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.

Simultaneous translation from French to Spanish available

Read our BONUS TRACK on Emmanuel Carrère.

Buy Una novela rusa by Emmanuel Carrère at Librería Nacional
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Buy Calais by Emmanuel Carrère at Librería Nacional
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Buy Bravura by Emmanuel Carrère at Librería Nacional
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Buy Volver la vista atrás by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Canciones para el incendio by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy El arte de la distorsión by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy El ruido de las cosas al caer by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Historia secreta de Costaguana by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy La forma de las ruinas by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Las reputaciones by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Los amantes de Todos los Santos by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Los informantes by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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Buy Viajes con un mapa en blanco by Juan Gabriel Vásquez at Librería Nacional
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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.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Buy Crónicas de un país que no existe by Jon Lee Anderson at Librería Nacional
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Buy Che Guevara: Una vida revolucionaria by Jon Lee Anderson at Librería Nacional
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Find books by Paul Theroux at Bookmate. Use the code “Hay Colombia” to access them
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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.

Don't miss our BONUS TRACK on Ken Follett.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Buy Alto riesgo by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy La caída de los gigantes by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy El tercer gemelo by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy Los pilares de la tierra by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy El invierno del mundo by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy El invierno del mundo by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy El invierno del mundo by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy Un mundo sin fin by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy El umbral de la eternidad by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy Una columna de fuego by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy Las tinieblas y el alba by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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Buy Un lugar llamado libertad by Ken Follett at Librería Nacional
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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.

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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.

Read our BONUS TRACK on Steven Levitsky.

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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.

Simultaneous translation from Portuguese to Spanish available

Buy El padre de la niña muerta by Tiago Ferro at Librería Nacional
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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.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Don't miss our BONUS TRACK on Emilie Pine

Buy Las muertes chiquitas by Margarita Posada at Librería Nacional
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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.

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Buy Los perros duros no bailan by Arturo Pérez-Reverte at Librería Nacional
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Buy SIDI by Arturo Pérez-Reverte at Librería Nacional
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Buy Falco by Arturo Pérez-Reverte at Librería Nacional
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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.

Buy Los clanes políticos que mandan en Colombia by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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Buy La sombra del presidente by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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Buy El regreso del uribismo by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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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.

Read our Bonus Track on Las Tesis

La propuesta de danza experimental Habitantes invisibles, de Espiral Raíz, intervine el espacio con elementos escenográficos sensitivos para seducir la percepción del espectador, para que vivencie las representaciones de lo invisible en el espacio, representando a personajes de la calle como integrantes de la ciudad, con historias de vida sumergidas en las problemáticas sociales del país (desintegración o violencia intrafamiliar, el desplazamiento urbano y la adicción circunstancias o motivos para habitar en la calle). Espiral Raíz es una producción escénica de danza experimental, dirigida por dos docentes/ creadores desde el año 2012. Su objetivo es propiciar el desarrollo de representaciones artísticas, encuentros pedagógicos y culturales con la danza; han participado en espacios culturales de Medellín enfocados en las programaciones culturales, eventos educativos y semanas culturales en corregimientos, comunas y equipamientos culturales de la ciudad enfocados en un público familiar.

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.

Buy La hija única by Guadalupe Nettel at BuscaLibre
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Buy Cipriano by Marta Orrantia at Librería Nacional
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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.

Buy En medio de extrañas víctimas by Daniel Saldaña París at Librería Nacional
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Buy Mona by Pola Oloixarac at BuscaLibre
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Buy El inquilino by Guido Tamayo at Librería Nacional
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Buy Juego de niños by Guido Tamayo at Librería Nacional
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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.

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Buy ¡Dinamita! Mujeres rebeldes en la Colombia del siglo XX by Gloria Susana Esquivel at Librería Nacional
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Buy Rebeldes: Osadas y transgresoras mujeres colombianas by Myriam Bautista at Librería Nacional
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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.

Buy Los clanes políticos que mandan en Colombia by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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Buy La sombra del Presidente by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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Buy El regreso del Uribismo by León Valencia at Librería Nacional
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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.

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There are many ways of exploring an urban territory. Through its landscapes, its history, its traditions, its people. In this session, the City of Eternal Spring is examined under the lens of language, delving into the particular traits of the Spanish that is spoken in Medellín. The writer, editor and university professor Marta Quiñónez and the songwriter, poet and storyteller Pala will talk to writer and screenplay author Isabel Botero about the words that are featured in the linguistic map of the capital of Antioquia.

Buy Vine a buscar el desierto by Isabel Botero at Librería Nacional
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In her work, the graphic novelist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi (Iran-France) explores the relationship between East and West. Her bibliography includes the successful Persepolis books, in which the author tells the story of her life from her childhood in Tehran, where she experienced the Iranian Revolution, to her adult life in Europe. In 2007 she co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud the film Persepolis, an adaptation of her well-known books, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, Satrapi’s film Radioactive, about the life of Marie Curie, was released.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

Read our Bonus Track on Marjane Satrapi.

Buy Persepolis. The story of childhood by Marjane Satrapi at Librería Nacional
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Buy The complet Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi at Librería Nacional
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Buy Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi at Librería Nacional
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Buy Persépolis by Marjane Satrapi at Librería Nacional
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The award-winning Swiss writer Joël Dicker presents his fifth novel, L’Énigme de la chambre 622 (2020), an autofiction thriller about a murder that takes place in the Palace de Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. Years later, the writer Joël Dicker stays at the same hotel and starts to investigate that crime, which was never solved, together with Scarlett, a fellow guest and aspiring novelist, who accompanies him in his investigation while she learns about the art of writing. In conversation with the Colombian writer Felipe Restrepo Pombo.

Simultaneous translation from French to Spanish available

Don't miss our BONUS TRACK on Joël Dicker.

Buy La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert by Joël Dicker at Librería Nacional
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Buy El enigma de la habitación 662 by Joël Dicker at Librería Nacional
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Buy El libro de los Baltimore by Joël Dicker at Librería Nacional
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Buy La desaparición de Stephanie Miller by Joël Dicker at Librería Nacional
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The director and screenplay writer Jerónimo Atehortúa is the author of Los cines por venir, a compilation of interviews conducted by Atehortúa with 15 contemporary filmmakers, setting them out as a glimpse of filmmaking now, and also a presentation of how each director understands and talks about their work. Jerónimo Atehortúa was born in Medellin. He graduated from the Universidad del Cine (Argentina) and from the Sarajevo Film Academy (Bosnia-Herzegovina). For years he was a film critic for El Mundo (Medellin) and has directed short films such as Deán Funes 841, Becerra, La emboscadura, ¡Vida al monstruo! and Rekonstrukcija. In conversation with Juan David Correa.

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