Hay Festival Colombia took place from 21 to 30 of January 2022, with events in the cities of Cartagena de Indias, Medellín and Jericó. You are currently browsing the digital programme of the festival.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, click here.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Medellín, click here.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Jericó, click here.
Ernest Hemingway was one of the first writers to live in and write about a country at war, using his experiences as a reporter during the civil war in Spain as the background to For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). How has the role of writers and journalists changed during the current war and what choices did Ukrainian writers make after Russia initiated it in 2014 by annexing Crimea? American writer and photographer Michael Katakis manages Ernest Hemingway's literary estate. Victoria Amelina is a novelist and activist, a winner of the Joseph Conrad Literary Award. Jon Lee Anderson is an American biographer, war correspondent and staff writer for The New Yorker. Janine di Giovanni is the co-Founder and Director of The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies, a USAID-supported organization that documents and verifies war crimes and builds cases for international justice mechanisms. Chaired by Tetyana Oharkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar, journalist and essayist.
Click here to watch this event in Ukrainian.
Closed captions are available for this event in English and Spanish. Click on the "cc" icon in the video frame to select.
The Tanzanian-British author, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, in conversation with the Ukrainian writer and decolonisation specialist.
Click here to watch this event in Ukrainian.
Closed captions are available for this event in English and Spanish. Click on the "cc" icon in the video frame to select.
Something that has strongly characterised the evolution of our species and our societies is our relationship with water. In La sed. Una historia antropológica (y personal) de la vida en tierras de agua escasa, its author takes us on a fascinating journey through time and space. In capitating prose, she links scientific discoveries with inherited tales full of life, exploring the complex relationship between humanity and thirst throughout history. From the origins of civilisations, to our contemporary challenges, this book is an invitation to reflect on our link with water and our difficulties as a species. The journalist and anthropologist, Virginia Mendoza (Spain), is the author of books that explore roots, as well as their lack. Winner of the Manuel Iradier Award for Communication in 2019 for her contribution to the La Exploradora Geographical Society, she will talk about her most recent book with Ana Cristina Restrepo.
With the support of the Colombian Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge
María Dueñas (Spain) is a widely-read author who has achieved considerable prominence worldwide. A Doctor in English Philology, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Murcia and at various institutions in the United States before turning to writing full time. Dueñas published her debut in 2009, the acclaimed novel The Time In Between (released in English in 2011); the book became a publishing phenomenon and has been translated into over 35 languages and made into a successful television series. Some of her best received books are The Heart Has Its Reasons, La templanza, Las hijas del capitán and Sira, all featuring an exploration of history, culture and identity, with strong, resilient female characters. Her narrative talents and capacity to connect with readers have won her awards such as the Cartagena City Historical Novel Prize, and the Madrid Region Culture Prize.
Carlos Vives is a living legend. Named Person of the Year in 2024 by the Latin Recording Academy, Vives is one of the most prolific recording artists and most loved musicians in the Spanish-speaking world. He has been in music for over three decades, winning two Grammys and 18 Latin Grammys. He has worked with artists of all kinds, from Rubén Blades to Shakira, and he has become an ambassador of Colombian culture to the world. He will talk to Andrés Mompotes about his extensive musical career.
Four experts on the classical world will talk to Toni Celia about the lessons we can take from that period, so far off in time, but so influential for Western culture, and whose echoes can still be heard in our legal systems, the philosophical tradition, and in the sciences and arts. Charlotte Higgins (United Kingdom), Chief Culture Writer at The Guardian, is the author of Greek Myths. A New Retelling, about the influence of ancient Greece on our times; Pablo Montoya (Colombia) is the author of Marco Aurelio y los límites del imperio which portrays the last of the five “good emperors” of Rome; and with John Sellars (United Kingdom), philosopher and the author of books such as Lessons in Stoicism, Epicurus and the Art of Happiness and now Aristotle: Understanding the World’s Greatest Philosopher.
John Sellars will participate in this event digitally
Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available