Hay Festival Arequipa 2022 – Arequipa Events

Welcome to the Hay Festival Arequipa 2022 programme, the edition in which we returned to in person events, after two digital editions due to the covid pandemic. Hay Festival Arequipa 2023 will run 9-12 November.

Hay Forum Moquegua was also in person. Hay Forum Moquegua 2023 will be at November 9.

If you have any questions, you can find us at contacto@hayfestival.org.

Event HFJ1

Fabiola Hablützel in conversation with Julia Ponce

Universidad Continental
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Fabiola Hablützel presents La hermana del medio, a moving story about the importance of family and our place in the world. With her fiftieth birthday approaching, her mother reveals a secret that has been kept from her all her life, that Fabiola was adopted. The impact of the news leads the author to undertake a journey of self-discovery, from the streets of Callao to Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In conversation with Julia Ponce.
This event has taken place
Fabiola Hablützel in conversation with Julia Ponce

Event HFJ3

Carlos Umaña in conversation with Ricardo Grundy

From activism to the Nobel Prize

Universidad Católica de Santa María - Campus Umacollo
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Carlos Umaña (Costa Rica) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, together with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), for raising “awareness about the humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for their efforts to achieve a prohibition on such weapons”. In this conversation with Pablo Cateriano, Umaña will talk about environmentalism and the need to eradicate nuclear weapons from the world, as well as his work as a scientist and activist. In conversation with Ricardo Grundy, director of the School of Political Science and Government at the UCSM.
This event has taken place
Carlos Umaña in conversation with Ricardo Grundy

Event HFJ2

Daniel Mordzinski in conversation with Jorge Jaime Valdez

On photography

Universidad Continental
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Daniel Mordzinski (Argentina), known as the “writer’s photographer”, has created a body of photographic work and an aesthetic closely linked to literature and its mystique: from his first photos of Jorge Luis Borges in 1978, including hundreds of writers who have passed in front of his camera, and with over 15 years of work linked to the Hay Festivals. He will talk about his extraordinary career, which has been built up at the frontier of images and words. In conversation with Jorge Jaime Valdez.

This event has taken place
Daniel Mordzinski in conversation with Jorge Jaime Valdez

Event HFJ4

Pablo Vierci in conversation with Federico Rosado

Universidad Católica de Santa María - Instituto Confucio
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The Uruguayan writer Pablo Vierci is the author of a book telling a true story, one that is both unthinkable and extraordinary, which has inspired one of the most moving and striking films of 2023: Society of the Snow. In 1972, Flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force crashed in the Argentinean Andes en route from Montevideo to Santiago de Chile. On board were five crew-members and 40 passengers: a team of young rugby players who were going to attend a tournament with some friends and family. The book recreates the incredible story of the 16 young men who survived the snow at 4,000 metres above sea level, without any communication with the outside world, or food or shelter, facing the death of their loved ones. Vierci, who went to school with the survivors, started to write the book in 1973. He later went to the crash site with a group of survivors and their children. He published the book in 2009. In conversation with xx, he will talk about the story, which has been with him for over half a century, and the great work that came out of it. In conversation with Federico Rosado.
This event has taken place
Pablo Vierci in conversation with Federico Rosado

Event 1

Américo Zambrano Romero in conversation with Victoria Guerrero Peirano

Our dead

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (teatro)
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Américo Zambrano Romero (Peru) is a writer and journalist who is known for his ability to tell complex stories, bringing a human dimension to the cold statistics of crime. Winner of the 2023 National Journalism Prize, he talks to us about his recent book, Nuestros muertos, an in-depth investigation focussing on the events of 2023 after the failed coup attempted by Pedro Castillo in Peru. In the book, the author examines the decisions taken by the government to try and stop the protests that marked the beginning of its mandate. In conversation with Victoria Guerrero Peirano.

This event has taken place
Américo Zambrano Romero in conversation with Victoria Guerrero Peirano

Event 2

Stefano Varese in conversation with Xabier Díaz de Cerio

Essays on the Amazon

Colegio de Abogados (auditorio)
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The Italian-Peruvian anthropologist and activist Stefano Varese is Emeritus Professor of the University of California in Davis, and founder of the Indigenous Research Center of the Americas. In 2017 he was awarded the Haydée Santamaría Medal, a prestigious recognition given by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. He has written, solo or with other authors, a number of books, including Proyectos étnicos y proyectos nacionales, El arte del recuerdo and the anthology Contemporary Voices from Anima Mundi (2020), about knowledge and spirituality in various communities around the world. On this occasion he presents El bosque civilizado: Ensayos amazónicos, an extensive work that shows his passion for and knowledge of the Amazon region. In conversation with Xabier Díaz de Cerio.
This event has taken place
Stefano Varese in conversation with Xabier Díaz de Cerio

Event 3

Concert given by the UNSA Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Christophe Talmont

Teatro Municipal
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The Symphony Orchestra of the Universidad Nacional San Agustín, conducted by maestro Christophe Talmont (France), will offer a very original programme that centres on the Requiem, Op.48, by Gabriel Fauré, on the centenary of his death in 1924. This innovative concert has been prepared with the close involvement of Talmont and the conductor of the UNSA Symphony Orchestra, Pilar Lopera (Peru), and proposes the performance of works that represent a certain idea of the French approach to music, so well represented by Fauré, whose message is one of intimacy and interiority and which focusses on the purity of the musical idea. His Requiem is an example of this, from the very first chords, and, thanks to its consoling message, it has moved audiences and musicians ever since it was first played.
This event has taken place
Concert given by the UNSA Symphony Orchestra

Event 4

Screening of the documentary Los tsimane. La comunidad de Bolivia donde las personas envejecen más lento

Followed by a talk with Alejandro Millán and Matías Zibell

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (teatro)
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This event involves the screening of a 15-minute documentary, followed by a conversation between Alejandro Millán, producer of the documentary and BBC Mundo journalist, and Matías Zibell. The Tsimane are one of the 36 indigenous nations officially recognised by the plurinational state of Bolivia. Its 16,000 semi-nomadic members live in the Misión Fátima region, a remote corner of the Bolivian Amazon. Experts believe that it is their very isolation that contributes to the unique way in which this ethnicity ages, something that scientists have been studying for decades.

This event has taken place
Screening of the documentary Los tsimane. La comunidad de Bolivia donde las personas envejecen más lento

Event HFC1

Giacomo Roncagliolo in conversation with Jorge Malpartida

Establecimiento penitenciario de varones de Arequipa
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The author and musician Giacomo Roncagliolo (Peru) published stories and poems in the former fanzine Morfina between 2011 and 2013. In 2017 he was shortlisted for the Clarín Novel Prize for his book Ámok. His recent novel, El fantástico sueño de aniquilar esto, is a disturbing thriller that explores the addictive power of virtual sexuality and its sinister influence on contemporary desire. In conversation with Jorge Malpartida.

This event has taken place
Giacomo Roncagliolo in conversation with Jorge Malpartida

Event 5

Hamja Ahsan, Agustina Bazterrica, Ekaitz Cancela and Juan Manuel Robles in conversation with Karima Ziali

New narrative paradigms

Teatro Municipal
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Official narrative, non-hegemonic narratives. How do the guests at this event position themselves? We talk to Hamja Ahsan (United Kingdom), Agustina Bazterrica (Argentina), Ekaitz Cancela (Spain) and Juan Manuel Robles (Peru) about their ways of narrating, and their choices when it comes to telling stories and representing reality. In conversation with Karima Ziali.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

This event has taken place
Hamja Ahsan, Agustina Bazterrica, Ekaitz Cancela and Juan Manuel Robles in conversation with Karima Ziali

Event 6

Felipe Restrepo Pombo, Philippe Sands and Gabriela Wiener in conversation with Cristina Fuentes

Explorers, dreamers and thieves

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (teatro)
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In 2022, Hay Festival and the British Museum came together to organise the anthology Volver a contar: Escritores de América Latina en los archivos del Museo Británico, for which a group of ten writers examined narratives about the past through a collection of Latin American objects in the museum never seen in public before. In 2023 we presented the anthology Exploradores, soñadores y ladrones, in which six authors looked at the museum’s collections in order to create new compilation of texts that question and reimagine the predominant narratives. With Felipe Restrepo Pombo (Colombia), Philippe Sands (United Kingdom) and Gabriela Wiener (Peru), in conversation with Cristina Fuentes La Roche (Spain).

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

This event has taken place
Felipe Restrepo Pombo, Philippe Sands and Gabriela Wiener in conversation with Cristina Fuentes

Event 7

Guillermo Niño de Guzmán in conversation with Dante Trujillo

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (auditorio)
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Guillermo Niño de Guzmán is a writer, publisher, translator and screenwriter. He studied Literature at the Universidad Católica and in 1984 published his first book of short stories, Caballos de medianoche, with an introduction by Mario Vargas Llosa. Since then he has published short stories, essays and historical novels for young adults. His most recent work is Mis vicios impunes: Cuaderno de letraherido II, a personal and literary almanac that unites brief texts on art and the writing trade with his adventures as a reader, film buff and jazz fan. The author will talk to the writer and publisher Dante Trujillo.
This event has taken place
Guillermo Niño de Guzmán in conversation with Dante Trujillo

Event 8

Fabiola Hablützel and María Larrea in conversation with Clara Elvira Ospina

Literary families

Colegio de Abogados (auditorio)
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Two authors examine, through their work, the meaning of family and identity as linked to origins and nationality. Fabiola Hablützel (Peru/Chile) presents La hermana del medio, a moving story about the importance of family and our place in the world. With her fiftieth birthday approaching, her mother reveals a secret that had been kept from her all her life, that Fabiola was adopted. The impact of the news leads the author to undertake a journey of self-discovery, from the streets of Callao to Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The director, screenwriter and novelist María Larrea (Spain/France) was born in Bilbao (Spain) and grew up in Paris, where she studied film at La Fémis. She presents her first novel, Los de Bilbao nacen donde quieren, in which Larrea tells the story, backwards, of a complicated family history, with illegal adoptions in the dying days of the Franco dictatorship. In conversation with Clara Elvira Ospina.

This event has taken place
Fabiola Hablützel and María Larrea in conversation with Clara Elvira Ospina

Event 9

María José Caro and Susanne Noltenius in conversation with Enrique Planas

Natural histories

Teatro Arequepay
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Two Peruvian writers talk to Enrique Planas about their latest books, in which nature and human emotions play major roles. The writer and social communicator María José Caro was included on the Hay Festival 2017 list of the 39 best Latin American fiction writers aged under 40. Her most recent work, Vida animal, tells the story of four friends on a hen night in Chosica, in which the author uses references to the animal world in order to guide us around the complexity of the human relationships. Susanne Noltenius, an outstanding Peruvian writer of German origin, is a graduate of the School of Creative Writing run by Alonso Cueto and Iván Thays, and has published successful works including Crisis respiratoria and Tres mujeres (2017 National Literature Prize in the Short Story category) and a number of books for children. Her latest book, Se hace otoño, tells the story of a woman who, under stress due to the political changes in her country and a difficult family history, seeks a new life in Germany, surrounded by nature and aiming to find emotional stability.

This event has taken place
María José Caro and Susanne Noltenius in conversation with Enrique Planas

Event HFJ6

BBC Mundo digital journalism workshop

With Alejandro Millan and Matías Zibell

Universidad Católica de Santa María - Instituto Confucio
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Two journalists from one of the world’s most important and prestigious media outlets, Alejandro Millán (Colombia) and Matías Zibell (Argentina), will give this digital journalism workshop aimed at university students. The two members of the BBC Mundo team will explain the working model of the Spanish-language section of this British news service, which is over a hundred years old and is renowned for its news rigour and quality, focussing particularly on audio-visual content creation and managing the social media.

This event has taken place
BBC Mundo digital journalism workshop

Event HFJ5

Alessandro Maccarrone in conversation with Azael Paz Aliaga

Universidad Continental
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El infinito placer de las matemáticas has become an unexpected bestseller, with almost twenty thousand copies sold in Spanish alone. The author, the Spaniard Alessandro Maccarrone, holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Barcelona, ​​and is a science educator and secondary school teacher. For the last 15 years he has been working as a teacher and popular educator, and he has discovered that physics and mathematics are not only infinite in breadth, but also in depth, and that in the most basic and everyday questions lies a great wealth, complexity and beauty. In conversation with Azael Paz Aliaga.

This event has taken place
Alessandro Maccarrone in conversation with Azael Paz Aliaga

Event HFC2

Poetry reading-workshop for women. With Elisa Guerra

At your age, I wore a darkness

Establecimiento penitenciario de mujeres de Arequipa
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Poetry reading-workshop for women, taking the text by the poet Maggie Smith as a first inspiration to share and create poems together. It is not necessary to have written poetry before, but if participants have written any before, it is suggested they take some to the event. The workshop is moderated by the educator Elisa Guerra, shortlisted for the 2023 Loewe Poetry Prize. Her book Ellas, Afasia won the poetry prize awarded by the magazine Punto de Partida, published by UNAM (Mexico). Guerra runs Las Primeras Letras, a literary podcast-workshop for children.

This event has taken place
Poetry reading-workshop for women. With Elisa Guerra

Event 10

Pablo Vierci in conversation with Judith Vélez

Society of the Snow

Teatro Municipal
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The Uruguayan writer Pablo Vierci is the author of the book Society of the Snow, which tells a true story, one that is both unthinkable and extraordinary, which has inspired the striking film of the same name. In 1972, flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force crashed in the Argentinean Andes en route from Montevideo to Santiago de Chile. On board was a team of young rugby players who were going to attend a tournament with some friends and family. The book recreates the incredible story of the 16 young men who survived the snow at 4,000 metres above sea level, without any communication with the outside world, or food or shelter, facing the death of their loved ones. Vierci, who went to school with the survivors, started to write the book in 1973. In conversation with Judith Vélez, he will talk about the story, which has been with him for over half a century, and the great work that came out of it.
This event has taken place
Pablo Vierci in conversation with Judith Vélez

Event 11

Hari Kunzru, Jonathan Castro and Karima Ziali in conversation with Karen Bernedo

Equalities: Who tells our story?

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (teatro)
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We talk about our challenges as global societies from non-hegemonic perspectives. Hari Kunzru, a graduate of Oxford University with a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Warwick, has been a member of the executive board of the English PEN and named by Granta as one of the "best young British novelists"; he has also won various awards, such as the Observer Young Travel Writer of the Year and a British Book Award. In May this year he published his new book, Blue Ruin. Jonathan Castro (Peru) is a political and investigative journalist who works for the La Encerrona outlet. Karima Ziali is a Spanish writer and researcher of Moroccan origin. She has a degree in Philosophy, a Master’s in Anthropological Research and a doctorate in Migratory Studies. Her first novel is entitled Una oración sin dios. In conversation with Karen Bernedo.

Simultaneous translation from English to Spanish available

This event has taken place
Hari Kunzru, Jonathan Castro and Karima Ziali in conversation with Karen Bernedo

Event 12

Gemma Ruiz Palà, Julio Villanueva Chang and Iban Zaldua in conversation with Felipe Restrepo Pombo

On magazines

Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (auditorio)
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Magazines which include long-running reports, magazines that support the use of a minority language, magazines that act as platforms for new writers. With the journalist and writer Gemma Ruiz Palà (Spain); Julio Villanueva Chang, founding editor of the magazine Etiqueta negra; and Iban Zaldua, who was a member of the team which published the magazine of literary activism Volgako Batelariak. In conversation with Felipe Restrepo Pombo, writer, journalist and former editor of Gatopardo magazine.
This event has taken place
Gemma Ruiz Palà, Julio Villanueva Chang and Iban Zaldua in conversation with Felipe Restrepo Pombo

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Principal Sponsors

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Government Partner

Arequipa Gobierno Regional