Colombia Digital 2021

The US journalist and writer Jon Lee Anderson, part of the New Yorker team and the author of numerous books on Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, will talk to Jaime Abello Banfi, Director of the Gabo Foundation, about his love of travel writing.

Since 2014, the Gabo Foundation and the Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, as part of an alliance lasting over a decade, have been offering, in homage to the English writer, the Michael Jacobs Travel Writing Grant, an award that is supported by the Michael Jacobs Foundation for Travel Writing.

The Feria Internacional del Libro de Nueva York is becoming a flagship event for the Latino book in the United States. We will talk about its present and its future. Featuring Dejanira Álvarez Cárdenas, Director of the Feria Internacional del Libro de Nueva York; and Andrea Montejo, Director of Indent Literary Agency. Moderated by Nubia Macías, General Manager of NM Consultora, Mexico City (Mexico).

Tei Shi (Valerie Teicher Barbosa) is a Colombian-Canadian singer and songwriter. Her lyrics, which were initially all in English, have gradually come to terms with her Hispanic roots, the result of the Latin music that was always playing around her; and also due to a particular source of inspiration, which is wishing to set poems written in Spanish to music. Her latest work, Bad Premonition, is composed of six songs that demonstrate how well she has consolidated her artistic personality after ten years of searching and introspection, thus opening a new phase of creative freedom and growth. She will offer a brief concert and will talk about her music career. In conversation with Federico Ochoa.

Julio Victoria Live Band was created in 2014, embarking on a journey through different layers, textures and a contemplative exploration that is unpredictable and takes risks with various sonic proposals. In their quest and research of traditional rhythms from some regions of their country, they have found enormous inspiration in the resonances of the Pacific Coast, in representative Afro-Colombian instruments such as the marimba, in minor percussions and in the harp, the main tool of joropo and music from the Eastern Plains (Llanos Orientales). Guided by all mentioned above, Victoria skillfully integrates multiple synthesizers to create an authentic and innovative musical result.

The Spanish thinker, writer and politician, Irene Lozano, will talk to the writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez about the phenomenon of disinformation and how it affects citizens, the press and even governments, from the Brexit referendum to US elections and the nationalist movements and wars that characterise our present moment. Lozano is the author of a dozen books, winner of the Espasa Essay Prize and current Director of the Casa Árabe in Madrid. She has also been Secretary of State for Global Spain (2018-2020), Chair of the Higher Sports Council (2020-2021), Member of the Madrid Regional Assembly and a Member of the Spanish Parliament.

On June 27th, a Russian missile struck the Ria pizzeria in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, leading to the death of the war crimes researcher and writer Victoria Amelina (Ukraine). Her tragic demise coincided with the release of the Spanish version of her book Dom's Dream Kingdom ('Un hogar para Dom'), published by Avizor with a prologue by Hector Abad Faciolince —sadly, a moment she never got to witness. This novel, depicting the lives of three generations of a family led by an old Soviet pilot and war veteran settled in Lviv, a city that was once one of Europe's major cultural centers, had established Amelina as one of the finest Ukrainian writers of the new generation. Héctor Abad Faciolince, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Avizor's editor José Manuel Cajigas, and journalist Catalina Gómez Ángel, a friend of the author, will discuss this book.

Volodymyr Yermolenko will participate in this event digitally.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish will be provided

This celebrated Spanish author will talk to Moisés Naím about his most recent books. Javier Moro, one of the bestselling Spanish-language writers, is also a journalist and has worked as a screenwriter and film producer in Hollywood. His books include Senderos de libertad (1992), El pie de Jaipur (1995), Las montañas de Buda (1997), Five Past Midnight In Bhopal (2001, a work written together with Dominique Lapierre), Passion India, The Red Sari, El imperio eres tú (2011 Planeta Prize) and, more recently Nos quieren muertos, which the author will talk about at this event. This book, which is both an exciting read and a rigorous study, is about a key figure for understanding contemporary Venezuela: Leopoldo López. Upon being jailed in 2014, after leading massive protests against the Maduro government, López became a symbol of the struggle for democracy in the country.

The space available for writing should always be a safe place for the artist, but are there external limitations on the imaginations of writers? Jon Lee Anderson will talk to the Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane, author of Mathématiques Congolaises, and the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli, author of Minor Detail, about their experiences as creators, their perspective with regard to freedom of expression, and how this has affected their work.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

The historian Andrea Wulf (UK-Germany), winner of the 2013 Eccles Centre & Hay Festival Writer's Award, will talk about her latest book Magnificent Rebels, in which she delves into history and tells the story of a group of thinkers who, in the small German city of Jena in the 18th century, first expressed some of the concepts that would determine the thought of later centuries. With an engaging style and fascinating anecdotes, Wulf offers a panorama of some of the most important ideas of Romantic philosophy, and how these have affected our perspective of the contemporary subject. In conversation with Misha Glenny.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Recognised by the Ministry of Equality of Spain for her contribution to making visible trans women, Alana S. Portero is a historian, writer, dramatist, theatre director and LGTBIQ+ activist. Portero will talk about her first novel, La mala costumbre, which tells the moving story of the childhood and teenage years of a girl who grows up in a body that feels strange to her. Set in Madrid in the 1980s and 90s, the text deals with the uneasiness and resentment caused by a society that, unable to accept difference, distorts it. She will talk to Gloria Susana Esquivel.

Artist, historian and creator of the 'Ciudad Parapeto' series, Raúl Ballesteros is the illustrator of the book Alba y el pequeño gran Toto, written by Carolina Cabarcas. On this occasion he will offer an art workshop, one that will help us think about the world around us through creativity.

The Hay Festival and the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) present the anthology Verdades compartidas, a project that reimagines Colombia after the peace process, written by ten Latin American authors. The project presents an inclusive and holistic vision of the peace process, and portrays not only the diversity of the country, but also sets the nation within the Latin American context. Three contributors to the anthology, Ana Paula Maia (Brazil) and Fernanda Trías (Uruguay) will talk about their texts, perspectives and feelings. In conversation with the Rector of Cartagena University, Willian Malkún Castillejo.

Simultaneous translation from Portuguese to Spanish available

The award-winning Colombian writer of both fiction and non-fiction, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, whose bibliography contains 17 books including novels, short stories, essays and poetry published in 30 languages, is one of the country’s most prolific and renowned writers. In his most recent book, La traducción del mundo, Vásquez presents the talks he gave at Oxford University in 2022, when he was invited to give the prestigious Weidenfeld Lectures, a series that has previously featured speakers such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Umberto Eco and Javier Cercas. With his habitual erudition, Vásquez gives his vision of literature, particularly fiction, as the highest tool we have for investigating the vastness and essence of human experience. In conversation with Ana Bejarano.