Hay Festival Arequipa 2023

This event will be part of the South to South series, in which the Hay Festival offers a forum for some of the most innovative voices of the global South, in order to share different ways of seeing the world, as well as non-Western solutions to the problems that beset us. With the writer and journalist Lina Meruane (Chile), and the writer and activist Lola Shoneyin (Nigeria). They will talk to Jorge Bedregal La Vera.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Often, indigenous peoples and specific communities are excluded from participation in the designs of the political and cultural systems that influence their own lives. The inclusion and active participation of all citizens is the only way of achieving full and equal democracy. Three experts will talk to the writer and anthropologist Karina Pacheco about their work with Amazon and Afro-Peruvian communities. Pedro Favaron has a doctorate in Literature from the University of Montreal, is a social researcher into Andean, Amazonian and North American indigenous peoples, and is a lecturer at the PUCP. Mariela Noles Cotito lectures in Politics, Discrimination and Public Policy at the University of the Pacific and has Master’s degrees in Law, Latin American Studies and Politics; she carries out research into the themes of human rights, gender equality, non-discrimination and the analysis of public policies related to inclusion. Roberto Zariquiey has a doctorate in Linguistics from La Trobe University (Melbourne), is a lecturer at PUCP and has headed a range of research and social projects regarding Amazon languages.

Digitalising 184 years of journalism has been a titanic task. This has involved processing thousands of articles, which were once news and now form a part of a legacy that is changing over time, always revealing something new. The El Comercio historical archive has made a technological leap through digitalisation, starting with the first printed issue of 4 May 1839. Juan Aurelio Arévalo Miró Quesada, the paper’s News Editor, talks about this project and invites festival-goers to browse this archive, accessible during the period of the Hay Festival. At this event he is accompanied by the Head Writer of the El Dominical supplement of El Comercio, Enrique Planas.

Son of a Chilean novelist and a Venezuelan diplomat, Miguel Bonnefoy was born in Paris and grew up between France, Venezuela and Portugal. Although he decided to write in French, much of his work explores matters such as immigration, being disconnected from your roots, and the character and history of Venezuela. Based on his own experience, at this event Miguel Bonnefoy will talk about the influence of language on the perception of identity, and how a mixture of cultures can enrich one’s individuality. A unique opportunity to reflect on the relationship between language, culture and identity. In conversation with Ingrid Bejerman.

The main crises that the world is facing today, such as the climate emergency, the pandemic, and migration, have their roots in a system of economic exploitation of the countries of the global South. Creating a fairer system of governance and international cooperation involves understanding the ways in which these dynamics of power have been created among regions, and listening to what different regions have to say about the future. With Natalia Sobrevilla Perea (Peru), specialist in the history of the creation of the Andean nations in the 19th century and current political practices; the political scientist and expert in electoral matters, Fernando Tuesta (Peru), Doctor in the Social Sciences and PUCP lecturer; and Alberto Vergara (Peru), Doctor in Politics from the University of Montreal and author of Repúblicas defraudadas (2023). In conversation with Juan Diego Quesada.

We humans love to believe that we act rationally, but the emotions take up a much more important part of our experience that most of us think. Richard Firth-Godbehere (United Kingdom) questions this supposed rationality in A Human History of Emotion, a book that analyses and studies the role of human feelings throughout universal history and culture. In conversation with Javier García del Moral, the author will talk about how the emotions, with all their complexity and diversity, have shaped the world in which we live. This fascinating book includes aspects of psychology, neuroscience, art, philosophy and religion.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Brigitte Baptiste is one of Colombia’s most eminent scientists, an expert in matters related to the environment and biodiversity. She is a Biology graduate from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, has a Master’s degree in Tropical Development and Conservation, and a doctorate in Environmental Management from the Instituto Universitario de la Paz. She was General Manager of the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resource Research Institute and is now the Rector of EAN University. She will talk at the Hay Joven about the biological riches of our countries, the importance of protecting them, and what actions to take in order to do this. In conversation with Paola Donaire.

The dizzying advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence might trigger feelings of awe, but also of fear. At this event, three experts in the field of AI come together to reveal some of the myths regarding this technology, dealing with matters such as privacy and data security, the automation of work, and the impact of AI on society in general. Richard Firth-Godbehere (United Kingdom) is a writer and researcher, and one of the world’s great experts on the emotions. He is currently studying human-machine interaction and the place of human emotions in a digital context dominated by technology. Daniel Innerarity (Spain) is a Professor of Political and Social Philosophy and holds the Artificial Intelligence Chair at the European University Institute in Florence. Marta Peirano (Spain) is a writer and journalist, a specialist on the intersection between technology and power. In conversation with Sabrina Duque.​​

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Guillermo Arriaga has won many prizes, including the Mazatlán, the Alfaguara, the Venice Golden Lion, and a Best Screenplay award at Cannes, and has also been a nominee at the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Baftas. At this event, the accomplished Mexican novelist and screenwriter will present his latest work of fiction, Extrañas, a bildungsroman set in 18th-century England, which plunges the reader into the world of early science and the Enlightenment’s struggle with religion, the irrational and the monstrous side of the human. In conversation with Clara Elvira Ospina.

How can we educate people so they can better face the challenges of the future in a context of historical social inequality, discrimination and precarity? In Desde el corazón de la educación rural, the communicator Daniela Rotalde (Peru) deals with one of the key matters for the country’s development in a work based on hundreds of interviews carried out in educational communities in four districts of Huari, Áncash. De ilusiones, conquistas y olvidos, written by the anthropologist Francesca Uccelli Labarthe together with Carmen Montero, analyses the real capacity of the Peruvian State to offer a high-quality universal education to the rural population. Daniela Rotalde and Francesca Uccelli Labarthe, in conversation with Jorge Bedregal La Vera, talk about the failings of current social programmes and will offer proposals for dealing with one of the major challenges facing the national education system.