Hay Festival Arequipa 2021 – Local

Until recently, Francisco Sagasti held the position of President of Peru, acting as the country’s leader during a period of particular political and socioeconomic turbulence, made even worse by the pandemic. Apart from being President of the Republic he has been Chairman of Congress, Head of Strategic Planning at the World Bank, Chair of the UN’s Consultative Council of Science and Technology and a manager and board member of many other Peruvian and international organizations. An industrial engineer by training, Sagasti has taught at various universities in Peru and abroad, and is the author of over 20 books and a hundred academic articles. His most recent work is Imaginemos un Perú mejor… y hagámoslo realidad, a compilation of interviews and articles that analyse the structural problems of Peru and propose forms of political, social and cultural growth. Max Hernández, a doctor of medicine and a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association, is the author of Memoria del bien perdido, an incisive exploration and psychological portrait of one of the great figures of the early colonial period, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. They will talk about their most recent works, and on the way impart some of their vast knowledge of Peruvian history and reality, giving their views on the past, present and future prospects of the country.

We celebrate 50 years of the Turner publishing house with some of the most outstanding writers from its portfolio. Fernando Cervantes, a prominent historian and researcher who teaches at the University of Bristol, is the author of Conquistadores (2021), a book that revises the history that was written by the winners of the conquest. Drawing on diaries, letters, chronicles and treaties, the author has investigated the process of conquest and colonization of what today is Latin America, analysing both the glorification and condemnation of figures such as Columbus, Pizarro and Cortés, questioning what really happened in the so-called “New World”. In conversation with the historian Natalia Sobrevilla.

Despite the fact that contemporary Latin American societies are formally secular from the socio-political point of view, religion continues to be one of the main forces that influences the region in many different ways. Unfortunately there continue to be cases in which terrible abuses are committed in the name of God, something that has been investigated by Martín López de Romaña, a photographer and writer with a background in Philosophy and Theology, for his work La jaula invisible (2012). This book is a collection of shocking testimony about the Sodalicio Catholic congregation, a religious institution that he belonged to for 14 years and which he, together with his brother Vicente, José Enrique Escardó Steck, Óscar Osterling Castillo and the journalist Pedro Salinas, denounced in 2016 for the physical, psychological and sexual abuses perpetrated by eight of its members. He will talk about this chilling case with Paola Ugaz.

Fernando Iwasaki (Peru) is a writer and historian with a particular interest in cultural studies and the importance of identities, world views, globalizations, comparative literature and the history of religions. The author of over thirty books, including works of historical research such as ¡Aplaca, Señor, tu ira! Lo maravilloso y lo imaginario en Lima colonial, as well as novels, essays, short stories, literary journalism and compilations of articles. His latest publications are Brevetes de historia Universal del Perú, Sevilla, sin mapa, Nueva Corónica del Extremo Occidente and Mi poncho es un kimono flamenco. He will talk to Alberto Vergara about his recent work.

Can the story of a country be told through prominent figures? Is betrayal a constant in Peruvian politics? Alejandro Neyra (Peru), a writer, diplomat and expert on his country’s political tradition, is the author of Traiciones peruanas, 16 ilustres antihéroes de la historia nacional, a book that looks at the careers of Peruvian history’s major figures, whose actions and decisions impacted historical events, setting the course for the way the country developed. The event will also cover Mi monstruo sagrado, by the same author and winner of the 2019 Copé de Oro Novel Prize. In conversation with Vera Tyuleneva.

The landmark documentary La revolución y la tierra, directed by Gonzalo Benavente and co-written by Grecia Barbieri and the film’s director, tells the story of the Agricultural Reform of Juan Velasco Alvarado, 50 years after this important historical event. This documentary, which was released in 2019, was a success in Peru and gave rise to the book La revolución imaginada, which explores the making of the documentary, the historical documentation that the script was based on, and includes over 30 essays and articles about the subject matter of La revolución y la tierra written by major Peruvian figures, including Carlos León Moya, who will moderate this conversation.

According to Javier Cercas, “a hero is a person who does not fail at the only moment at which failure is unthinkable” and the history of Peru is full of examples of brave men and women who fit this definition. This book commemorates those heroic individuals who have contributed to building the nation and Peruvian culture, some of them who are well known, others who are forgotten or made invisible, but heroes nonetheless. This book reflects on Peruvian identity, the multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the country, with its two hundred year history and development being celebrated now, through images created by some of the country’s most talented illustrators. The book’s editor, Víctor Ruiz, will talk about this engaging compilation of stories and illustrations.

For children ages 9 to 12

Yuyachkani is a Quechua word meaning “I am thinking”, “I am remembering”, and is also the name of this collective, one of Peru’s most prominent theatre companies, which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. Since 1971, the group has been presenting works of theatrical experimentation, political performance and collective creation, focussing on themes such as social memory, ethnicity and violence in Peru. In 2000, Yuyachkani won the Peruvian National Human Rights Award. On this occasion, Yuyachkani actresses Ana Correa, Débora Correa, Rebeca Ralli and Teresa Ralli talk with Jimena Rodríguez Moscoso.