Hay Festival Colombia Digital

The German historian, writer and journalist Philipp Blom has established himself in recent years as an author of many talents, writing works on the history of knowledge, essays and novels that have been translated and published around the world. His two most recent works Nature’s Mutiny (2020) and Was auf dem Spiel steht (2021) respectively tackle a previous period of climate change and what that meant for society, and some of the most urgent matters facing us today with all their natural and socio-political circumstances and difficulties, with an emphasis on the need to prepare for the coming transformations. In conversation with Juan Carlos Pérez.

Latin American literature is in a process of renewal and growth, given strength by new, young voices who are breaking with established formal and thematic norms, offering readers the chance to see contemporary Latin American realities from very different perspectives. On this occasion we bring together two of those voices, selected from the recent list drawn up by Granta magazine, which has named the 25 best young Spanish-language fiction writers. Carlos Manuel Álvarez (Cuba) studied Journalism at the University of Havana, founded the independent magazine El Estornudo and has contributed to various international publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and El País. In 2017 he was selected as one of the 39 best Latin American writers under 40 for the Bogotá39 list. His most recent novel is Falsa guerra, in which a number of characters are drifting, in the geographical or figurative sense, in the USA, Europe or Cuba. Paulina Flores (Chile) is a Literature graduate from the University of Chile and is the author of Humiliation (Roberto Bolaño Prize), which has been acclaimed by critics. At this event she will present her novel Isla decepción, a story based on fact and set in Punta Arenas, Chile. In it, Marcela, the protagonist, leaves behind her life in Santiago to visit Miguel, her father, and to renew herself. There she discovers that Miguel is hiding a young Korean who has fled his country. Mónica Ojeda (Ecuador) is the author of the book of poetry El ciclo de las piedras (2015), of the novels La desfiguración Silva (2014), Mandíbula (2018) and Nefando (2016, 2019), and of the book of short stories Las voladoras (2020). She was also included in the Bogotá39-2017 list. In conversation with Francesco Manetto.

The German historian, writer and journalist Philipp Blom has established himself in recent years as an author of many talents, writing works on the history of knowledge, essays and novels that have been translated and published around the world. His two most recent works Nature’s Mutiny (2020) and Was auf dem Spiel steht (2021) respectively tackle a previous period of climate change and what that meant for society, and some of the most urgent matters facing us today with all their natural and socio-political circumstances and difficulties, with an emphasis on the need to prepare for the coming transformations. In conversation with Juan Carlos Pérez.

María Dueñas (Spain) is the author of the publishing phenomenon Time in Between (2009), which, apart from becoming a bestseller has also been made into an award-winning television series. She has since published four novels, the last of which has been Sira (2021), the sequel to Time in Between (2009). It is set after the Second World War in London, Jerusalem, Madrid and Tangiers and tells the story of Sira Bonnard, formerly Arish Agoriuq, formerly Sira Quiroga, who is working with the British Secret Services and is confronted with scenes of tension, tragedy, risk and also motherhood. María Dueñas talks about this memorable book with Irma Gallo.

The writer, priest and founder of the Amigos del Desierto association, Pablo d’Ors is the author of the unexpected publishing success Biografía del silencio (2012), an essay about introspection, meditation and spiritual contemplation. The author now presents Biografía de la luz (2021), a look at the life of Christ, the Gospel view of this extraordinary figure and how we can incorporate this into our everyday lives. He will be conversation with Juan Carlos Moreno Romo.

Hay Festival Querétaro deeply regrets the death of Jean-Luc Nancy, who was going to participate in this edition.

This event will be a tribute to the outstading French philosopher. Professor of Philosophy and author of over 30 books, he has dealt with major themes such as national identity and nationalisms, desire and the limits of community experience. His most recent book is Sexistence (2020), which tackles the topic of human sexuality from a philosophical point of view, returning to the ideas of great thinkers such as Kant and Freud, putting an emphasis on how our experience and relationship with sex creates and feeds the individual, civilization and culture.

This documentary, directed by Luciana Kaplan, focusses on the extraordinary story of María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, better known as Marichuy, the first indigenous woman to aspire to become president of Mexico, in 2017. In the end, Marichuy did not become a candidate, falling short of achieving the number of signatures required by the National Electoral Institute; however, the articulation of her proposal achieved something much more important: to unify the struggles of the indigenous peoples of Mexico into a community force, one that proposes care for the environment as a central expectation. The documentary will be followed by a discussion involving its director, Luciana Kaplan, and Samantha César, a representative of the National Indigenous Council, from the Amilcingo community (Morelos); moderated by Sonia Corona, an El País journalist.

The Digital event will start at 16:15.

Language: Spanish, Maya, Yaqui, Wixárika

Duration of the documentary: 82 minutes

The acclaimed Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez, whose stories and novels have been translated into 30 languages, has won numerous awards, including the 2011 Alfaguara Novel Prize, the IMPAC Prize for The Sound of Things Falling and the 6th Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana Prize for the short story collection Songs for the Flames. His most recent novel, Volver la vista atrás, is based on the life of the famous Colombian film director, Sergio Cabrera. This portrait of a half century that changed the world is a fascinating social investigation, one that is intimate and political at the same time. Vásquez presents his book together with Cabrera, in conversation with Yael Weiss.

In recent decades Roger Bartra has become an essential figure for understanding what it means to be Mexican today, based on key concepts such as melancholy and a national culture’s capacity for metamorphosis. Bartra has a doctorate in Sociology from the Sorbonne, is an Emeritus Professor at UNAM and has been a guest lecturer at different universities in Mexico, the United States and Spain. On this occasion, the event will focus on two books that are essential in order to understand his worldview, the essays Chamanes y robots: Reflexiones sobre el efecto placebo y la conciencia artificial, and Melancolía y cultura. In conversation with Jacobo García.

Pilar Quintana (Colombia) is the author of five novels and a book of short stories, works that have been translated into over 15 languages. She has won the Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombia Award and the PEN Translates Award for The Bitch, and won the 2021 Alfaguara Novel Prize for Los abismos, which tells the story of Claudia, a girl who lives with her parents in an apartment full of plants in Cali, absorbing the fears and troubles of the adults who raise her. In conversation with Elvira Liceaga.

Adrenalina is a documentary about the Coahuila Youth Integration Centre. Teenagers and children who have stayed there offer their testimony and act in dramatic works through which they represent the realities that led them to be at the centre. The result is a view of both individual responsibility and also of systemic catastrophe, with the children using their own words and tools to express a fragile setting rarely seen in art, one that allows us to see the deep wounds that violence has caused in our country.

Duration of the documentary: 29 minutes

The performance created and led by the LASTESIS collective of the dance and song Un violador en tu camino in Santiago de Chile can be described as one of the most iconic moments in recent feminist activism. Performed all over the world, its strong message regarding the intrinsic violence of the patriarchal system points directly to matters that require urgent change in our societies, at the legal, social and cultural levels, in order to finally bring equality. Now, the collective presents Quemar el miedo (2021), a testimony of their struggle against sexist violence and oppression. In conversation with the writer and columnist Alma Delia Murillo.

Discover de story of the feminist collective that changed history with our BONUS TRACK on LASTESIS

Since 2006 when he appeared on the Mexican literary scene with El buscador de cabezas, Antonio Ortuño has established himself as one of the most talented and original contemporary writers. He was on the first list of Granta magazine’s 25 best Spanish-language writers under 35. His novel Recursos humanos was shortlisted for the Herralde Novel Prize and he also won the Ribera del Duero International Prize for Short Fiction for his book of short stories La vaga ambición. His work has been translated into over ten languages and he has contributed to media outlets such as El País, Clarín, Proceso, Etiqueta Negra and Letras Libres. He is a founder member of the punk band, Los Magones. His most recent book is the collection of short stories Esbirros (2021). In conversation with Rafael Volta.

The grand final concert opens with the spectacular Armando Servín Quintet, a project that was founded in October 2014 and whose mission is to disseminate jazz among the new generations; and continues with the La Rumorosa Blues Band, a music ensemble from Queretaro state, founded in 2010, dedicated to experiments in the composition and performance of the blues, in all its varieties and sub-genres, creating a unique musical proposal that they call “rocknblues”. With Pek Santiago (vocals and guitar), Favio Olvera (keyboards), Jorge Cuenca (bass), Jorge Mejia (drums) and Poncho Ortiz (guitar).

Marta Peirano (Spain) is a journalist and researcher who specialises in the relations between power and technology. Her work is known for its critical and analytical insights, investigating the dangers of concentrated power structures and addictive digital dynamics, and has received international recognition. Her latest book is Contra el futuro, resistencia ciudadana contra el feudalismo climático. According to her, there are solutions to climate change within our reach and her book sets out some strategies for citizen action in order to counter the acceleration of climate feudalism and disaster capitalism; a new anti-apocalyptic approach that builds hope for the future. In conversation with Olivia Zerón.

The poet Paul Muldoon has been writing and publishing poetry for over five decades. He has been Poetry Editor at The New Yorker, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the International Griffin Poetry Prize, among many other awards. He was Professor of Poetry at Oxford, President of the UK’s Poetry Society and is currently Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University. He has published over 30 poetry books, the most recent one published in Spanish being Elegías. He will talk to the Spanish translator of his work, Pura López Colomé.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Gisela Leal published her first novel aged 24, making her the youngest author to be published by the famous Alfaguara house. El club de los abandonados (2011) was shortlisted for the Alfaguara Prize, and is a novel about excess and decadence in high society, expressed through the tragic and opulent lives of her characters. She later published El maravilloso y trágico arte de morir de amor (2015), a story that unfolds through a continuous conversation between a young women and a writer who, in cities such as New York, Mexico City and Barcelona, try to find company in their loneliness, telling each other how they have reached that point in their lives. Her third novel, Oda a la soledad y todo aquello que pudimos ser y no fuimos porque así somos (2017) tells the story of a family that enjoys fortune and social prestige in the eyes of others. However, one of the heirs seems to embody an error in the family system: he is a potential suicide who reveals the faults, absences and unbridgeable distances that exist among its members. Leal has also published stories in the magazines Eñe and P Magazine. On this occasion, she will talk about her work with her editor, Mayra González, and with the journalist Denise Maerker.

Caitlin Moran (United Kingdom) won a British Press Award for Best Columnist of the Year in 2010 and two more for Best Critic and Best Interviewer in 2011. She is the author of the award-winning book of non-fiction How To Be a Woman (2014), a testimony that has been considered essential reading for our times. She now presents More Than a Woman (2022), which takes up the concerns of the previous book from the perspective of a woman aged over forty and deals with the new issues that arise with age: sexuality, changes in one’s body, professional life, motherhood, domestic life, relations with teenagers and older people… Caitlin Moran has written a brave and intimate manifesto about the life experiences of a middle-aged woman in the 21st century. In conversation with Gabriela Warkentin.

Based on her personal experiences and from a study of psychology, neuroscience, literature and memoires of great artists from different creative fields, the renowned Rosa Montero (Spain) presents us an intriguing look at the links between creativity and mental instability in her most recent book, El peligro de estar cuerda. This offers readers numerous curious insights into how our brain works when we create, identifying those aspects that influence creativity and putting them before the reader’s eyes as she writes, like a detective bringing together the various clues involved in an investigation. In conversation with the journalist of the American edition of El País, Javier Lafuente.

Ironic, lucid and combative, Wole Soyinka (Nigeria) was Africa’s first Literature Nobel prize-winner. He is a fiction writer, dramatist, poet and political activist whose extensive body of work includes The Interpreters and Death and the King’s Horseman, a play first performed in 1976. Soyinka was imprisoned twice in Nigeria because of his criticisms of the Nigerian government and he was an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. His most recent book, Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, is a funny and bitter political satire about corruption, crafted in the form of a mystery novel. In an imaginary Nigeria, not so different from the real one, a group of rogues, preachers, entrepreneurs and politicians become involved in a plot linked to trafficking in human parts stolen from a hospital. A brilliant analysis of the human condition that portrays the spheres of power that run the world, as well as the corruption and perversion they are steeped in. In conversation with Diego Rabasa.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available