The line-up at Chelsea Arts Festival brought together some of the most distinctive voices in contemporary writing, music & more. Among the weekend’s highlights was a lively talk at Cadogan Hall featuring Matt Haig, Jordan Stephens, and Annie Macmanus – a generous conversation about life, creativity and what it means to be human.
“I’m always nervous about talks,” admitted Matt Haig afterwards. “Especially today because I know Annie and Jordan are both great at talking and I’m, you know, just an introverted weirdo.” But any nerves melted away quickly. “It was actually really easy and really nice and I forgot that it was a very big room full of people,” he said. “I wasn’t actually looking out at people’s faces – I was just looking at Jordan and Annie … people seemed to like it.”
A Conversation That Felt Like a Living Room
The relaxed energy on stage translated beautifully to the audience. “It felt like I was just watching you all in your living room,” one attendee remarked afterwards – and Matt Haig agreed that the intimacy of the exchange brought something special. “It was really good to actually have a schedule, sit down, proper chat,” he said. “I’m always fascinated with what Jordan’s got to say and I always stop at his content when I see it. It was really fascinating. And for me, I could have done another hour.”
Haig said he’d love to continue the discussion beyond the festival. “I want to schedule something else in to continue the chat and talk more about masculinity and ADHD, neurodiversity, all of that kind of stuff – and writing.”
“Three Writers Talking”
For Jordan Stephens, the experience felt just as natural. “I just did a conversational talk with Matt Haig and Annie Mac,” he said. “Annie was chairing the discussion, but that was funny because Annie is also now a very accomplished writer in her own right. So ultimately, it was just kind of three, I guess, writers talking, which was cool.”
Stephens described the mood as calm and collaborative. “It was very chill,” he said. “I don’t feel even a slight depletion of energy, which is an indication that I was comfortable – which is nice around people I enjoy talking to.”
Why Live Matters
Both speakers spoke about the importance of being together in real life – something festivals like Chelsea Arts Festival make possible.
“For me, from a writing perspective, it just makes things feel real,” said Haig. “You’re writing by yourself and you could just be a mad person writing down your daydreams for no reason whatsoever. So actually, it’s the other side of that, and it’s so lovely to do it. And I think to have collective spaces for arts generally – whether it’s music, theatre, festivals, whatever it is – is just great and probably more important now than it’s ever been.”
Stephens agreed. “It’s important now more so than ever to be physically present at these things,” he said. “It’s really nice afterwards when people say that they feel happy they’ve come and heard someone speak and they feel motivated by the real-life speech. That’s cool. I feel motivated by having an opportunity.”
On Cadogan Hall and Signing Books
For Stephens, the size of the venue came as a pleasant surprise. “I never really Google the look of the venue when I get booked in it. For some reason, I always imagine that things are going to be done in tiny rooms. I haven’t adjusted to, like, I guess, me, Matt, and Annie in a big room. That’s really cool.”
Matt Haig joked that he carried his competitiveness right through to the post-talk signing – seeing which of the two authors could sign more books for audience members. “I was in a deeply competitive mode with Jordan,” he laughed. “I thought, I cannot let him have a thing. So I was talking about everything – I was sharing my family history with people. I did finally win.”
What came across most, though, was the genuine warmth and admiration between all three. “I just got to chat to Matt for an hour,” said Stephens. “It was nice.”
