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Ted Hodgkinson to Depart Southbank Centre, Join Hay Festival as Creative Director
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

Culture/The Apex Times/Aug 26, 4:15 AM EDT

Ted Hodgkinson to Depart Southbank Centre, Join Hay Festival as Creative Director

Hodgkinson, Southbank Centre’s longtime director of literature and spoken word, will leave the London arts institution and join the Hay Festival team in a newly created creative-director role this autumn.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

Ted Hodgkinson is leaving the Southbank Centre in London, where he has served as the institution’s director of literature and spoken word, and will join the Hay Festival organization as creative director, according to Deadline. The move will take effect as he officially joins the Hay Festival team in the autumn.

Deadline reports that the Hay Festival role is newly created and is designed to give Hodgkinson responsibility for leading the festival’s artistic and creative direction. The announcement frames the transition as a shift from a role focused on Southbank Centre programming to a festival-wide creative leadership position at Hay.

At Southbank Centre, Hodgkinson has held what Deadline describes as a longtime directorship overseeing literature and spoken word, programming that supports readings, public discussions, and performances tied to books and live literary culture. The departure marks a leadership change for an organization that serves as a major venue for cultural events in central London.

The news comes as Hay Festival continues to shape its annual lineup of author talks and live performances tied to books, with Deadline characterizing the creative-director role as centered on artistic decision-making. Deadline did not outline further details of the scope beyond leading the festival’s artistic and creative direction.

Deadline’s report also indicates that Hodgkinson’s transition is planned around the autumn start date, rather than an immediate departure. That timing suggests a planned handoff for programming continuity at Southbank Centre and for staffing and planning at Hay.

Hodgkinson’s appointment highlights how major British cultural institutions are using senior creative-leadership roles to manage audiences, programming identity, and production planning across seasons. It also underscores the role of literature and spoken-word programming in both organizations’ cultural missions, as the leadership focus moves from a continuous venue model to an event-based festival structure.

No additional details were provided in Deadline’s report about successors at Southbank Centre, the exact start date in the autumn, or specific creative initiatives tied to Hodgkinson’s first season with Hay Festival. For now, the announced next step is the formal move from one institution to the other as the autumn calendar approaches.

Why It Matters

  • The autumn start date means programming and planning shifts may be required at both Southbank Centre and Hay Festival as leadership transitions.
  • A change in creative leadership can affect festival programming priorities, commissioning, and how live literary events are curated from season to season.
  • The move reflects the continued institutional importance placed on literature and spoken-word programming in major UK cultural venues and festivals.
  • For audiences who follow author events, the transition may influence who Hodgkinson’s teams collaborate with and how events are structured during the next planning cycle.

Sources

Key Facts

  • Ted Hodgkinson is leaving the Southbank Centre in London, where he served as the institution’s director of literature and spoken word.
  • Hodgkinson will join Hay Festival in the autumn, in a newly created role of creative director.
  • Deadline says the creative-director position includes leading Hay Festival’s artistic and creative direction.
  • Deadline characterizes Hodgkinson’s Southbank Centre role as longtime directorship overseeing literature and spoken word.
  • The report does not specify a successor at Southbank Centre or provide additional details about the Hay Festival role beyond artistic and creative leadership.