Hay Festival Cartagena 2025
The twentieth edition of Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias will be held from 30 January to 2 February. In this page you can find the events in the general programme as well as Hay Festival Joven activities for university audiences, Hay Festival Comunitario sessions which took place in different areas of Cartagena, Reading Clubs and Talento Editorial.
For any inquirie, please contact tickets@hayfestival.org and contacto@hayfestival.org. Consulta el programa en PDF.
Event HFC3
Carolina Garzón Blanco and Mary Grueso
La Canoa Literaria
Read moreMary Grueso is a poet, oral storyteller, writer, activist, teacher and one of the most prominent voices of the Colombian Pacific. Agüela, se fue la nuna is a book about a child who wants to understand what has happened to the moon; his wise agüela offers to help, and together they go on an adventure in which they discover not only the secrets of our moon, but also about Tumaco, its games, everyday life, and knowledge. She will share this story with Carolina Garzón Blanco, the book’s illustrator.
Free event
Event HFC7
Carlos Agudelo Montoya
Puerto Rey
Read moreCarlos Agudelo Montoya (Colombia) teaches, runs literature workshops and also writes. He has won a range of awards and has published many books for children, including Colombia es una fiesta and El piano de la selva. In his book Tras la sonrisa del lobo we read the stories of classic characters including Tom Thumb, Bluebeard, Cinderella, the evil witches, and Red Riding Hood’s wolf who, when he is not working as the villain of the story, is really a friend of Grandma and the hunter. He also talks about books and literature on his YouTube channel, Más que literatura.
Free event
Event HFJ2
Jesús Herrera Babilonia and Lilia Herrera in conversation with Vincent Taborda
Stories from the island. Cultural management with a community perspective
Universidad de Cartagena, Claustro de San Agustín (Biblioteca)
Read moreThe Entrelazarnos: Märchenstunde Mis Cuentos de la Isla project is an initiative led by the Casa Cultural Colombo Alemana in the four towns of the island of Tierra Bomba. This project generated creative experiences with women community leaders, children and young people. At this event, Jesús Herrera Babilonia (Colombia), an educationalist, historian, psychologist and cultural manager at the Casa Cultural Colombo Alemana, and Lilia Herrera (Colombia), comunnity leader of Tierra Bomba will talk to Vincent Taborda about the experiences of those involved in the process of creating stories with an island theme.
Event free for the university community
Sponsored by CAF
Event HFJ4
Juan Gabriel Leiva and Ingrid Silva in conversation with Laura Puello
Universidad de Cartagena, Claustro de San Agustín (Biblioteca)
Read moreSince 2014, the university press of the Technological University of Bolivar (UTB) has been working on a book collection called Semilla, whose goal is to boost a love of reading and literature among young people and adults in the UTB. To create the collection, the press has carefully selected major works from different genres and authors of world literature. At this event, Juan Gabriel Leiva (Editorial Coordinator at the UTB) and Ingrid Silva (Humanities Coordinator) will talk about this reading promotion initiative and the first ten years of a publishing project that makes books available for free. In conversation with Laura Puello.
Event free for the university community
Event HFC10
Mary Grueso
Corporación Ruleli
Read moreMary Grueso is a poet, oral storyteller, writer, activist, teacher and one of the most prominent voices of the Colombian Pacific. Agüela, se fue la nuna is a book about a child who wants to understand what has happened to the moon; his wise agüela offers to help, and together they go on an adventure in which they discover not only the secrets of our moon, but also about Tumaco, its games, everyday life, and knowledge.
Free event
Event HFC23
Carlos Agudelo Montoya
Membrillal
Read moreCarlos Agudelo Montoya (Colombia) teaches, runs literature workshops and also writes. He has won a range of awards and has published many books for children, including Colombia es una fiesta and El piano de la selva. In his book Tras la sonrisa del lobo we read the stories of classic characters including Tom Thumb, Bluebeard, Cinderella, the evil witches, and Red Riding Hood’s wolf who, when he is not working as the villain of the story, is really a friend of Grandma and the hunter. He also talks about books and literature on Es más que literatura, his YouTube channel.
Free event
Event HFC26
Carlos Agudelo Montoya
Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española (Biblioteca)
Read moreCarlos Agudelo Montoya (Colombia) teaches, runs literature workshops and also writes. He has won a range of awards and has published many books for children, including Colombia es una fiesta and El piano de la selva. In his book Tras la sonrisa del lobo we read the stories of classic characters including Tom Thumb, Bluebeard, Cinderella, the evil witches, and Red Riding Hood’s wolf who, when he is not working as the villain of the story, is really a friend of Grandma and the hunter. He also talks about books and literature in his YouTube channel Más que literatura.
Free event
Event HFC30
Daniela Pabón
Biblioteca Popular de Playa Blanca
Read moreAt this event we explore forms of secret, based on the book Fernanda by Daniela Pabón and Catéter (Colombia). Nature hides secrets that appear in human life as revelations, instants that conserve eternity. Fernanda is an old being, assumed to be extinct, the sea is an immense body, an earthly force, although it consists of water. Between them is the heart of the world, the secret of all living things. We play with words in order to create and record a poetic composition of whispers, murmurs and silences. So, the secret of Fernanda and the sea will be ours too.
Free event
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