HAY Festival Forum - the Wild Detectives

Hay Festival Forum Dallas Protected content

Hay Festival Dallas opens with one of the most celebrated voices in global comics journalism: Joe Sacco. From Palestine to Safe Area Goražde, Sacco has redefined how we understand conflict and memory through pen and ink, creating a body of work that blends meticulous reportage with visual intensity. At 7pm at The Wild Detectives, he sits down with Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi to explore the politics of storytelling, the ethics of witnessing, and the power of art to confront injustice.

This year marks the publication of Sacco’s The Once and Future Riot, his harrowing return to sectarian violence in India, alongside the reissued and expanded War on Gaza, which has renewed urgency amid today’s headlines. Few artists have documented violence and displacement with such empathy and precision, and this Dallas appearance offers a rare chance to hear directly from him about three decades of work.

Supported by Open Society Foundations’ South to North project, this evening sets the tone for the entire festival: fearless, global, and committed to amplifying stories that might otherwise go unheard.
The opening night is more than a talk—it’s an invitation. Come prepared for a conversation that blurs the boundaries between literature, journalism, and visual art, while reminding us of the stakes of bearing witness in an age of information overload.