Colombia Digital 2021

The award-winning French author and screenplay writer, Emmanuel Carrère, has written around a dozen novels, including major works such as Lives Other Than My Own (2012), a powerful non-fiction novel that reflects on illness, justice, life and death; Limonov (2015), the novelised biography of the controversial Russian writer Eduard Limonov; and The Kingdom (2018), an insightful novel that contrasts the origins of Christianity with modern life. His most recent book is Yoga (2020), a novel that explores the human psyche, from depression to inner peace, achieved through meditation, from the practice of yoga to experiences of terrorism. In conversation with Juan Gabriel Vásquez.
This event is in French.

The award-winning French author and screenplay writer, Emmanuel Carrère, has written around a dozen novels, including major works such as Lives Other Than My Own (2012), a powerful non-fiction novel that reflects on illness, justice, life and death; Limonov (2015), the novelised biography of the controversial Russian writer Eduard Limonov; and The Kingdom (2018), an insightful novel that contrasts the origins of Christianity with modern life. His most recent book is Yoga (2020), a novel that explores the human psyche, from depression to inner peace, achieved through meditation, from the practice of yoga to experiences of terrorism. In conversation with Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

This is the version with the Spanish simultaneous translation.

In homage to the unique genre of travel literature, the celebrated writer Paul Theroux, author of dozens of books, including The Mosquito Coast and Mr. Bones, will talk to the respected US journalist Jon Lee Anderson. This conversation is part of the Michael Jacobs Grant, an initiative by the Fundación Gabo and Hay Festival Cartagena in memory of the travel writer Michael Jacobs, who died in 2014. With the support of The Michael Jacobs Foundation for Travel Writing, the grant seeks to recognize an outstanding practitioner of travel literature.

This event is in English.

In homage to the unique genre of travel literature, the celebrated writer Paul Theroux, author of dozens of books, including The Mosquito Coast and Mr. Bones, will talk to the respected US journalist Jon Lee Anderson. This conversation is part of the Michael Jacobs Grant, an initiative by the Fundación Gabo and Hay Festival Cartagena in memory of the travel writer Michael Jacobs, who died in 2014. With the support of The Michael Jacobs Foundation for Travel Writing, the grant seeks to recognize an outstanding practitioner of travel literature.

This is the version with the Spanish simultaneous translation.

The Pillars of the Earth is one of the world’s most read novels in recent decades, selling 43 million books in 33 languages; its author, Ken Follett (United Kingdom), is a writer in complete control of language, the creation of fascinating plots and historical contextualization. In 2020 he published The Evening and the Morning, a prequel to his most famous novel. Don’t miss this special event, with Andrea Bernal.

This event is in English.

The Pillars of the Earth is one of the world’s most read novels in recent decades, selling 43 million books in 33 languages; its author, Ken Follett (United Kingdom), is a writer in complete control of language, the creation of fascinating plots and historical contextualization. In 2020 he published The Evening and the Morning, a prequel to his most famous novel. Don’t miss this special event, with Andrea Bernal.

This is the version with the Spanish simultaneous translation.

The Spanish philosopher Eduardo Infante will talk to José Manuel Acevedo about educational systems, methods of teaching and the search for learning spaces that will benefit young people. Infante teaches Philosophy at a school in Gijon, Spain, using unorthodox methods: he turns public spaces, and the social media, into classrooms, taking classes in parks or sparking debate on Twitter. In his book Filosofía en la calle (2019), the author talks about this way of doing philosophy with his students, asking questions about daily life and putting them into philosophical context with reference to, for example, Plato, Kant, Bentham or Weil. He will talk to the journalist José Manuel Acevedo.

Steven Levitsky (United States) has a doctorate in Politics from the University of Berkeley and he lectures at Harvard. His research covers political parties, authoritarianism, populism and democracy, with a special focus on Latin America, particularly Argentina and Peru. His most recent book, How Democracies Die, written with Daniel Ziblatt, analyses different examples of populism around the world and the damage it does to the survival of democracy.

Tiago Ferro (Brazil) wrote his first novel, O pai da menina morta, after his own daughter died aged 8 in 2016. Ferro lectures in Social History at the University of Sao Paulo and is a writer, expert on the work of Chico Buarque. He founded and is an editor at the e-book publisher e-galaxia and the magazine Peixe-elétrico. His harrowing personal bereavement has formed the basis of an extraordinary book which was awarded the 2019 Jabuti Prize. He will talk to the publisher and translator Jerónimo Pizarro.

This event is in Portuguese

Tiago Ferro (Brazil) wrote his first novel, O pai da menina morta, after his own daughter died aged 8 in 2016. Ferro lectures in Social History at the University of Sao Paulo and is a writer, expert on the work of Chico Buarque. He founded and is an editor at the e-book publisher e-galaxia and the magazine Peixe-elétrico. His harrowing personal bereavement has formed the basis of an extraordinary book which was awarded the 2019 Jabuti Prize. He will talk to the publisher and translator Jerónimo Pizarro.

This is the version with the Spanish simultaneous translation.

Emilie Pine (Ireland) is a writer and lecturer in Modern Theatre at the University of Dublin. Her book Notes to Self is a collection of autobiographical essays about women and their bodies. If our bodies could tell their stories, what would they say? They would talk about blood, of the pain of dirty blood, of the blood that must never show itself. They would talk about the anguish of not being good enough, of always being silent, thinking that will improve things. This is a distressing yet wise and optimistic book. A treatise for what it means to live, an act of rebellion against a society that feels more comfortable silencing women.

This event is in English

Emilie Pine (Ireland) is a writer and lecturer in Modern Theatre at the University of Dublin. Her book Notes to Self is a collection of autobiographical essays about women and their bodies. If our bodies could tell their stories, what would they say? They would talk about blood, of the pain of dirty blood, of the blood that must never show itself. They would talk about the anguish of not being good enough, of always being silent, thinking that will improve things. This is a distressing yet wise and optimistic book. A treatise for what it means to live, an act of rebellion against a society that feels more comfortable silencing women.

This is the version with the Spanish simultaneous translation.

The prodigious writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte was a war correspondent for over two decades, covering armed conflicts in Africa, America and Europe. He is the author of more than twenty novels and collections of short-stories, the most recent of them being Línea de fuego (2020), a chilling account of the brutal Battle of the Ebro, the bloodiest episode of the Spanish Civil War, which took place in July 1938. Pérez-Reverte will talk to Juan Carlos Botero.

The writer and political analyst León Valencia (Colombia) is the Director of the Pares Foundation, a research centre dedicated to the analysis of Colombia’s social and political conflicts. He has been a columnist for Semana magazine and also for newspapers such as El Colombiano and El Tiempo. His research into the links between politicians and paramilitaries (“la parapolítica”) marked a watershed in judicial processes against corruption. He is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is La sombra del presidente. In conversation with Juan David Correa.

The performance created and led by the LASTESIS collective of the song and dance “Un violador en tu camino” in Santiago de Chile has been one of the global highlights of recent feminist activism. Shown around the world, it was a direct condemnation of the violence that is intrinsic to the patriarchal system. It also aimed straight at the heart of questions that are crucial when it comes to changing our societies legally, socially and culturally, seeking to make these societies truly equal. In conversation with the BBC Mundo editor, Carolina Robino, the collective will answer questions compiled through this media outlet.

Guadalupe Nettel (Mexico) and Marta Orrantia (Colombia) will talk about their latest books with Karim Ganem. Orrantia is the author of the book of non-fiction Todopoderosos de Colombia and of the novels Orejas de pescado, Mañana no te presentes and Cipriano, her most recent work. Nettel is the author of well-known novels including El huésped (shortlisted for the 2005 Herralde Prize), Bezoar & Other Unsettling Stories, The Body Where I Was Born and After the Winter (2014 Herralde Novel Prize), as well as the short story collection El matrimonio de los peces rojos (Ribera del Duero International Short Fiction Prize). Her latest book is La hija única.

Two recent winners of the Eccles Prize will talk to Guido Tamayo about the projects they submitted in application for this award, which is given in support of writers wishing to research and write about the Americas. Pola Oloixarac (Argentina), author of Las teorías salvajes and Mona, was selected for her Atlas Literario del Amazonas, a creative non-fiction project that reveals the secret history of the Amazon region. Daniel Saldaña París (Mexico), author of En medio de extrañas víctimas, El nervio principal and several poetry books, won the Eccles in 2020 for the novel Principio de mediocridad, due to be published soon.

The research and writings of the author, journalist and translator Gloria Susana Esquivel (Colombia) are closely tied to feminism, as is her podcast Womansplaining. In ¡Dinamita! Mujeres rebeldes en la Colombia del siglo XX, illustrated by Powerpaola, she tells 14 stories of 20-century Colombian women who worked in their respective fields towards equality and the recognition of women’s rights. In her book, Rebeldes: Osadas y transgresoras mujeres colombianas, the journalist Myriam Bautista offers six profiles of women who, consciously or unconsciously, departed from established norms and worked on what they wanted and in the way they wanted. In conversation with the journalist Beatriz Mesa Mejía.

The writer and political analyst León Valencia (Colombia) is the Director of the Pares Foundation, a research centre dedicated to the analysis of Colombia’s social and political conflicts. He has been a columnist for Semana magazine and also for newspapers such as El Colombiano and El Tiempo. His research into the links between politicians and paramilitaries (“la parapolítica”) marked a watershed in judicial processes against corruption. He is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is La sombra del presidente. Valencia will talk to Diego Aristizábal.

Carolina Ponce de León has been the Director of Fine Art at the Luis Ángel Arango Library, Director of New York’s Museo del Barrio, Director of the Galería de la Raza in San Francisco and a consultant on matters involving the visual arts to the Ministry of Culture. She writes regularly for El Tiempo and is the author of several books, including Tantas vueltas para llegar a casa (2020), an autobiographical book that combines the personal experiences of the author with some recent history of art and its relationship to social and political matters. In conversation with María Mercedes González.