The third Hay Festival Forum Sevilla will take place from February 12 to 15, 2025, at various venues in the Andalusian capital. The program includes 27 events where topics such as literature, architecture, the environment, and more will be discussed.
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Event 20
Consuelo Varela in conversation with Ignacio Camacho
Waiting for Columbus
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Fundación Valentín de Madariaga
Christopher Columbus is the protagonist of this event. Sailor and European discoverer of America, history has conferred upon him the status of conquistador. But the man elevated to the rank of hero was also a person, in the most private sense of the term. A leading expert on Columbus, historian Consuelo Varela, will speak about the human side of the sailor, a side perfectly captured in the exhibition she is curating, Letters from Columbus. The Americas in the House of Alba, which can be visited in Madrid until next January. The letters she has analysed reflect Columbus's concerns for his children, his personal tastes, and his dismay at injustices. Consuelo Varela, a Seville-born historian, is a researcher at the School of Spanish-American Studies, which belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). A specialist in Christopher Columbus, she was the first woman director of the Reales Alcázares historic royal palace in Seville. Recipient of the 2009 City of Seville Medal, she has published a dozen books and hundreds of articles on the Americas and on Christopher Columbus.
She will discuss this with the Sevilliano journalist Ignacio Camacho. A graduate in Hispanic Languages and Literature from the University of Seville, after working in newspapers such as El Correo de Andalucía, Diario 16 and El Mundo, in 2000 he joined ABC, which he went on to direct between 2004 and 2005. He is a contributor to talk shows on media channels such as Cope and Antena 3. Author of several books of political analysis, he is a member of the Real Academia Sevillana de Buenas Letras (Royal Academy of Literature), and has been awarded the González-Ruano prize; Mariano de Cavia prize; and the Miguel Delibes National Journalism Award.
Event in Spanish
Welcome at 11.45
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James Ellroy (Lee Earle Ellroy) is one of the most renowned writers of crime novels, with a long work that has been successfully adapted, twice, to the cinema. A direct heir to the geniuses of the genre such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Ellroy's style is direct, with few words, dry as a bourbon, which gives his main characters a personality that leaves no one indifferent: they sharpen their words while caressing the gun. His life, marked in his youth by the unsolved murder of his mother, has inspired some of his novels.
He was born in Los Angeles in 1948 and after the separation of his parents, and when he was only 10 years old, his mother was murdered. Over time he became a thief and alcoholic, which earned him jail time. After giving up drinking and finding a job as a Caddy on a golf course, he began to write. His first novel, Requiem for Brown recreates his own life. Other crime novels followed, such as Suicide Hill, The Angel Quartet and The Black Dahlia. Shortly after, in 1990, came the internationally renowned Los Ángeles Confidencial, which prolonged his success in the cinema with a version that is already considered a classic of the noir genre. This month he publishes the novel The Seducers, the third volume of his quintet about Los Angeles, an absorbing story about Marilyn Monroe and her controversial death.
Event in English
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Co-organized with the Infanta Elena Public Library and the Junta de Andalucía and with the collaboration of the English reading clubs
Pascal Bruckner in conversation with Santiago Herrero
Forsaking our world
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Fundación Cajasol - Sala Machado
Writer and philosopher Pascal Bruckner is currently one of the most respected and widely followed thinkers in his native France. Fascinated by human beings and their innermost peculiarities, in recent times he has been reflecting on the position that people in the West should take in a changing world that is beyond our understanding. Through very clear arguments in which he agrees neither with unethical capitalism, nor with its opposing utopian radicalist approaches, the philosopher considers whether battling against so many disruptions (Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, climate change, and so on) is worth it, or whether it would not be better to retreat to the last safe haven we have left: home. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Paris VII. He has been awarded the Renaudot, Montaigne and Medicis Essay prizes, and regularly participates in public debate in media including Le Point, Le Figaro and Le Débat. Roman Polanski made a film of his novel Bitter Moon under the title ‘Bitter Moons’. His works include The Paradox of Love, The Wisdom of Money and A Brief Eternity, which are now followed by The Triumph of the Slippers, in which he examines the notion of giving up or battling on in a world that we no longer recognise.
Bruckner will discuss these issues with Santiago Herrero, director of Cultural and Scientific Relations at AECID. A professional diplomat, he has made his mark as a cultural agitator in the roles he has held across a variety of countries. He has been Cultural Consul in New York; Director of Programming at Acción Cultural Española AC/E; Advisor for Cultural Affairs in the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Cultural Attaché in Tokyo. He was also in charge of Cultural and Consular Affairs in Islamabad and Oslo. The event will be introduced by Isabelle Berneron, Attaché for Books at the French Institute.
Event in French, with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish
Price: €8.00 (EUR)
Co-organized with AECID and the collaboration of Editorial Siruela and the French Institute
Sevillian Talent – Creativity, Innovation, and Future
Round Table
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Real Fábrica de Artillería de Sevilla
This round table brings together prominent Sevillian leaders from various fields to reflect on the city's talent as a driver of creativity and innovation. Through their personal and professional experiences, we will explore how Seville projects itself to the world through culture, technology, and entrepreneurship, while addressing both global and local challenges. An enriching dialogue about the present and future of Sevillian talent, aimed at inspiring new generations and strengthening our commitment to development and excellence.
Simon Armitage in conversation with Alejandro Luque
Everyday verses for the world
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Fundación Valentín de Madariaga
Simon Armitage is one of the most original, respected and beloved poets in the UK. From the school of Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes, he has been breaking the canons of lyrical production for more than 30 years, and now, for the first time, his verses land in Spanish, with an exquisite translation and bilingual edition by Jordi Doce. An incredible work of craftsmanship, at the height of verses that shoot with aim and beauty. In Avión de papel are gathered the best texts of his poetic production over more than a quarter of a century, between 1989 and 2014. Armitage is Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to poetry. An absolute lyrical institution in the islands. He has established himself as one of the leading representatives of the current lyrical scene and continues to exert a decisive influence on his contemporaries. These verses transform the local into the universal, digging to the heart of every image and every feeling.
The poet will talk with writer and journalist Alejandro Luque. One of the most important Andalusian journalists and writers of the moment, he is a columnist for El País, eldiario.es, and M’Sur, as well as a great admirer of Armitage and his poetry.
The event will be complemented by readings of his poems in English and Spanish by Belen Ferrier Llamas, Julie Finch, José Félix Valdivieso and Pedro Zuazua.
Event in English with consecutive translation into Spanish
Welcome at 13.00 h
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Co-organized with the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Spain and Editorial Impedimenta
Teodoro León Gross, Rubén Amón, Ketty Garat, Juan Soto Ivars and Estefanía Molina in conversation
The Mud Machine: Politics versus Journalism
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Fundación Cajasol - Sala Machado
The singling out of the media has become a hallmark of populism. Trump branded journalists as the No. 1 enemy of the people, linking them to the establishment. Indeed, the attack on the press and the courts - with the very doctrine of 'lawfare' or judicial dirty war - is inseparable from the populist drift that has eroded the standards of liberal democracy.
The Andalusian journalist Teodoro León Gross will talk about this complicated relationship between journalism and politics with four outstanding professionals of his profession: Juan Soto Ivars, Ketty Garat, Estefanía Molina and Rubén Amón. León Gross has collaborated with newspapers such as El País, El Mundo and ABC and the different newspapers of the Joly Group in Andalusia. He currently directs and presents the news program Mesa de análisis, on Canal Sur Televisión. Soto Ivars, recent winner of the Jovellanos 2024 International Essay Prize for La trinchera de letras, has become one of the most widely read columnists in Spain. He has published novels, essays and a children's book, and collaborates with media such as Onda Cero, Antena 3, El Confidencial and elPeriódico. Garat is The Objetive's journalist of reference for everything that happens in Moncloa and the PSOE. She is the author of Bajo las alfombras del Congreso and collaborates in different radio and television media. Molina is a political analyst, journalist, and writer who contributes to various television and radio programs and writes for El País; she is the author of Berrinche político. Amón is a writer and journalist with a long career that includes his chronicles as a correspondent in the Balkan War; he collaborates in Onda Cero, with Carlos Alsina, and Antena 3 and writes in El Confidencial and is the author of a dozen books.
Political debates in many countries focus on the immense polarization and the necessary fight against populisms that seek to undermine democracy. Contributing to this are the outcomes of certain elections, climate change, and advances in artificial intelligence, which leave us with a sense of helplessness. Therefore, it is important to reconsider what tools those defending true democracy —one that grants representation and rights to all, without exclusion— might have.
In this event Erica Benner will explain why she believes that the fight against autocracy must involve mobilizing people, but that there is no need to frighten them with visions of dark characters. She argues, “We need to counterattack by thinking more creatively. We must focus on ordinary people and engage them, regardless of their position, rather than only thinking of those already polarized.”
She was born in Tokyo and grew up both in Japan and the United Kingdom. She is a political philosopher who has held academic positions at St Antony’s College at Oxford, the London School of Economics, and Yale University. She is the author of books such as Be Like the Fox: Machiavelli’s Lifelong Quest for Freedom, nominated for Book of the Year by The Guardian. Her latest work is Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of Popular Power. She is president of the European Society for the History of Political Thought.
Benner will be in conversation at the event with Geoffroy Gérard, general manager of the IE Foundation.
Event in English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish
Thomas Schlesser in conversation with Elena Garrigues
From art to comfort
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Fundación Cajasol - Sala Machado
Thomas Schlesser teaches us that there are certain human wounds that cannot be healed. However, drawing on personal experiences, this French art historian and writer teaches us that art can bring us comfort in extreme situations, in such a way that it might help us take the first step towards the stages of overcoming them. Since 2014, Schlesser has been the director of the Hartun-Bergman Foundation (Antibes, France), whose main mission is to preserve the archives and objects of artists. He has just published his first novel, Lex Yeux de Mona (Mona's Eyes), after a string of essays on the history of art and aesthetics. He is also a lecturer at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. First through realism and now through fiction, He attests that an attentive look at any artistic expression is an apprenticeship to life, to its beauty, to know oneself, "to how big the small can be, to believe in miracles, to put the world on pause, that there is no weaker sex, to live the throes of death, to listen to your inner voice, to fight and persevere, that love is desire and desire is deprivation...’".
Schlesser will talk to Elena Garrigues, who works as a professor of Ethics at IE University. With deep cultural concerns, she began her career as a correspondent for several media outlets. She is a trustee in three foundations, inclusive entrepreneurship (Nantik Lum), human rights (Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Spain) and aid to children and adolescents (ANAR). Isabelle Berneron, book attaché at the French Institute, will present the event.
Event in French with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish
Price: €8.00 (EUR)
With the collaboration of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial and the Institut Français
Xu Tiantian is an internationally recognized architect and the founder of DnA Design and Architecture. She has been extensively involved in the process of rural revitalization in China. Her innovative “Architectural Acupuncture” is a holistic approach to heritage and the social and economic revitalization of rural China. UN-Habitat has selected this work as the 'Inspiring Practice' case study on urban-rural linkages. Its social design approach is aimed at maximizing benefits for both the location and its people. The traditional building culture in rural areas differs significantly from that of urban areas. By integrating communities with their environment and considering the cultural and economic context, architecture becomes a fundamental tool for improving agrarian village life.
Born in Fujian China, she received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing and her Master of Architecture degree in Urban Design from Harvard University - GSD. She has received numerous awards, including the WA China Architecture Award in 2006 and 2008, the Emerging Architects Award from the Architectural League of New York in 2008, the Design Vanguard Award in 2009 from Architecture Record, the Moira Gemmill Award for Emerging Women Architects in 2019, and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2023, among others. In 2020, she was named an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Tiantian will discuss his work with Martha Thorne, urban planner and senior advisor to the international cutting-edge award for people and planet, the OBEL Award; she was executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The event will be presented by Nuria Canivell, dean of the Official College of Architects of Seville.
Price: €8.00 (EUR)
With the collaboration of Fundación Cajasol and supported by the Open Society Foundations