winning novelist has taken part in Hay Festival conversations for decades, with Rushdie’s latest novel, Victory City, being launched at this year’s event.

He will receive this year’s medal for prose.

Meanwhile, Oseman will collect the medal for fiction in person at the festival, as Heartstopper is set to return on screen for both a second and third season.

The author’s show started as a series of web comics before becoming a graphic novel and getting a TV series commissioned by the streaming platform.

Medals have been given to writers and poets at the festival since 2012, inspired by the London Olympics.

Sir Salman Rushdie said: “I’m delighted and proud that my name is being added to the immensely illustrious list of previous recipients of this medal.

“I’m only sorry that I can’t be at Hay Festival in person this year, but I hope to rectify that soon.”

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Poet Mererid Hopwood will receive the medal for poetry and Ukrainian “rock star poet” Serhiy Zhadan will get the medal for songwriting.

Stormzy and Dua Lipa will be among the music stars taking part in some of this year’s events.