Hay Festival Forum Panamá 2025

Silvana Paternostro, la periodista barranquillera quien vivió en Panama del 1977 a 1989 empezó su carrera en La Prensa, conversará sobre su libro Soledad y Compañía, una mirada muy especial a través de sus amigos a la vida de Gabriel García Márquez. Cuando Silvana Patenostro asistió a un taller sobre periodismo dictado por Gabriel García Márquez le oyó decir al escritor que su activismo político consistía en hacerle mandados a sus amigos entre ellos estaba el General Omar Torrijos. En su historia oral, Paternostro recoge algunas de las voces que narran el activismo político de Gabo.

We spoke with a key figure in contemporary literary production in the Caribbean: Mayra Santos-Febres (Puerto Rico), a writer and academic, winner of awards such as the Juan Rulfo Prize and the prestigious Guggenheim, Ford, and Rockefeller fellowships. She is co-creator of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Puerto Rico and founder of the Festival de la Palabra (2008-2019). As a researcher, she is an authority on the subject of African descent and racialization. Her most recent publication, La otra Julia, a work that won a Guggenheim fellowship, is a fictionalized biography of the Puerto Rican poet and journalist Julia de Burgos. In conversation with Adrienne Samos.

A conversation to reflect about journalistic work and migrations press coverage, with three experts which work looks into the diasporas that run through the region. In conversación with Ángel Cárdenas, we will have Lourdes García Armuelles (Panamá, journalist), Norberto Paredes (BBC Mundo), and Carlos Pérez (UNODC Global Programme Officer on Human Trafficking and Smuggling).

Julia Navarro (Spain) is an author who, after working in journalism, specialising in political analysis for over 35 years, became a bestselling novelist in 2004 with The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud. She has published further successful books, including Tell Me Who I Am and Out of Nowhere, selling over a million books and garnering major awards. She will talk to Amalia Aguilar about her most recent book, El niño que perdió la guerra, a novel set during the Spanish Civil War, and an invitation to reflect on identity and the power of culture.

The work of Juan David Morgan, written over several decades, stands as a valuable testament to the evolution of Panamanian identity and the complex social, political, and economic transformations that marked the country's destiny. Through his novels, essays, and chronicles, Morgan sharply addresses themes such as the relationship between Panama and its canal, the impact of international tensions on the daily lives of Panamanians, and the struggle for a national identity in a multicultural context marked by constant foreign influences due to its geographical location. His work reflects the inherent contradictions in the process of building a modern nation, where historical memory and cultural roots play a fundamental role. His complete works allow for a revisit and understanding of the multiple dimensions of a country that, in its constant change, continues to seek the consolidation of its identity. In conversation with the social communicator Luz Bonadies.