Hay Festival Querétaro 2023

Fernanda Melchor is one of the most powerful voices in Mexican literature, and one worthy of the 2019 Anna Seghers Prize. She is the author of the book about drug-related violence in the state of Veracruz, This Is Not Miami; and four novels, including Hurricane Season (2020), her most famous book, with translations into over 30 languages, and her most recent, Páradais (2021). This book deals with two of the most urgent issues facing Mexico today: gender violence and social inequality. The author takes us to a luxury housing development where two teenagers meet each other at night and during these alcohol-fuelled encounters they share their impossible fantasies. Although they come from very different backgrounds, they both belong to a social context that is both suffocating and violent, and they plan to make their escape with a chilling plan. She will talk about her books This Is Not Miami and Páradais with the writer Julián Herbert.

Sintiéndolo mucho is a portrait of the living musical legend Joaquín Sabina, made not far from his skin, with nocturnality and premeditation, by his friend, the filmmaker Fernando León de Aranoa (Spain). A tale that is like his voice, rough and unequalized, which tells the story of the artist's intimacy, behind the scenes, his other side, without mitigation; the story that starts when he leaves the stage, and accompanies him in his daily life, and in the unexpected: laughter and drama. Sintiéndolo mucho is the result of thirteen years of filming together, and tours all stages, public and private, luminous and hidden, of Joaquín Sabina. A promenade through the key points of his life and his work: what moves him, what inspires him, what hurts him, developed through live, shared situations as a musician and a filmmaker. The director will answer questions at the end of the screening.

The award-winning writer Isabella Hammad (United Kingdom) is the author of the novels The Parisian and Enter Ghost. She was selected in 2023 as one of the best of British writers by Granta magazine, and she has been a fellow of the Rockefeller and Lannan foundations. In The Parisian, Hammad examines the history of Palestine in the early 20th century, following a young Palestinian who studies in France during the First World War and returns to his country to find it enveloped in a new war. Aura García-Junco (Mexico) has been a fellow of both FONCA and the Foundation for Mexican Literature. She was one of those selected by Granta in 2021 to draw attention to some of best young Spanish-language writers. She is the author of El día que aprendí que no sé amar, Anticicitera, artefacto dentado, Mar de piedra and the most recent Dios fulmine a la que escriba sobre mí. This is the first talk of the Hay Festival and British Council “Literary Duos” series. Each “Literary Duo” will repeat their talk at the Wales Hay Festival 2024. They will talk to the BBC journalist Daniel García Marco.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Benito Taibo has been engaging readers with his stories for over four decades. As a writer he creates poetry, novels, comics, advertising and television programmes. Apart from Persona normal, the unforgettable story of the adventures of Sebastian and his Uncle Paco, Benito Taibo has written Corazonadas, the trilogy Mundo sin dioses and Cómplices: Esta vez, la aventura es leer (2022), a book about the love of reading. Today he will delight the audience with a selection from his celebrated poetry book, Pasar inadvertido (2022).

Vindictas is a research and dissemination project run by the UNAM in order to promote the work of 20th-century Latin American fiction writers whose writings have been ignored by the literary canons. The collection includes the re-publication of novels written by forgotten or lost voices, as well as an anthology of short stories. Vindictas. Cuentistas latinoamericanas is a central part of this initiative, and offers a range of writings by 20 authors from different generations and places within the Hispanic world. With Lola Ancira (Mexico), a Queretaro writer and author of the prologue to Todo ángel es terrible; Rosa Beltrán (Mexico), writer and Director of the UNAM’s Cultural Dissemination department; Aroa Moreno Durán (Spain), writer, journalist and author of the prologue to Tiempo de llorar y otros relatos; and Socorro Venegas (Mexico), editor of the Vindictas anthology.

Adiós, Glinka is a moving story written by Arnoldo Kraus (Mexico), illustrated by Alejandro Magallanes (Mexico), about how the members of the Genauer family will have to learn to accept the departure of their beloved dog Glinka when she is getting towards the end of her life. Arnoldo Kraus offers an event for children and their parents, to introduce them to a story about the mysteries of life and the passage of time. In conversation with Felipe Rosete.

CaminaLee is an initiative that organizes walks aimed at connecting your feet and your brain, letting you listen to stories, characters, history, legends and adventures, all from a different perspective. Connecting with your imagination and your inner wisdom while you walk, feeling what you see. Walking but also reading to visit other worlds, fantastic worlds that you were not aware of, worlds where you can learn about the past, the present and the future. With CaminaLee, we will go out and tour iconic locations in the old quarter, finding the most important sites, monuments and churches, as well as some of the historical legends of the city. An explanation will be given about each of them, including the Teatro de la Ciudad, the Guerrero Gardens, the Palacio Municipal, the Church of Santa Clara, the Fountain of Neptune, the Casa de la Marquesa, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro route and many other places, sharing the legends of La Carambada, El Marquéz de la Villa del Villar del Águila, La Zacatenaca, among others, with rest stops and discussion of historical figures and the chance to draw them too.

To participate in this activity, please click here to fill in the registration form

Every child must be accompanied by an adult

Goran Petrović (Serbia) is one of the most acclaimed Serbian authors on the contemporary scene. Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and winner of his country’s most important awards (including the NIN and the Ivo Andrić), his works have been translated into many different languages. A number of his books have been published in Spanish, including the short story collection Diferencias (2012) and the novels Atlas descrito por el cielo (2003), La Mano de la Buena Fortuna (published in English as At The Lucky Hand), Bajo el techo que se desmorona (2014) and El cerco de la iglesia de la Santa Salvación (2015); he now returns to Mexico with Papel con el sello de agua, a novel set in Renaissance Italy, where Giovanna II, Queen of Naples, travels to the port of Amalfi to attend the celebrated Confraternity of the Congrega dei Cartari, which produces Europe’s finest paper. The monarch, renowned for her promiscuity, has the intention of buying this paper to write a love letter. She is accompanied by number of servants, her personal guard and army, and she threatens to burn the city unless they sell her the paper. The confraternity, so famous for the quality of its paper, is also known for being fussy when selecting purchasers, evaluating their honesty, moral values and the use to which the paper will be put. In conversation with Mariana H.

Consecutive interpretation from Serbian to Spanish available

The author of the essay Feminismo sin cuarto propio, included in the anthology of feminist texts Tsunami 2, and of the outstanding short story collection Perras de reserva (2022), Dahlia de la Cerda (Mexico) returns with Desde los zulos (2023), a book that combines autofiction, journalism and essay to reflect on marginal feminisms, the danger of excluding practices within the social movements and proposes a more plural and diverse view of feminism. Dahlia de la Cerda has a degree in Philosophy, was a fellow of the 2015 Aguascalientes Programme for the Stimulation of Artistic Creation and Development and was also a beneficiary of the FONCA Young Artists’ Programme in 2016 and 2018. She is a co-founder and co-director of the Morras Help Morras feminist collective. In conversation with Claudia Ivonne Hernández.

Desahucio by Imanol Martínez (Mexico) won the 2021 José Revueltas National Youth Novel Prize. In counterpoint, the novel tells the story of the lives of Daniel and Julián. Daniel is a well-established chef who discovers that cancer is about to end it all. Meanwhile Julián, his best friend, undertakes some major projects, whose success is anything but guaranteed. Eva Piquer (Catalonia, Spain) has written 13 books, has been Literary Manager of the Thassalia publishing house and currently edits the cultural magazine Catorze. In Aterrizaje, her most recent novel, a woman overcome by mourning decides to travel to Iceland to relieve her pain. On the trip, the woman connects with a past that has been buried and evaded, and discovers a new love for life, one that she had been unwilling to let herself feel. The writer and editor Socorro Venegas received an Honorable Mention in the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz awards for her first novel La noche será negra y blanca, and she has edited the recently-published anthology, Vindictas. Cuentistas Latinoamericanas (2023). She is the author of Ceniza roja (2022), a diary in which the poetic gaze and colour of memory shows us the dark workings of mourning in a body and soul damaged by absence, waiting and searching. In conversation with David Marcial Pérez Muñoz.

The lawyer and researcher Juan Jesús Garza Onofre (Mexico) presents his most recent book No estudies Derecho (“Don’t Study Law”). This striking title introduces a book that takes a critical look at the main vices and obstacles that divide the work of law from the ideal of serving the rule of law and citizens, and proposes a redefinition of the profession, one based on creativity and empathy. With this talk, the author invites us to imagine a new relationship with justice and its intermediaries. In conversation with Javier Risco.

At this event with Margarita Sada, illustrator of the book Sansón, written by Jenny Pasivic, the graphic artist will talk about the process of creating an illustrated book, in order to reveal the meaning that she has sought to give to the creative process of making Sansón, a work whose main character is the little mouse of the same name. Through it, she aims to show that every person, independently of their size or physical characteristics, has great personality and heart, just like Sansón the mouse. At this interactive event, the children attending will have the chance to draw themselves, with the author’s help, as mice who are happy to accept themselves as they are.

The Irish writer John Boyne presents All The Broken Places, the highly awaited sequel to the book that has moved millions of readers around the world, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. At this event, in conversation with the BBC’s Daniel García Marco, Boyne will talk about his book: the story of Gretel, Bruno’s older sister, long after the war and in the present day, and how she must face her guilt and responsibility for her family’s past, almost eighty years after the conflict. An unmissable event about expiation and the duty of memory for all those who entered into the tragic friendship between Shmuel and Bruno.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

An event with the great Latin American rock star, Andrea Echeverri (Colombia), at which this artist will talk to Mariana H about music, art, feminisms and a musical career so closely tied to the recent history of Spanish-language rock music.

Antonio Lazcano (Mexico) is a biologist, a Doctor of Science from UNAM, and expert in the origin and early evolution of life. He has lectured and been a visiting scientist at universities in the Americas and Europe and has received national and international awards. He also has three honorary doctorates and has been a member of the National College since 2014. He is the author of around 150 research papers and numerous books, including Tres ensayos darwinistas (2016), in which he invites the reader to meet one of the great scientists, focussing on three major topics: natural selection, inheritance and the origin of life. At this event, Lazcano will give a lecture about a true watershed in the history of medicine, science and human life: vaccinations.

In conversation with Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, members of the Maya artistic and writing collective, and a Nahua designer and publisher will talk about art and text production based on the knowledge of the native peoples of Mexico. Javier Silverio Balderas Castillo has been an artist for 48 years at Taller Leñateros, a group which won the 2021 National Arts and Literature Prize. It is a publishing collective that consist of Maya artists from Chiapas. Since 1975 they have been writing, illustrating, printing, binding and publishing books with paper made by themselves. Isela Xospa, from Milpa Alta, is a Graphic Design graduate of UAM Xochimilco. She has undertaken independent publishing and design projects in Mexico and New York. She won the 2021 Antonio García Cubas Award in the Children’s Work category, and was a British Library Chevening Scholar in 2021-2022, with a project about the first printed books in native languages in Latin America.

What do democratic processes and their institutions mean for citizens? Do we know what the concept of democracy means, and where it comes from? What role does legislation play? We talk to experts about the rights, duties and benefits of living within a democratic system. With Graciela Báez Ricárdez, Ismael Carvallo Robledo and Juan Jesús Garza Onofre in conversation with Pascal Beltrán del Río.

To close the eighth edition of the Hay Festival Querétaro with a flourish, we present of the book La errática vigilia, which brings together the collected poetry of Paula de Allende (Monterrey, 1938 – Queretaro, 1979), published by Letra Capital, the Queretaro Municipality Press. De Allende, recognized for her unique voice and the exquisite value of her poetry, was ahead of her time and explored the depths of the human soul in a unique way. As well as being an outstanding poet, she was an important figure on the cultural scene, since, through her promotional work, de Allende promoted culture in our city and opened the way for young talents. This anthology, meticulously compiled by her son Francisco, pays homage to the intimate and mysterious voice of Paula de Allende. With Carlos Campos and Juan Antonio Isla.

The plot of the book Corazones de estambre, written by Braulio Guerra and illustrated by Ana Karen Valdés, is told through words and pictures. If we do not let the words out, they become entangled and make a knot inside of us, just like the wool of the title. That is why it is good to have techniques to disentangle the knots. At this interactive activity, the participants will carry out a workshop with woollen yarn, together with Braulio Guerra, who will explore how to disentangle the emotional knots we all face in our lives.

Actor, director and cultural agitator, Gael García Bernal (México) needs no presentation, wherever he goes. From his first starring roles in Y tu mamá también or Amores perros, as well as The Motorcycle Diaries, Bad Education, No or the series Mozart in the Jungle, he has worked with the best directors in the world, and he has directed movies like Chicuarotes and has creating the production company La Corriente del Golfo, alongside Diego Luna, producing El tema, a series of documentaries about climate emergency, one of his biggest concerns. Precisely about the climate emergency, the land and the relationship that we humans have with our environment is his topic of conversation today. He will talk to David Marcial Pérez.