Hay Festival Querétaro 2023

El libro de los outsiders is the literary and audio-visual project of Rafael Volta, who gives a voice to those who are not usually named. This is not the Queretaro of the «outstanding figures» of the Heraldo de Navidad, but of those who walk on the fringes. A tale that tells of Queretaro from the periphery.

The Epistolary Literary Prize Cartas a Rosario pays tribute to writer Rosario Castellanos as a conmemoration of the centenial of her birth. Mildred Calvillo, winner of the postgraduate category, and Diana Jiménez, winner of the undergraduate category, talk about the anthology published by Editciones UNAM, with litters written to her by students. In conversation with Iliana Padilla.

Ramón Gener (Spain) has found a true vocation in education on the subject of music, bringing his love of opera and art to new audiences. More than just a conversation, he will offer a journey of (re)discovery, allowing music to excite us, and talking about Historia de un piano, a captivating novel about the life of an instrument that becomes a metaphor for the redemptive power of love, friendship, beauty and, of course, music. In conversation with Felipe Bohorquez.

With the arrival of large language models such as ChatGPT, the whole world has been turned upside down. Will our brains be replaced by technology? What are the risks and the opportunities? Elisa Guerra, educator, author of La enseñanza en la cuarta revolución industrial and a member of the UNESCO International Forum on the Futures of Education, will try to answer an important question: can schooling survive the invasion of artificial intelligence?

Hay Festival Constellations creates a space for intergenerational dialogue within the Mexican cultural scene, in fields such as literature, film, music, science and activism. At this event the astronomers Julieta Fierro and Leticia Carigi will talk to Paula Rosas about the pleasures of looking at the cosmos with curiosity and without fear: this is an event where a love of science is shared by guests of different generations.

Border tensions, drug trafficking, asymmetrical power dynamics; these are all elements of the complex relationship between Mexico and the USA, dealt with by Alan Riding (United Kingdom) in Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans, published in 1985. Four decades later, although the various aspects of the context have changed, the deep roots of the relationship are still very much present, and the situation has become even more complicated after the latest decisions taken by the US government. The author of this essential work of non-fiction will talk to Alma Guillermoprieto.

The digital era has transformed us, to the extent that it is now possible to think about ourselves as digital beings. We no longer turn the page, but scroll on our mobile devices. What is the role of reading in this new era? Juan Villoro (Mexico) responds to these and other questions in his book No soy un robot, an essay that avoids academicism and combines autobiography with reflection and speculation.

Ramón Gener (Spain) has found a true vocation in education on the subject of music, bringing his love of opera and art to new audiences. More than just a conversation with Sopitas, he will offer a journey of (re)discovery, allowing music to excite us, and talking about Historia de un piano, a captivating novel about the life of an instrument that becomes a metaphor for the redemptive power of love, friendship, beauty and, of course, music.

20 years of the Hay Festival in Colombia condensed into a one-hour documentary. With the voices of some of the most iconic festival guests, the audience will be able to see the secrets of the Hay Festival in Colombia. Presented by Cristina Fuentes La Roche. Before the documentary, there will be a presentation of a homage to the recently-deceased Mario Vargas Llosa, created using photos by Daniel Mordzinski.

Duration: 70 minutes

Director: Gustavo Gordillo

In La hermana, the Argentinean journalist Liliana Viola reconstructs the story of Martha Pelloni, the nun who challenged the political authorities of Catamarca (Argentina) in the 1990s after the rape and murder of the young woman María Soledad Morales. A profile and a work of literary journalism that has won the 6th Anagrama Reporting/Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation Award. In conversation with Carmen Dolores Carrillo Juarez.

The epic oral poetry of works such as the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Mahabharata focuses on memorable characters. Inspired by this tradition is the «character poem»; at this event with Adolfo Córdova we will create one, with a narrative heart but poetic limbs. To give it life, we will need a name, a body, a place and a wish.

Trinidad Olarte (Colombia) draws stories that have never been told before and that, by turning into books, become told. Her most recent work has been to illustrate La jugada del día by Ariadna Sánchez Hernández, a tale about how a love of baseball and dedication can change lives and leave an indelible legacy.

Archivo agonía is the debut novel by Marina Azahua (Mexico), who, using the epistolary genre, creates a voice that offers personal testimony and reflection on the last moments of life. We see memory as a palimpsest, and however much we try to forget the past, mourning, loneliness and pain persist. This is an introduction to a writer whose style is startling, poetic and precise. In conversation with Paulina Macías and María José Vázquez de la Mora.

In his fascinating work, To Catch a Dictator, Reed Brody (USA) shows how, sometimes, the struggle for justice and in favour of victims can overcome impunity. The lawyer known as the Dictator Hunter has written a book telling the story of the campaign to bring the Chadian dictator, Hissène Habré, known as the «African Pinochet», to trial. A reminder that even the most powerful tyrants can be brought to justice. In conversation with Noemí Rubio Gudiño.

Tania Tagle (Mexico) is a writer with a meticulous literary style, one employed in Fauce to tell how, after a bereavement, the protagonist finds the words to speak to her son through a fog of silence. In Jardines errantes, her previous book, she cultivates a garden of words with a sensitive approach that allows her experiences as a daughter, mother, reader and inhabitant of this world to flourish. In conversation with Jazmín Agreda Rios.

In her long essay Això tan tenebrós, Mar García Puig (Spain) makes a defence of the power of figurative language, since existence unfolds among metaphors, and these represent not only all that exists, but everything we can conceive of. This is a matter that women know particularly well, given that they can give life, but also take it away. In conversation with Ester Bautista Botello.

After almost a decade of silence, Simon Reynolds (United Kingdom) is back with a very optimistic conclusion: that music has a future. If Retromania exposed the lack of innovation in the industry, on the other hand Futuromania maps the electronic soundscapes that are our present and future. From Kraftwerk to Daft Punk, via Giorgio Moroder, Arca and Travis Scott. In conversation with Ramón Santillana.

Event in English