Hay Festival Arequipa 2023

Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo (Spain), a member of the Spanish parliament for the Partido Popular, will talk to Clara Elvira Ospina about her book Políticamente indeseable, a combination of autobiography and essay in which she tackles questions such as political polarisation, intolerance towards those who hold opposing opinions, and the lack of debate in our society today. At this event, the author will share her personal experience in politics, and how she has been labelled “politically incorrect” for expressing her opinions without fear of the consequences.

Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo will join the event remotely.

The writer and journalist Sergio del Molino (Spain) takes us back to a crucial moment in the history of Spain employing the biographical thread of one of its major figures, Felipe González. In a masterful combination of history and literature, Un tal González shows us the figure of the Spanish politician, in a way that is not about settling scores or toppling icons. At this event, del Molino takes us into the complex world of Felipe González and shows us his unique vision of contemporary Spain. In conversation with Renato Cisneros.

Together with Gabriela: words, images and stories, playing and combining different materials in order to make new words, new images, new stories.

What do we expect from cultural journalism in the 21st century? What spaces remain for cultural magazines in these times of accelerated communication? Join us for a special event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the El Dominical cultural supplement of the El Comercio newspaper, in order to reflect on these and other urgent matters. The guests, talking to Enrique Planas, will be two eminent panellists: Sergio del Molino (Spain), acclaimed author, essayist and regular contributor to El País newspaper; and Fernando Gómez (Colombia), El Tiempo journalist.

Alonso Cueto (Peru), winner of the Herralde Novel Prize for The Blue Hour, the Alcobendas-Juan Goytisolo Fiction Prize for Palabras de otro lado and shortlisted for the Planeta-Casa de América Prize with El susurro de la mujer ballena, presents his latest book, Francisca: Princesa del Perú. This is a historical novel set in the 16th century, which tells the story of Francisca Pizarro Huaylas Yupanqui, daughter of the Inca princess Quispe Sisa and Francisco Pizarro, and known as the first mixed race child of Peru. Through the private viewpoint of Francisca, the author shows that this complex and traumatic story illustrates the relationship between Spain and Latin America, and is also the beginning of future mixtures and migrations. In conversation with the BBC journalist Juan Carlos Pérez.

Two writers present their debut novels. The author and publisher Johann Page (Peru) has written Páginas del fin del mundo, a book about a middle-aged publisher who, upon receiving a mysterious message after many years and silent bitterness, returns to his father’s old printing business, hidden in the centre of the capital. This is the beginning of a journey into a very intimate past. The writer Madalena Sa Fernandes (Portugal), who works as a journalist for Público newspaper, has published the novel Leme, which tells the story of a toxic relationship. In conversation with Ingrid Bejerman.

Festín is a cookery book that presents Peruvian ingredients in a light-hearted way, with striking and unusual recipes created especially for children by Pía León, one of the world’s finest cooks, and Malena Martínez, the outstanding researcher into Peruvian biodiversity. Mashua ice cream, oca doughnuts, muña lemonade? Yes, please, delicious! Festín is an invitation to discover the marvels that grow in the fertile lands of Peru and an opportunity to explore, discover and learn. A festival of colour and taste, and a banquet to share. At this event, we will meet Malena Martínez, who will reveal the great secrets of the ingredients and cuisine of our country.

Together with the children, Diana will prepare a traditional Arequipa dish, soltero de queso, sharing ideas about the Arequipa origin of the ingredients that make up the dish.

Two experts analyse the current political state of Peru, one characterised by corruption and violence, but also by possibilities for reinvention. José Alejandro Godoy is a political scientist, university lecturer and author of a range of books. His works El último dictador: Vida y gobierno de Alberto Fujimori and Los herederos de Fujimori draw a portrait of the man who led Peru during the 1990s, who was behind the government that the author identifies as the last authoritarian government of the 20th century, and they also go into the continuity produced by his children. His most recent book is Peligro: Orden de disparar, which goes a little further back in time and covers events in the country between 1980 and 1986. Fernando Tuesta Soldevilla, one of the most lucid and informed political commentators today offers a detailed look at the crises that the country’s political organisations and institutions are undergoing. His most recent work, La reforma política: Ideas y debates para un buen gobierno, is a compilation of columns and articles about this matter, written over the course of three decades, and which proposes alternatives for a reformation of democracy that offers citizens reasons for hope and optimism. In conversation with Mabel Cáceres.

One of the best-known Peruvian writers today, the author of The Distance between Us, You Shall Leave Your Land and Algún día te mostraré el desierto, Renato Cisneros presents El mundo que vimos arder, the story of two Peruvians, separated by decades, who leave their native land. One seeks a new life in Spain after a divorce; the other emigrates to the United States and faces the horrors of the Second World War. Between two different times and two apparently dissimilar viewpoints, the novel reflects on war, exile, love and identity. In conversation with Denise Arregui.

With Fiorella Rusca Jordán, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and certified yoga teacher; and Johseline Perochena Caro, an administrator and specialist in Special Education with experience in education and publishing projects. Based on the yoga book for all ages, De la tierra al mar, this event is an opportunity to experience yoga as a safe path to get to know ourselves, to grow and to become free. A path of return to our true natures, which is free and can free others. We present the book, we do yoga together, and we reflect on detachment and liberty.

The activity includes interpretation into sign language