The writer and journalist Laura Restrepo (Colombia) will talk to Luz María Sierra about her most recent novel, Canción de antiguos amantes (Song of Former Lovers), whose main character travels the world in search of the Queen of Sheba, in an exciting adventure that serves as a reflection on issues such as love and pain, crossing cultures and eras. Restrepo is one of the most internationally renowned Colombian authors thanks to novels such as the saga of Pecado (2016), The Divine Boys (2017) and Delirium (2004).

With the arrival of the pandemic, the usual gloomy predictions regarding the fate of the book were joined by new ones announcing the death of bookshops. However, despite the forecasts, many new and vibrant bookselling projects have sprung up. Bookshops receive widespread sympathy and support, being a model of local commerce and because of their capacity to create links and build community. The conversation at this event will be on the subject of the difficulties being experienced in Mexico, with its great lack of independent bookshops, very unlike the situation in Spain, where they have a very strong presence. In conversation with Ana Cañellas will be Alonso Salmerón (El Desastre bookshop, Mexico City); Alberto Sánchez de Gregorio from ¡¡¡Tremenda!!! bookshop (Granada, Spain); Maru Urbina from the children’s bookshop and workshop Letrasconmás (San Luis Potosi, Mexico); and Paula Vázquez, from the bookshop Lata Peinada (Barcelona and Madrid, Spain).

The graphic novel has become an established form of artistic expression, as much as literature itself, and the award-winning Spanish illustrator and cartoonist, Paco Roca, is one of the form’s most outstanding artists at the present time. His body of work includes around 30 graphic books, published in over ten countries. His most recent graphic novel, written together with the US expert on Spain, Robert Coale, is Los surcos del azar (2021), which looks at the role of Spain during the Second World War. It is told from the point of view of Miguel Ruiz, a Spanish republican in exile in France. He will talk about this extraordinary work with Felipe Rosete.

The Colombian writer and journalist Alonso Sánchez Baute, author of novels, books of chronicles and essays, and even the original story of the successful soap opera Leandro, will talk about his latest book, La mirada de Humilda (The Gaze of Humilda), in which, based on the experience of the death of his pet, he deals with themes such as love, grief, friendship, the absence of resentment, the feeling of loss, loneliness and the infinite pain of absence; and which delves into the question, "Are we only when we are accompanied? He will talk about it with Marta Hincapié.

In recent decades, the publishing market has experienced a striking degree of concentration, becoming dominated by a handful of publishing conglomerates, and the arrival of the pandemic has brought even more difficulties to independent publishers. Nonetheless, even considering the problematic outlook, small publishers continue to resist with a startling richness and diversity of proposals. On this occasion, we will talk to young Mexican and Spanish publishers who have managed to find a market niche even during these difficult times, at the head of projects of great professionalism and cultural ambition. Emiliano Becerril (Elefanta Editorial, Mexico), Nicolás Cuéllar Camarena (Dharma Books+Publishing, Mexico), Zacarías Lara (Editorial Barrett, Spain) and Susana Romanos (Greylock Editorial, Spain). They will talk to Diego Aristizábal.

All the figures seem to indicate that, during the pandemic, online sales platforms have positioned themselves strongly in the Ibero-American book market. Companies that specialize in this area, hardly known in pre-pandemic days, have become major actors and are able to fight the giants of digital commerce for spaces and customers. Juan Pablo Grunewaldt (Buscalibre.com, Santiago, Chile), Esteban Restrepo (Buks Librería, Medellin) and Marc Subirats (Bookshop, Barcelona) will talk to Myriam Vidriales.

We at the Hay Festival, with the support of our regional ally SURA and working together with El País have worked with some of the world’s most brilliant minds in order to offer the Imagine the World series of digital events. This fourth event pays homage to the work of the philosopher Edgar Morin, crucial for an understanding of the contemporary world’s challenges and problems. The great British writer and philosopher, A.C. Grayling, will reflect on the human condition, particularly in the light of his magnum opus The Good Book. A Secular Bible, in conversation with Eduardo Rabasa.

Event in English with Spanish subtitles

In 2019, Bernardine Evaristo (United Kingdom) made history for being the first black woman to win the prestigious Booker Prize, with her novel Girl, Woman, Other. Her most recent work of fiction, Blonde Roots, a satirical novel that reimagines history as we know it: the great powers of Africa are in charge of the transatlantic slave trade, and those enslaved are white. With prowerful prose and a sharp sense of humour, Evaristo leads us to question the bases of society as we know it with this bold alternative tale of our past. At this event, she will talk to Aurora Vergara about her work and her life.

Simultaneous interpreting from English to Spanish available

J.M.G. Le Clézio won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008 and is the author of over 40 books, translated into dozens of languages. He has often talked about the importance of his time in Mexico for his life and literature, particularly in terms of the possibilities it offered for seeing the world from a perspective other than that of western Europe. On this occasion, he will take part in the Hay Festival Queretaro to talk about his most recent book, Chanson Bretonne (2021), which talks about a childhood in Brittany during the war, and is a reflection on nationalisms, identities and social transitions not unlike those he experienced in his early life. In conversation with Julián Herbert.

Despite the great difficulties they have experienced, independent bookshops and publishing houses have managed to create spaces for cooperation in order to get through the pandemic, facing up, at the same time, to the major and expanding role of the big e-commerce platforms. We will look at two experiences: RELI Red de Librerías Independientes (Mexico) and Todostuslibros.com (Spain). Claudia Bautista, from RELI and Jesús Trueba, from Todostuslibros.com talk to José Manuel Anta.

David Grossman is one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary Israeli letters. Apart from his impressive output of literary and non-fiction work, has also become involved in activism, seeking peace in a convulsive part of the world. He has written around 15 novels and five works of non-fiction, including A Horse Walks into a Bar (Man Booker International Prize), translated into many different languages. His most recent book is the novel Life Plays with Me (2021), a masterly family saga that recounts the experiences of three generations of women in the Balkans and the oppression they undergo during the Soviet period. He will talk to Guadalupe Nettel.

Check out our BONUS TRACK on David Grossman

The British novelist, dramatist and poet, Deborah Levy, author of autobiographical books such as Real Estate ―where literary experience and a feminist point of view are intertwined with her experiences― presents this book and also the novel The Man Who Saw Everything, nominated for the Booker Prize in 2019, a story that mixes temporalities (East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, London in the 1980s and today) to talk about love, our relationship with history and the tendency of human beings to repeat themselves. In conversation with Rosie Boycott.

Simultaneous interpreting from English to Spanish available

Unknown to many until he won the Nobel Literature Prize in 2021, Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania/United Kingdom) uses fiction as a way of denouncing the effects of colonialism, telling the story of those who seek refuge between cultures and continents. This is the case of Paradise, his most acclaimed novel so far, which portrays the harshness and beauty of pre-colonial Africa through the eyes of a boy who is sold by his father to pay off a debt with a trader, which leads to a journey throughout Tanzania. His most recent book, Afterlife, tells the story of Ilyas, kidnapped by colonial German troops during his childhood, on his return to his hometown. Set during the beginning of the 20th century, when the African continent has been distributed among the colonial powers of Germany, the United Kingdom and France, these are getting involved in another great conflict that will devastate everything. A powerful novel that reflects on the deprivation and destruction that result from colonialism and war. Abdulrazak will talk about these books and much more in conversation with Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

Simultaneous interpreting from English to Spanish available

David Grossman is one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary Israeli letters. Apart from his impressive output of literary and non-fiction work, has also become involved in activism, seeking peace in a convulsive part of the world. He has written around 15 novels and five works of non-fiction, including A Horse Walks into a Bar (Man Booker International Prize), translated into many different languages. His most recent book is the novel Life Plays with Me (2021), a masterly family saga that recounts the experiences of three generations of women in the Balkans and the oppression they undergo during the Soviet period. He will talk to Guadalupe Nettel.

Check out our BONUS TRACK on David Grossman

Amin Maalouf (Lebanon/France) is considered to be one of the most outstanding writers of French letters, and has won awards such as the Goncourt Novel Prize (1993) and the Prince of Asturias Literature Award (2010). His works include Le naufrage des civilisations, Leo Africanus and In the Name of Identity. At this event he will talk about Nos frères inattendus (2020), a novel about the experiences of Alec, an artist, and Eve, a successful writer, who live on a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean. One day, the total failure of all means of communication indicates that the outside world has experienced an extraordinary and inexplicable transformation. This is a powerful parable for understanding the dilemma of our civilization and its uncertainty about the future. In conversation with the El País journalist, Guillermo Altares.

Amin Maalouf (Lebanon/France) is considered to be one of the most outstanding writers of French letters, and has won awards such as the Goncourt Novel Prize (1993) and the Prince of Asturias Literature Award (2010). His works include Le naufrage des civilisations, Leo Africanus and In the Name of Identity. At this event he will talk about Nos frères inattendus (2020), a novel about the experiences of Alec, an artist, and Eve, a successful writer, who live on a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean. One day, the total failure of all means of communication indicates that the outside world has experienced an extraordinary and inexplicable transformation. This is a powerful parable for understanding the dilemma of our civilization and its uncertainty about the future. In conversation with the El País journalist, Guillermo Altares.

The works of Canadian-British author Rachel Cusk have been published in over thirty languages. She is the author of works of fiction such as the iconic Outline trilogy (including the novels Outline, Transit and Kudos) and, most recently, Second Place, a story about bonds, the contradictions of motherhood, art, ageing, failure and the place of women, always determined by others. She has also published well-received non-fiction books, such as Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation and A Life's Work. Her work is critically acclaimed and popular around the world. Cusk has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and awards such as the Whitbread in the UK and the Prix Femina Etranger in France in 2022. The author will talk to Margarita Valencia.

Simultaneous interpreting from English to Spanish available