Colombia Digital 2021

The Hay Dialogues with Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos initiative aims to promote knowledge and exchange among writers of different generations and nationalities, united by a single language and a literary tradition enriched by authors of varied origins. The project consists of inviting an established author to talk to a younger one on the other side of the Atlantic. On this occasion we have Irene Vallejo (Spain), an award-winning writer and Doctor of Classical Philology, known for her research and educational work involving the ancient world and classical authors. In 2020, as well as being chosen for the AECID 10 de 30 initiative, a selection of ten Spanish writers aged between 30 and 40, she received the National Essay Prize for her latest book, El infinito en un junco. She will talk to the writer Héctor Abad Faciolince.

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld will talk about her book The Discomfort of Evening, winner of the 2020 Booker International Prize. This is the story of mourning and the terrible choice between overcoming it and succumbing to it. It is a girl’s struggle to understand death, never named but present in every corner, because this is the only way she will conquer it. This is a story told from the inside, in which it is impossible not to feel every chill, every blow, every wound. An uncomfortable, beautiful debut from one of the Netherlands’ most important new writers.

This event is in Dutch

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld will talk about her book The Discomfort of Evening, winner of the 2020 Booker International Prize. This is the story of mourning and the terrible choice between overcoming it and succumbing to it. It is a girl’s struggle to understand death, never named but present in every corner, because this is the only way she will conquer it. This is a story told from the inside, in which it is impossible not to feel every chill, every blow, every wound. An uncomfortable, beautiful debut from one of the Netherlands’ most important new writers.

This video has the Spanish simultaneous translation.

An expert on science and nature, the US writer David Quammen will talk about his latest book to be published in Spanish, Contagio (published in English as Spillover). Quammen has written 15 books about matters ranging from viruses and epidemics, to the relationship between humans and nature, Darwin’s theory of evolution, and natural processes. In Spillover, the author reports his conversations with scientists who specialize in viruses and epidemics, following their trail in some of the most sophisticated laboratories, as well as a cave in southern China, and what he finds is both terrifying and fascinating. We go around the world looking for viruses, explanations for what happens and animals suspected to be reservoir species. He will talk to the journalist Pablo Correa.

This event is in English.

An expert on science and nature, the US writer David Quammen will talk about his latest book to be published in Spanish, Contagio (published in English as Spillover). Quammen has written 15 books about matters ranging from viruses and epidemics, to the relationship between humans and nature, Darwin’s theory of evolution, and natural processes. In Spillover, the author reports his conversations with scientists who specialize in viruses and epidemics, following their trail in some of the most sophisticated laboratories, as well as a cave in southern China, and what he finds is both terrifying and fascinating. We go around the world looking for viruses, explanations for what happens and animals suspected to be reservoir species. He will talk to the journalist Pablo Correa.

This video has the Spanish simultaneous translation.

In the collaborative book, La vida contada por un sapiens a un neandertal, the writer Juan José Millás and the paleoanthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga set out to understand life, its origins, why we are who we are, and what has brought us here. For two months, the two authors visited a variety of places, many of them common settings of everyday life, and others unique sites where it is still possible to find remains of what we once were, the place where we came from. Humanity’s traces over the millennia can be found around us, in places such as landscapes, caves, children’s parks and toy shops. In conversation with the journalist Yolanda Ruiz.

Underland: A Deep Time Journey gives an account of a series of explorations under the surface of our planet. From the endless catacombs of Paris to painted caves, he talks about rituals and legends involved in everything connected to the world under the ground. Through his travels, Macfarlane invites us to rediscover our daily existence, involving us in the life that goes on beneath, hidden to gazes that tend to look up, rather than down. Underland won the Wainwright Prize, one of the most important awards for nature and travel writing. He will talk to the journalist Pablo Correa.

This event is in English.

Underland: A Deep Time Journey gives an account of a series of explorations under the surface of our planet. From the endless catacombs of Paris to painted caves, he talks about rituals and legends involved in everything connected to the world under the ground. Through his travels, Macfarlane invites us to rediscover our daily existence, involving us in the life that goes on beneath, hidden to gazes that tend to look up, rather than down. Underland won the Wainwright Prize, one of the most important awards for nature and travel writing. He will talk to the journalist Pablo Correa.

This video has the Spanish simultaneous translation.

Giuseppe Caputo studied Creative Writing at the universities of New York and Iowa. He is the author of the novel An Orphan World as well as of several poetry books. He was selected for the Bogotá39-2017 list of 39 most promising Latin American writers under 40. He was Cultural Director of the Bogota Book Fair and is currently an educator and coordinator of the Caro y Cuervo Institute’s Master’s Programme in Creative Writing. His second novel, Estrella madre (2020), tells the story of a man who lives awaiting the return of his mother. He will talk to the journalist David Lara.

Richard Ford (United States) is one of the major US writers of our time. 2016 Princess of Asturias Prize for Letters, he has published novels such as A Piece of My Heart, The Ultimate Good Luck and the Frank Bascombe series: The Sportswriter, Independence Day (Pulitzer and PEN/Faulkner prizes), The Lay of the Land and Let Me Be Frank With You; short stories and novellas, including Rock Springs, Women With Men and A Multitude of Sins; and the memoire Between Them: Remembering My Parents. His most recent book is Sorry For Your Trouble, in which the author shows all the skills that have made him one of North America’s outstanding writers. The reader will find here Fordian characters who wander the world in longing and discomfort. There are encounters between men and women, between parents and children, and between strangers. Past friends meet, and teenagers on the edge of adult life experience new things. He will talk to Margarita Valencia about his career and this book in particular.

This event is in English.

The Cuban journalist, fiction and screenplay writer, and literary critic Leonardo Padura is the author of around 20 short story collections and novels, and was awarded the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for Letters. His most recent novel, Como polvo en el viento (2020), tells the story of a young New Yorker, Adela, and her relationship with her mother and her partner, a young Cuban named Marcos. Marcos tells her stories about his youth on the island and the friends he left there, and looking at some old photos Adela sees a face she recognizes. The novel takes place among the Cuban diaspora and deals with loyalty, love and links to the past. Padura will talk about this new novel with Mábel Lara.

The Cartagena band El Caribefunk, integrated by Funkcho Salas and Andrés Mordecai was born in 2012, on a trip to Buenos Aires. They are the creators of four albums of Afrocaribbean music, fusioned with elements of North American funk. These are El Caribefunk, El Playaman, Tunsé and Energía para regalar, the latter nominated to the Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Album/Tropical Fusion 2020. El Caribefunk has shared its music in concert in at least 20 countries.

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