Hay Festival Cartagena 2023

Welcome to the Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias 2023 programme, to be held from 26 to 29 January. In this page you can find the events in the general programme as well as Hay Joven activities tor university audiences, Hay Comunitario sessions which will take place in different areas of Cartagena, Reading Clubs and Talento Editorial.

The tickets of the general programme and reading clubs are on sale for in person events. If you wish to register to see the live streaming of events, please select the option "Register to watch online" when this option is available. Hay Joven, Hay Comunitario and Talento Editorial are 100% in person and free of charge.

If you have any issues regarding the payment of your tickets, please contact us at tickets@hayfestival.org or at +57 317 516 55 13.

If you are a students a wish to request free tickets, you can write to us at estudiantes@hayfestival.com.

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

Event 81

Silvia Vásquez Lavado and Javier Zamora in conversation with Angel Cárdenas

 Centro de Convenciones (Salón Barahona)
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Silvia Vásquez-Lavado (Peru) is the author of the autobiographical book In the Shadow of the Mountain, in which the author deals with her past of trauma and excess, of alcoholism and promiscuous sex and, before this, of childhood abuse. She has undertaken climbing expeditions accompanied by other victims of sexual abuse, as part of the Courageous Girls project, founded in 2014. The award-winning writer and poet Javier Zamora (El Salvador / United States) is the author of the book of memoir Solito. In it, Zamora tells the story of his five-thousand kilometre journey, between El Salvador and the United States, aged just nine. In conversation with Ángel Cárdenas.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Silvia Vásquez Lavado and Javier Zamora in conversation with Angel Cárdenas

Event 82

Álex Grijelmo in conversation with Mario Jursich

The perversion of anonymity: the name itself and the danger of its masks

 Teatro Adolfo Mejía
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Álex Grijelmo (Spain) is a writer and journalist, former Head of EFE press agency and the author of novels and non-fiction. In 1977 he started working at Europa Press, and in 1983 moved to the Spanish newspaper El País, where he worked for 16 years. In April 2018, he entered the Colombian Academy of the Language. Author of La perversión del anonimato. El nombre propio y el peligro de sus máscaras, which explores the dilemmas created by the state of anonymity. In conversation with Mario Jursich.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Álex Grijelmo in conversation with Mario Jursich

Event 83

Pablo Montoya in conversation with Alejandro Gaviria

Memories of Marcus Aurelius

 Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (patio)
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Pablo Montoya (Colombia) is a writer and Literature lecturer at Antioquia University, with a Master’s and doctorate in Latin American Literature from the Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris 3, University. He has published numerous books of short stories, prose poems, essays and novels, including Tríptico de la infamia, winner of the 2015 Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 2015. His latest novel, Marco Aurelio y los límites del imperio, offers a profound look at the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius. In conversation with Alejandro Gaviria.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Pablo Montoya in conversation with Alejandro Gaviria

Event 84

Cindy Herrera, Yuliana Ortiz Ruano, Yurieth Romero and Mayra Santos-Febres in conversation with Rudy Amanda Hurtado

Race and creation

 Palacio de la Proclamación (Auditorio Juan José Nieto)
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Four Afro-descendent Latin American writers talk to Amanda Hurtado about creation and race. Cindy Herrera (Colombia), audiovisual media producer and linguistics and literature professional who is in the final stages of her doctorate in Latin American literature, is the author of the short story book El manifiesto del espejo and the book of hybrid narratives Des-entierro; Yuliana Ortiz Ruano (Ecuador) is a poet and writer, the author of Fiebre de carnaval, a novel that pays homage to dance, to Latin American culture, and African roots; Yurieth Romero (Colombia) is the author of Las visitantes, a transmedia project composed of a book of short stories, a television series and a film; and Mayra Santos-Febres (Puerto Rico), a novelist, poet, essayist and author of Lecciones de renuncia, which tells the story of the relationship of a woman with language and knowledge, and of different texts which informally incorporate questions of status, ethnicity and sexual identity. In conversation with Rudy Amanda Hurtado.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Cindy Herrera, Yuliana Ortiz Ruano, Yurieth Romero and Mayra Santos-Febres in conversation with Rudy Amanda Hurtado

Event 85

Screening of the Hay Festival 20 Years documentary

 Centro de Convenciones (Auditorio Getsemaní)
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This year we celebrate 20 years in Colombia: two decades of conversations, debates, questions, music, film, photography and books. Through the voices of some of the festival’s most iconic guests, as well as those who make this great festival of ideas possible, we mark the date and wish a long life to the Hay Festival in Colombia through this special documentary.

Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes

Direction: Gustavo Gordillo

Entrada libre hasta completar aforo

Event 86

Alfonso Múnera in conversation with Toni Celia

Cartagena, a city open to the world

 Centro de Convenciones (Salón Barahona)
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Cartagena de Indias, aged 491, is one of the oldest cities in the Americas. It has the weight on its shoulders of having been the most important port in the region, because of its geographical position, which made it the focus of a dark trade: the commerce in slaves. One of our most loved historians, Alfonso Múnera Cadavid (Colombia), will talk to Toni Celia about his book Cartagena, una ciudad abierta al mundo, an exhaustive and enjoyable investigation into a territory full of complexities, contradictions and vitality.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Alfonso Múnera in conversation with Toni Celia

Event 87

Jorge Velosa in conversation with Daniel Samper Pizano

From the plains

 Teatro Adolfo Mejía
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Jorge Velosa (Colombia) is a poet, minstrel, researcher, actor and popular artist, whose songs have become a unique musical genre, rooted in the stories of the farmers of Boyacá. He has received many accolades, including an honorary doctorate granted by the National University of Colombia in 2012. In conversation with Daniel Samper Pizano, the event will include a short concert.

Price: $70,000.00 (COP)

Event 88

Tere Gaviria, Felipe Holguín, Beto Rosero and Mónica Taboada Tapia in conversation with Ricardo Chica Gelis

Caribbean Film

 Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (patio)
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Four Colombian filmmakers talk about the cinematographic creation that is currently happening in the Caribbean. With Felipe Holguín and Tere Gaviria, director and producer of La Suprema, which opened at TIFF in 2023 and was nominated for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Photography and Best Screenplay at the Macondo Awards; and with Beto Rosero and Mónica Taboada Tapia, producer and director of the film Alma del desierto, about a trans Wayuu woman. Taboada Tapia is the first Colombian woman to take one of her films to the Venice Film Festival, where she won a Queer Lion award. In conversation with Ricardo Chica Gelis.

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.
Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Tere Gaviria, Felipe Holguín, Beto Rosero and Mónica Taboada Tapia in conversation with Ricardo Chica Gelis

Event 89

Yomi Adegoke in conversation with Jonathan Levi

 Palacio de la Proclamación (Auditorio Juan José Nieto)
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Yomi Adegoke (UK) is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. She is currently a columnist at the Guardian and British Vogue. She’s written for the Sunday Times, the Independent, Stylist, and the New Statesman, among others, and in 2018, she cowrote the bestselling book Slay in Your Lane and in the same year was named one of the most influential people in London by the Evening Standard. She was named in 2021 one of Forbes 30 under 30. She speaks with Jonathan Levi about her last book, The List.

Simultaneous interpretation available from English to Spanish

All Sunday 2 February events will be free for people from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your ID, between 27 Janaury and 2 February.

Price: $40,000.00 (COP)
Yomi Adegoke in conversation with Jonathan Levi

Event HFJ23

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga in conversation with Pilar Garavito

What Makes us Human?

 Uninorte Barranquilla
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Rodrigo Quian Quiroga (Argentina) is a physicist, mathematician and neuroscientist, as well as an authority on the neuronal mechanisms of visual perception and memory. In his latest publication, Cosas que nunca creeríais. De la ciencia ficción a la neurociencia, the author explores the working of the brain. Quian Quiroga is the discoverer of “concept neurones”, sometimes known as “Grandmother cells”, and he investigates neurological advances that, in some cases, are bringing us close to possibilities that, until now, seemed to be from the realm of science fiction. Since 2019 he has been a member of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences, and he currently lectures at the Hospital del Mar’s Research Institute in Barcelona. He will offer his conference What makes us Human? In conversation with Pilar Garavito.

Horario por confirmar
Evento gratuito para la comunidad universitaria
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga in conversation with Pilar Garavito

Event HFJ24

Charlotte Higgins in conversation with Janiel Melamed

 Uninorte Barranquilla
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Charlotte Higgins (United Kingdom) is the chief culture writer for The Guardian. In her book Greek Myths: A New Retelling, she explores the myths of Heracles, Theseus, and Perseus, the Trojan War—its origins and consequences—and tales from Thebes, Argos, and Athens. The book is composed of stories of extremes that deeply resonate with our times: mysterious diseases devastating cities, environmental disasters that destroy lives, and women enduring violence at the hands of men. In this new and thrilling interpretation by Charlotte Higgins, female characters take center stage, with Athena, Helen, Circe, Penelope, and others weaving stories in imagined elaborate tapestries. In conversation with Janiel Melamed.

With simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish
Evento gratuito para la comunidad universitaria
Charlotte Higgins in conversation with Janiel Melamed

Event HFJ25

Yuliana Ortiz Ruano in conversation with Josef Amón

 Uninorte Barranquilla
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The Ecuadorian poet and writer Yuliana Ortiz Ruano is the author of Fiebre de carnaval, a novel that pays homage to dance, Latin American culture, and African roots. She presents this book and talks about her experiences as an author and activist. In conversation with Josef Amón.

Horario por confirmar
Evento gratuito para la comunidad universitaria
Yuliana Ortiz Ruano in conversation with Josef Amón

Event HFJ26

Susan Neiman in conversation with Iván Luzardo Luna

Izquierda no es woke

 Uninorte Barranquilla
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Susan Neiman (United States) is an outstanding philosopher and writer known for her contributions in the fields of moral philosophy, the Enlightenment, metaphysics and politics. Educated at Harvard, Neiman has taught at Yale and the University of Tel Aviv, and, since 2000 has directed the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany. Her new book, Left Is Not Woke, is a critical examination of the distinction between the principles of the left and the phenomenon sometimes known as woke, arguing that the true spirit of the left is based on universalism, justice and the possibility of progress, values that she considers have been distorted by some contemporary currents which prioritise tribal identities, tending towards conservatism. In conversation with Iván Luzardo Luna.

Horario por confirmar
Evento gratuito para la comunidad universitaria
Susan Neiman in conversation with Iván Luzardo Luna

Event HFJ27

Wolfram Eilenberger in conversation with Daniela Pabón

 Uninorte Barranquilla
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Wolfram Eilenberger (Germany) is a philosopher, journalist and writer. His passion is the application of philosophical ideas in everyday life, whether politics, culture or sport. Founding Editor of Philosophie Magazin, he has published Time of the Magicians. The Invention of Modern Thought 1919-1929, and now presents Geister der Gegenwart, an exploration of the thought of Theodor W. Adorno, Susan Sontag, Michel Foucault and Paul Feyerabend. The book follows the path of a set of ideas that are essential for our times: from dismantling the myth of blind faith, to the progress of conspiracy theories; from sexual liberation to the most reductionist wokeness. In conversation with Daniela Pabón.

With simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish

Evento gratuito para la comunidad universitaria
Wolfram Eilenberger in conversation with Daniela Pabón

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