Hay Festival Colombia Digital

Culture is renowned for building bridges. That it transforms borders into meeting points and overcomes language, racial and political barriers is an experience shared and understood by those who make their home in the creative arts. Building cultural bridges between Barcelona and Madrid is the subject of the conversation to be held at the Hay Festival by Sonia Mulero, Director General of the Banco de Sabadell Foundation, and Evelio Acevedo, Managing Director of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation and Daniel Fernández, head of publishing labels such as Edhasa and Castalia and, since last December, president of the publishers of Spain.

They will talk with Miquel Molina, writer and journalist, and assistant editor of La Vanguardia.

Event in Spanish

He said in an interview that Roberto Bolaño changed his life as a reader and as a writer. Senegalese author Mohamed Mbougar Sarr won the prestigious Goncourt Prize in 2021 with his novel La plus secrète mémoire des hommes (The Most Secret Memory of Men), the title referencing Bolaño's famous book Los detectives salvajes (The Savage Detectives). The work is inspired by the life of the Malian writer Yambo Ouologuem, critic of colonialism, and the great tragedies of the 20th century, and is based on the relationship between the West and the African continent. He received prizes for titles such as La Cale, Terre ceinte and Silence du choeur before winning the most prestigious prize in French literature.

He will talk with Jacinta Cremades, literary critic and author of the novel Regreso a París.

The event will be presented by Isabelle Berneron, attachée for books, ideas and media networks at the Institut Français D'Espagne.

Event in French, with simultaneous translation into Spanish

There will be a book-signing at the bookstands in front of the IE University

Historian, television presenter, fiction writer and essayist, Simon Sebag Montefiore was present for the last days of the Soviet Union and travelled around the region during the 1990s. He has written on Russia for The Sunday Times, The New York Times and The Spectator, among other magazines and newspapers. A number of his book, including Stalin>: The Court of the Red Tsar, Titans of History and Jerusalem: The Biography have been translated into Spanish. The last book published in Spain by this writer, a descendent of a distinguished family of Sephardic Jews that had branches all over Europe, has been Written in History, a compilation of important letters written about politics, culture and art by great figures who have influenced our past.

Sebag Montefiore will talk to the British journalist Martin Ivens, Editor of The Times Literary Supplement.

Once the event has finished, the author will sign books in the booth outside IE University.

With simultaneous translation from English into Spanish

The journalist Inés Martín Rodrigo made her name with her second novel, Las formas del querer, winning the prestigious Nadal Prize. Since then, she been talking about dancing a great deal. She says that writing the book was therapeutic, and let her understand herself better. Her first work of fiction was Azules son las horas, about Sofía Casanova, the first Spanish war correspondent; she has also published a compilation of interviews called Una habitación compartida.

Martín Rodrigo will talk to Jesús Vigorra, director and presenter of Canal Sur Radio’s La mañana de Andalucía.

Event in Spanish

Book signing at the stand on Calle Real

A bitter cocktail of high inflation, low growth, spiralling energy costs and war is fuelling fears that Europe may be returning to the hard times of the past. The 20´s? The 70´s? How can it rise to the challenge?

The Financial Times Weekend brings to Segovia exceptional panels to debate this new time for Europe, moderated by its senior editor, Andrew Hill together joined by Pilita Clark, associate editor and business columnist at the Financial Times who writes a weekly column on modern corporate life. The line-up covers from the sociopolitical context, with Ivan Krastev, a political scientist, chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and columnist for the FT; the economical turnouts with Professor Gayle Allard from IE Business School, the legal and political overview of decades of leadership by former Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena and the reading from the classics by humanist, bestselling author and political leader, Emilio del Rio.

Event in English with simultaneous translation

Currently Budapest has Europe’s largest and most ambitious urban cultural development, the Liget Budapest Project. An urban and cultural development plan that has transformed the Hungarian capital, involving internationally acknowledged architects, like Sou Fujimoto or Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA). With five new buildings and half of the park area completed and three more to go, the project’s visionary, Laszlo Baan, also director of the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, will be at the Hay Festival to explain and elaborate on the project, and how it relates to comparable projects in Europe.

Isabel Fuentes, PhD in Museology of Natural and Human Sciences, has spent twenty years working in scientific communication and cultural management in institutions such as the Residencia de Estudiantes, the National Museum of Natural Sciences and the La Caixa Foundation. She is currently the director of CaixaForumand an expert in the transformation that a museum can bring about in the city inwhich it is installed.

Baan and Fuentes will talk with Miquel Molina, journalist and writer, assistant director of the newspaper La Vanguardia.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish and vice versa

Pedro Zuazua claims to be a better person since he started living with cats. In working hours director of communications at El País, the journalist attracted thousands of readers with his first book, under the provocative title En mi casa no entra un gato (No cat will come into my house). Now convinced that cats will dominate the world, he has published Días para ser gato (Days to be a cat). And not content with that, he has written an entertaining and touching show with the musician Pablo Moro. The show started its tour in Madrid and Oviedo, filling venues, and now comes to Hay Festival Segovia designed to fit perfectly into “vermouth time”. They encourage the public to propose a song to be included in the show. Send an e-mail to enmicasanoentraungato@gmail.com. Pablo Moro's discography includes works such as Emepetreses (MP3s), Smoking Point, Pequeños placeres domésticos (Small domestic pleasures) and La vida solucionada (Life, solved).

They will sign at the stands at Calle Real

Event in Spanish

The creative personalities of Jorge Volpi and Carlos Granés meet in the intersection of narrative and the essay. Volpi, who predominantly writes novels, has garnered awards for titles such as En busca de Klingsor, La tejedora de sombras and Una novela criminal (Alfaguara Prize 2018). He also writes short stories and essays, including El magisterio de Jorge Cuesta, which won him the Premio Plural prize, and La guerra y las palabras. Partes de guerra is his most recent novel. Carlos Granés, social anthropologist, fuses the discipline with art and literature. His titles include La revancha de la imaginación and Delirio Americano, a book where he analyses the many cultural, political and ideological currents that have contributed to the invention of modern Latin America. He is a regular contributor to the magazine Letras Libres. His work El puño invisible won the Isabel Polanco International Essay Prize. The two writers will talk about the idea of their works as communicating vessels at the Hay Festival.

Event in Spanish

There will be a book-signing at the bookstand on Calle Real.

In Falling Is Like Flying the Dutch writer Manon Uphoff recreates a childhood of terror, marked by a tyrannical and abusive father one who, at the same time, had a perverse charm. The death of her older sister was the trigger for Uphoff to begin writing, not a typical autobiographical chronicle, but creating a symbolic and poetic universe that connects the traumas of her past with Greek mythology, fairy tales and science. The work was shortlisted for the Libris Literature Prize and also won the Charlotte Köhler Award. Previously, Uphoff has published Begeerte, a collection of short stories, and the novel Gemis, also shortlisted for the Libris Prize.

She will talk to the journalist Irene Hernández Velasco, who has been a correspondent in various countries and currently works for El Mundo newspaper.

Once the event has finished, the author will sign books in the booth outside IE University.

With simultaneous translation from English into Spanish

The rights of women can also be defended in the realm of eroticism. This is a central premise for the writing of Emecé Condado, who aims to demystify sex and break down stereotypes through literature. After working on blogs and digital magazines, and on the collective work Segovia erótica (Ediciones Derviche), she has published her first book of short stories, Nunca más (libros.com). Cristian Fernández, a multi-genre writer, considers eroticism an essential ingredient for romanticism, but with a critical eye for the perfect dosage. He has just finished publishing Riperdá, El Holandés Errante (Ediciones Derviche), a historical novel set in the first half of the of the 18th century. They will talk to the journalist Aurelio Martín.

Once the event has finished, authors will sign books in the booth at calle Real.

Event in Spanish

Mark Muller Stuart QC is a leading barrister specialising in international law, terrorism and human rights litigation. He has been a member of the Queen's Counsel since 2006 and advises numerous international law organisations.

He has also written a number of books and reports on human rights and conflict-related areas, having conducted international missions in Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Syria, Libya, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, India, Cuba, Colombia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Afghanistan. He is co-founder of the Delfina Arts Foundation, as well as founder and executive director of Beyond Borders, an international platform based in Scotland that works to break down borders between peoples and help facilitate wider international cultural exchange, dialogue and reconciliation.

Álvaro Gil Robles is a prestigiuos Spanish politician and lawyer, former Ombudsman and the first Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe. He has held several positions in important official bodies, among them, candidate of the European Court of Human Rights, integrating the Selection Committe, the body in charge of the Peace Agreement between the Government and the FAR, and selecting the magistrates of the special jurisdiction for the Peace Process of Colombia with President Juan Manuel Santos. He has written several books and articles in his field of expertise, including: Los Nuevos Límites de la Tutela Judicial (The New Limits of Judicial Protection). He is the President of the Valsain Foundation for the promotion and defence of democratic values, founded with a group of friends with significant work in the dissemination of these values.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish

Patronage of different kinds is one of the major forms of promoting and protecting creative works. Three outstanding cultural figures who understand its importance, both in the public and private spheres, come to the Hay Festival Segovia. They are Antonio Filipe Pimentel, Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, also in the Portuguese capital, who will talk about private patronage; and the ambassador Antonio Monteiro, Chair of the Millennium Bank Foundation, who will talk about support for public institutions and private creators through his foundation.

Prince Lorenzo de’ Medici, a direct descendent from a branch of the historical family of patrons, will moderate this event.

Event in Spanish

"Humans have spent decades trying to teach other animals our language... but have made little effort to learn theirs.” So says Eva Meijer, writer, philosopher and singer-songwriter, who bases much of her work on questions of language, both political and animal, since writing her award-winning doctoral thesis: Cuando los animales hablan (When Animals Speak). Her sixth novel, Sea: now, has been translated into eighteen languages. Her biography includes a long history of struggling and living with depression. This is the subject of one of her latest works translated in Spain: The limits of my language. Meditations on depression. She publishes essays and columns in the media in her native Netherlands.

Eva Meijer will talk to Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, journalist and writer, author, among other works, of Papel

There will be a book-signing at the bookstand in front of IE University

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish

Spain is the Guest of Honour at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, a unique opportunity to showcase Spanish culture and literature to the world. Under the hashtag Overflowing Creativity, Spain will take 450 books in Spanish translated into German to the event. The sector will be represented by 400 publishers and more than 200 authors, and the cultural programme will offer a wide variety of genres and art forms through exhibitions, dance performances, theatrical performances, musical events and publications especially designed for presentation in Germany. This international event will be presented and discussed by María José Gálvez, director general of Books and the Promotion of Reading at the Ministry of Culture and Sport; Isabel Izquierdo, director of programming at Acción Cultural Española, AC/E; the project curator Elvira Marco; and Marifé Boix, vice-president for Southern Europe and Latin America at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Event in Spanish

In 2010, Nicola Lagioia was named one of the best Italian writers under the age of forty. Twelve years later, five novels translated into fifteen languages confirm the early acclaim. The City of the Living, based on a real crime that shocked Italy, has just been published in Spain. Lagioia is also a member of the jury of the Venice Film Festival, director of the Turin International Book Fair and a contributor to Radio 3. His novels also include Ferocity.

The Italian writer will talk with another prominent, Spanish author, Manuel Jabois, journalist and storyteller, author of novels such as Malaherba and Miss Marte and non-fiction books such as Nos vemos en esta vida o en la otra and Irse a Madrid.

The event is presented by the director of Istituto Italiano, Marialuisa Pappalardo.

The authors will sign copies of their works at the bookstand in front of IE University

With simultaneous translation from Italian to Spanish and from Spanish to Italian and vice versa

Twenty years ago, Clemens Schlettwein, an investor and philanthropist specialising in environmental conservation projects, and Gemma Knowles, a holistic animal therapist and dog nutritionist, author of several books on animal welfare, started their life project together, running a shelter for dogs and cats in El Garraf (Barcelona). Project and life partners, they have launched various enterprises related, for instance, to permaculture with horses or the development of a solar car. They will talk about all this with William Mut, an expert consultant in policies and promotion of productive investment, who has worked with numerous multilateral institutions including the World Bank, the United Nations, COMESA and the EU.

Event in Spanish

Russia is the latest work by the British historian and novelist, Antony Beevor. This World War II specialist returns to non-fiction, and to an area he knows well: Russia after the tsars. The struggle that took place between 1917 and 1921 between an alliance of moderate socialists and reactionary monarchists, and Trotsky’s Red Army, as well as Lenin’s subsequent dictatorship, are the themes of this work, which draws on the latest scholarship in the field. The book depicts this period and its conflicts as a world war by proxy, through the eyes of different figures, including a worker in the streets of Petrograd, a cavalry officer, and a woman doctor in a makeshift hospital. This multi-award winning author, translated into over thirty languages (published in Spanish by Crítica), will talk to one of our most prestigious writers, the academic Antonio Muñoz Molina, the author of titles such as El jinete polaco and Volver a dónde.

The event will be presented by Carmen Esteban, CEO of Crítica publishing house.

Once the event has finished, the authors will sign books in the booth outside IE University.

With simultaneous translation from English into Spanish and vice versa

Mariano Sigman is one of the world's leading neuroscientists, with more than 150 publications in the most prestigious scientific journals. He is also passionate about experimentation, and has worked with magicians, chefs, chess players, musicians, sportsmen and visual artists, bringing together neuroscience expertise and different aspects of human culture to apply them in different environments. He is the author of the bestseller The Secret Life of the Mind. In his lectures he explores what lessons can be drawn from mental functioning in areas such as decision-making, leadership, team management, personal development and creative skills, always making use of experiments and games to ensure a high level of audience participation.

Anne McElvoy has been policy editor, and head of audio at The Economist, and is now executive editor. The Economist Asks, her weekly Thursday interview show/podcast, has gathered hundreds of high-profile newsmakers from all around the world.

There will be a book-signing at the bookstand in front of IE University

Event with simultaneous translation from English to Spanish and vice versa

The literary career of Carme Riera, writer, screenwriter, professor and academic at the RAE, is dotted with awards that underline her many contributions to the different genres through which her writing has traveled: from the short story to the essay, passing through the novel in its different forms, children's literature, autofiction... The Premio Nacional de Narrativa for El último azul, the Sant Jordi Prize for La mitad del alma, or the National Award for Spanish Letters in 2015 are just three examples of the many awards received. Her works have been translated into twenty languages. Some of her literary studies and anthologies have remained in the canon of the genre, such as Partidarios de la felicidad, about the poets of the Barcelona School. A bilingual writer in Catalan and Spanish, translator of her own work, Riera has applied the same passion and erudition she has applied to her entire career to a character who used this same recipe in her work as a mythical literary agent: Carmen Balcells, traficante de palabras is her latest work, a biography that brings two great women face to face.

Riera will talk to journalist and writer Angélica Tanarro.

Event in Spanish

Once the event has finished, authors will sign books in the booth at calle Real.

Miquel Barceló's latest works, a series of large-scale still lifes, will be the main focus of this internationally renowned Spanish artist’s appearance at the Hay Festival. The pieces are to be exhibited at the Thaddeus Ropac gallery in Pantin on the outskirts of Paris in October, and one will be part of an exhibition on the genre of still life at the Louvre in Paris. Associated with neo-expressionism, Barceló's work has evolved to become one of the most original on the European scene.

Barceló will be in conversation with the writer and exhibition curator Enrique Juncosa. He was director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin from 2003 to 2012, for which he received the Order of Civil Merit. Before that, he was deputy director of IVAM and the Reina Sofía Museum. He has curated more than 70 exhibitions in major museums around the world.

The event will be presented by Sofía Barroso.

Event in Spanish

Photo credit: Ramón Pérez Niz. CC BY-SA 2.0