Hay Festival Medellín 2025

Jennifer Ackerman (United Kingdom), the author of The Genius of Birds, returns with her new book, What an Owl Knows. The tales of the world are full of owls: for different cultures it has represented wisdom, mystery, or even presages of death. Popular culture also features the owl, which appears in the Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh stories. These birds, which are able to turn their heads a full 180°, have a very special anatomy, but why are these creatures of the night so famous? This new book is a mixture of natural history treatise, a study of behaviour, and a look at the symbolism of these extraordinary animals. In conversation with Jorjany Botero.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Gioconda Belli, renowned Nicaraguan poet and novelist, is a well known for her political and social with Nicaragua. Her work explores themes such as feminism, love and revolution, mixing poetic sensibilities with speaking out against injustice. Throughout her career she has been awarded numerous prizes, such as Premio Casa de las Américas in 1978 and Premio Biblioteca Breve in 2008. Between her most celebrated work are La mujer habitada and El país de las mujeres. Her latest book is Un silencio lleno de murmullos, a story about absence, silence and family links. Melba Escobar (Colombia) is a columnist and writer, and has written the book for young adults Johnny y el mar, the non fiction book Cuando éramos felices pero no lo sabíamos, and the novels Duermevela, La casa de la belleza, La mujer que hablaba sola and her most recent Las huérfanas. The book is a portrait about Myriam de Nogales, the author´s mother. They speak with María José Castaño.