Update 27.05.12:  Sadly  this event will now not take place.  The official reason given is that the it is due to changes in New Order’s touring schedule.  A quick look at the band’s page suggest there are no live  New Order dates between the Forbidden Fruit Festival in Dublin on 3rd June and Sonar in Spain in the middle of the month.  Bernard Sumner was due to appear in Hay on the 7th June.

Bernard Sumner, lead singer with New Order and former guitarist with Joy Division, has turned his creative talent to more literary pursuits. The musician behind Blue Monday and Love Will Tear Us Apart will appear at the Hay Festival in June to talk about his forthcoming autobiographical work ‘Sumner on Sumner’.

Writer Charlie Connelly will interview the famously private Sumner about his creative life and his work with two of the most influential bands of the last three decades. Rarely have any of the members of Joy Division and New Order given interviews, eschewing the limelight in favour of recording and performing.

The programme, revealed last week and with tickets now on sale to the public, has several big names more commonly associated with the written word. Martin Amis, Terry Pratchett, Louis de Bernieres and Ian Rankin are all on the bill.