Hay Festival Cartagena 2023

The Afro-Latin American movements have been building regional and national links since the 1990s, rising up against racism. According to the 2017 Global Atlas on Violence, for every 100 people murdered in Brazil, 71 are black. Osmundo Pinho (Brazil) will talk to Flavia Rios about how to portray, and also to change, this reality through art. He offers, in his work, detailed ethnographic description, and analyses racist patterns and practices in his country, particularly in Salvador (Bahia).

Simultaneous interpretation from Portuguese to Spanish available

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 Óscar Guardiola-Rivera.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In conversation with Claudia Gurisatti, two experts will talk about the multiplicity of contemporary realities. The civil engineer and economist, Alejandro Gaviria (Colombia), was Deacon of the Economics Faculty at the University of the Andes and Assistant Director of the National Planning Department. An outstanding researcher and author of novels and essays, his latest book, El desdén de los dioses, meditates on genetic modification, artificial intelligence, ideological extremes and climate change. Bruce Mac Master (Colombia) is an Economics graduate from the University of the Andes, co-founder in 2004 of the Granitos de Paz Foundation and boardmember of ISA, ISAGEN, Colombia Telecomunicaciones and Bancóldex; he is also the author of El continente de los países resignados.

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. We reflect on the importance of culture and literature, based on the questions: What value does fiction have for society? How can we render visible and learn from non-hegemonic narratives? What role does art play in the construction of a more peaceful, empathetic society that is aware of its challenges? With Piedad Bonnett (Colombia), Charlotte Higgins (United Kingdom), Nicola Lagioia (Italy) and Cristina Rivera Garza (Mexico) in conversation with Pilar Reyes.

Interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. In a context in which the environmental crisis and climate change have become urgent matters, festival guests urge us to reconsider our relationship with the planet based on the following questions: How can we change existing narratives to tackle the climate emergency? How can we make the exploitation of raw materials compatible with their climate impact? How can extensive farming be made compatible with protecting biodiversity in Colombia? Peter Frankopan (United Kingdom), writer and historian; Virginia Mendoza (Spain), journalist, writer and anthropologist; Gustavo Ulcué Campo (Colombia), Nasa film and television producer. In conversation with Rosie Boycott.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. Given the uncertainty created by the appearance of AI and its increasing use in everyday tasks, figures from the Hay Festival Cartagena ask us to reflect on its development based on the following questions: How can we make ethical use of biomedicine and artificial intelligence? How is it possible to guarantee that artificial intelligence does not increase existing inequalities? In conversation with Sylvie Duchamp will be Marcus du Sautoy (United Kingdom), Rodrigo Quian Quiroga (Argentina) and Rafael Yuste (Spain).

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. With democracy being questioned and affected by growing disinformation, the participants at this round table invite us to reflect on the following questions: Are we experiencing the end of the single Western narrative? Are there models other than the democratic one? Will we give up our civil rights to have more security? How should we combat disinformation? How should governments manage immigration? With Daniel Coronell (Colombia), Anne Applebaum (United States), Nataliya Gumenyuk (Ucrania), Susan Neiman (United States) and Edward Chancellor (United Kingdom). In conversation with Jon Lee Anderson.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. Festival guests will bring a wide ranging focus to the conversation, including perspectives from both the global south and the north, and based on the following questions: How can economic degrowth be made an attractive alternative? How would the legalisation of drugs affect the world economy? What can the city learn from the countryside, and vice versa? With Anne Applebaum (United States), Nataliya Gumenyuk (Ukraine) and Jorge Ramos (Mexico / United States). They will talk to Clara Elvira Ospina.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

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.

Peter Frankopan (Croatia / United Kingdom) is Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he directs the Centre for Byzantine Research, and is a Senior Researcher at Worcester College. He is also UNESCO Professor of Silk Roads Studies and a bye-fellow at King's College, Cambridge. Called a “literary star” by The Times and a “rock star don” by the BBC, his work has been acclaimed internationally, particularly his book The Silk Roads. His latest work, The Earth Transformed. An Untold Story, has been praised for its wide-ranging and erudite analysis of how the environment has moulded global history. In conversation with Andrea Bernal.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

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.

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 Laura Quintana.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

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.

The writer and historian Anne Applebaum (United States), winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction for Gulag. A History and author of Twilight of Democracy. The seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, goes into greater depth in this direction with Autocracy Inc. The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, a book that won the German Booksellers’ Peace Prize. As well as offering a study of the methods of modern autocrats, Applebaum uncovers an intricate network that links totalitarian regimes to the financial world, security services that are dedicated to espionage, and talented propagandists. In conversation with José Manuel Acevedo.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

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.

This event forms part of the Literary Pairs series run by Hay Festival and the British Council; as part of the initiative, each pair will repeat their conversation at the 2025 Hay-on-Wye Festival (Wales, United Kingdom). With Johny Pitts (United Kingdom), television presented, writer and photographer, as well as a curator of the electronic magazine Afropean.com, a successful mouthpiece of the Afro-European diaspora and now a book, Afropean: Notes From Black Europe. He will talk to Óscar Guardiola-Rivera (Colombia), a writer, philosopher, lecturer in Law and Human Rights at Birkbeck (University of London), and author of Si Latinoamérica gobernase el mundo, in which Guardiola reflects on the development of European capitalism, built based on flows of money from Mexico and the Andean silver mine of Potosi, looking in depth at the recent history of the development economies of Latin American and the Caribbean. His most recent book is Under the World. In conversation with Camila Osorio.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

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.

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.

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.