General Programme

Screening of the documentary 'How to Build a Library'  

Saturday 5 September 2026, 8pm – 10.45pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, How to Build a Library takes us to Nairobi to witness how two black women set about rebuilding what, until 1958, was a library exclusively for white people. The documentary is a fascinating exploration of colonisation and the power of individual and collective action. Event introduced by Blanmi Núñez.

Duration of the documentary: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Consecutive interpretation from English to Spanish available

In collaboration with Nairobi Litfest, with the support of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season 2026 and Ambulante

Lecture by Carlos Moreno  

Queretaro: a 15-minute city?

Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.30am CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Leaving home and reaching school, the health centre, the market and work in no time at all. What in some places seems like a utopia is simply an urban planning concept that can transform the way we live: the 15-minute city, an idea conceived by Carlos Moreno (Colombia/France). 2026 is the year that marks three centuries since construction began on the Queretaro aqueduct, the city’s architectural and urban planning icon, and it presents a unique opportunity to view the city with fresh eyes. Queretaro continues to grow and transform; how close or far is it now from becoming a 15-minute city? The renowned urban planner will give a lecture on Queretaro, in which he will discuss the city’s challenges and the opportunities it has to improve the well-being of its citizens.

Sponsored by SURA

Cristina Fuentes La Roche, Adriana Martínez Guerrero and Claudia Neira Bermudez in conversation with Mayra Arauco  

Cultural management for changing the world

Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.30am CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Two of the leading figures in the literary and cultural ecosystem will be in conversation with Mayra Arauco, CAF Creative Economies specialist. They will reflect on how to turn festivals into a tool for social transformation, how their curatorial work can promote the emergence of new and diverse voices, and how to democratise access to culture. Cristina Fuentes La Roche (Spain) is the International Director of the Hay Festival, Claudia Neira Bermudez (Nicaragua) is the Director of Centroamérica Cuenta, and Adriana Martínez Guerrero (Colombia) is the founder and director of the LEA festival in Greace.

With the support of CAF

Santiago Beruete in conversation with Claudia Ivonne Hernández  

Green philosophy

Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.30am CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

Filosíntesis is an invitation to think like a plant, to emulate its photosynthesis and find our spiritual nourishment. The premise is one of philosophy’s most frequently asked questions: how can we live better? The Spanish philosopher Santiago Beruete suggests we look to the plant world to seek the light and thus learn how to think and act in a healthy, sustainable and beneficial way. Returning to nature, through the spirituality and philosophy of the garden. Returning to green, the colour of hope.

Vivir Quintana and Gabriela Warkentin in conversation with Juan Carlos Pérez  

Enforced disappearances

Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.30am CST –  Jardín Guerrero

The reality of enforced disappearances is one of Mexico’s most serious structural crises. In April 2026, it became a topic of debate at the highest political level when the national government dismissed a report by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances which classified these acts as “crimes against humanity”. Journalist Gabriela Warkentin and singer and activist Vivir Quintana will speak to the BBC Mundo journalist Juan Carlos Pérez about this recent controversy and analyse what steps need to be taken to end impunity and alleviate the suffering of families.

Mara Rahab Bautista López and Gustavo Puerta Leisse in conversation with Melissa Pérez  

Publishing Talent: roads to independence

Sunday 6 September 2026, 10.30am CST –  Casa Hay Festival — SURA (salón lateral)

Two independent publishing projects, two ways of life. Mara Rahab Bautista López (Mexico) co-manages Originaria, which promotes contemporary literary works written by women in non-hegemonic languages; Gustavo Puerta Leisse (Venezuela) is the co-founder of Editorial Modernas el Embudo, which specialises in children’s and young adult literature. The two will talk to Melissa Pérez (Peru) about their motivations for undertaking such personal projects, the rewards they have reaped and the disappointments they have encountered throughout their publishing careers.

With the support of AECID, Librerías Cálamo and Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Alma Guillermoprieto, Óscar Martínez and Gabriela Warkentin in conversation with Beatriz Guillén  

Stories from journalism

Sunday 6 September 2026, 12.30pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Day after day, hundreds of journalists report on the diverse realities of Mexico and Central America, with countless reports on violence, but also human stories that fill us with optimism. Alma Guillermoprieto (Mexico), Óscar Martínez (El Salvador) and Gabriela Warkentin (Mexico) are responsible for giving a voice to these issues and ensuring they reach the public. They will discuss this and the state of journalism in the region, moderated by Beatriz Guillén, journalist of El País.

With the support of El País América

Lydia Cacho in conversation with Felipe Restrepo Pombo  

A hawk under my window

Sunday 6 September 2026, 12.30pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Un halcón bajo mi ventana marks journalist and writer Lydia Cacho’s (Mexico) first foray into fiction for adults. A coming-of-age novel about the power of tenderness and friendship, it pays tribute to the voices of the girls and women who paved the way in the struggle for a fairer world. Julieta is a fourteen-year-old girl searching for meaning in her life in 1960s Mexico. Everything changes when she attends the 1968 marches and the Halconazo of 1971 alongside her mother; historic moments that lead her to become involved in clandestine meetings, revolutionary movements and a decade of thrilling revelations.

With the support of Open Society Foundations

Ana Paola López Birlain and Gustavo Fajardo in conversation with Primitivo Olvera  

Nearby solutions: politics from the local and the regional

Sunday 6 September 2026, 12.30pm CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

No one understands the needs of their citizens better than municipal and regional leaders, who interact with their concerns and ways of life on a daily basis. Their unique position enables them to gain an insider’s understanding of local realities, which is why they play a crucial role in the provision of public services and the implementation of development policies. Ana Paola López Birlain, Secretary of Culture of the State of Querétaro, and Gustavo Fajardo economist from CAF —the organisation that produced the report Soluciones cercanas: el papel de los gobiernos locales y regionales en América Latina y el Caribe— discuss how to engage in grassroots politics with the people in their communities.

With the support of CAF

Julia Didriksson in conversation with Isabel Posadas  

Let’s talk about love

Sunday 6 September 2026, 12.30pm CST –  Jardín Guerrero

What are we talking about when we talk about love? We are questioning the normative ways of experiencing it, so that we can see it as something many-sided, open to question and with many faces. The non-fiction Cuando hablamos de amor is a collective effort to rethink love and to understand it beyond the romantic couple. The feminist thinker and digital activist Julia Didriksson (Mexico) reflects in the anthology on digital romantic solace, an escape route to evading responsibility for our romantic failures.

Enrique Díaz Álvarez and Cristina Monge in conversation with Daniel Pardo  

Against the intolerable

Sunday 6 September 2026, 12.30pm CST –  Casa Hay Festival — SURA (salón lateral)

Has any news story today made you feel uneasy? What is the reason for your disagreement or agreement? Enrique Díaz Álvarez (Mexico) says in Lo intolerable that we have broadened our tolerance threshold so much that we have normalised the unacceptable. And Cristina Monge (Spain) —author of Contra el descontento— says that there is a build-up of social discontent that has led us to question democracy itself. Winners of the 2021 Anagrama Essay Prize and the 2026 Paidós Prize respectively, both thinkers discuss the risks of complacency with the BBC Mundo journalist Daniel Pardo (Colombia) as they seek a way out of this situation.

With the support of Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Pedro Salazar Ugarte and Carissa Véliz in conversation with Juan Carlos Pérez  

Cuadernos hispanoamericanos

Sunday 6 September 2026, 4.30pm CST –  Jardín Guerrero

The journal Cuadernos hispanoamericanos promotes knowledge and exchange among writers and thinkers of different generations and nationalities, united by a shared language and a literary tradition enriched by these diverse origins. In this special conversation, Pedro Salazar Ugarte (Mexico) and Carissa Véliz (Spain/Mexico/United Kingdom) discuss their works — Totalitarismo total and Prophecy, respectively — and their ideas with Juan Carlos Pérez (Colombia).

With the support of AECID

Jeremías Gamboa, Catherine Lacey and Gwendoline Riley in conversation with Elvira Liceaga  

Crooked lines

Sunday 6 September 2026, 4.30pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Life rarely turns out the way we imagine it will. Sometimes this means returning to square one, as happens to the protagonist of El principio del mundo, a novel by Jeremías Gamboa (Peru), who returns to his native Peru at the age of 33 in search of refuge. At other times, we swim in circles, in spaces that ought not to exist; such as the one created by Catherine Lacey (USA) in The Möbius Book, where the narrative folds in on itself, blending memory and fiction, with no beginning and no end. And sometimes, as in My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley (UK), the relationship between mother and daughter becomes fertile ground for frustration and estrangement. They will be joined by Elvira Liceaga (Mexico) to discuss the narrative paths each has found to navigate life’s twists and turns.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

With the support of British Council

Meme del Real in conversation with Sopitas  

A flight in the mountains

Sunday 6 September 2026, 4.30pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

For more than three decades, Emmanuel del Real has been one of the cornerstones of Café Tacvba. A multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter, he may have built a career with a lower profile than those of his bandmates, but one that has always been crucial to understanding the band’s sound. La montaña encendida, his first solo venture and one of last year’s most interesting albums, reflects one of the most creative and sensitive minds in Spanish-language rock. In this conversation with Sopitas, he looks back on his musical journey, his creative processes, his artistic interests and what it has been like to be part of a generation that has become ingrained in popular culture.

SURA invites

Yásnaya Elena A. Gil and Cristina Bendek in conversation with Lluïsa Matarrodona  

Other stories from the Archivo de Indias

Sunday 6 September 2026, 4.30pm CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

Otras historias del Archivo de Indias is an anthology that compiles texts by ten renowned Ibero-American authors who have created works of fiction based on documents held in the Archivo General de Indias. This project by the Hay Festival and CAF aims to bring the archive’s vast collection of documents to the general public and to offer a critical and diverse perspective on the multitude of stories that record and challenge the colonial memory of the Americas. Two of the writers taking part in the initiative, the Mexican Yásnaya Elena A. Gil and the Colombian Cristina Bendek, discuss the anthology with Lluïsa Matarrodona (Spain). Introduced by Mayra Arauco.

With the support of CAF

Mara Rahab Bautista López, Enrique Díaz Álvarez and Óscar Martínez  

Hay Festival en español podcast: New American dreams

Sunday 6 September 2026, 4.30pm CST –  Casa Hay Festival — SURA (patio francés)

Does the American Dream exist? Today, the concept no longer shines quite as brightly as it once did, and the idea has given way to new American dreams: a series of alternative perspectives that reflect the many realities coexisting on the continent. Come and see how an episode of the Hay Festival podcast is recorded live in Spanish, and listen to the thoughts of Enrique Díaz Álvarez, Mara Rahab Bautista López and Óscar Martínez on new ways of writing and living.

Presenters: Iñaki Lasa Etura, Carlos Millet and Luis Pérez

Scripting: BullterrierFM and Hay Festival Internacional

Production: BullterrierFM

With the support of Open Society Foundations and Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Lecture by Darío Sztajnszrajber  

What if love were impossible?

Sunday 6 September 2026, 6.30pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Darío Sztajnszrajber (Argentina) is something of a rock star of philosophy. With his accessible, direct style, he has brought philosophy to large audiences, television and radio. He has captivated non-specialist audiences and is a populariser of both the great philosophical questions of history and contemporary ideas. In El amor es imposible, he dismantles normative romantic love in eight theses. The philosopher questions concepts such as the soul mate or ideal partner, and invites us to rethink heartbreak as part of the desire for the impossible.

Nick Makoha and Martín Solares in conversation Felipe Restrepo Pombo  

Start writing with this advice

Sunday 6 September 2026, 6.30pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

A conversation for readers and aspiring writers. For all those who find themselves full of questions when reading a work of fiction or poetry. Or when writing one. The novelist, publisher and workshop leader Martín Solares (Mexico) is the author of El fantasma de las novelas, an essay in which he proposes quick and creative tools for unravelling the secrets of fiction. The poet and playwright Nick Makoha (Uganda/UK) regularly offers creative writing workshops specializing in memory, resilience, and "imaginative renewal", the process of renewing creativity, breaking free from stagnant thought patterns, and discovering new ways of seeing the world.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

With the support of the British Council

Rosa Ramírez Mazaheri and Elaine Vilar Madruga in conversation with Elvira Liceaga  

Writing from the abyss

Sunday 6 September 2026, 6.30pm CST –  Jardín Guerrero

The abyss can take many forms and be explored from various perspectives. Proof of this can be found in Rosa Ramírez Mazaheri (Mexico/Iran) and Elaine Vilar Madruga (Cuba), who approach the darkness from two completely different realities. The former’s journey begins with introspection, through a fragmented narrative in which the protagonist of Material inflamable reflects on identity, family roots, mental health and addiction. La piel hembra is a recent example of Latin American horror literature, where everyday darkness blends with the fantastic; where the jungle inhabited by its female protagonists is mystical, gloomy, exuberant and nightmarish.

Marta Jiménez Serrano in conversation with Romina Pons  

When I breathed death

Sunday 6 September 2026, 6.30pm CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

“Oxygen is the book I never wanted to write.” The sentence might be read as a literary device, but it takes on a different significance when one realises that Marta Jiménez Serrano (Spain) was on the verge of dying alongside her partner. A leak in the boiler, carbon monoxide poisoning, waking up drowsy, making her way to the bathroom, falling, losing consciousness. What could have been the end becomes a reconstruction encompassing the accident, its consequences and the life that made it possible, including the precarious circumstances that triggered it.

With the support of Acción Cultural Española, AC/E