Hay Festival Querétaro 2025

Workshop with Sens

The Cat and the Cucumber

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10am CST –  Alameda Hidalgo

The Internet is full of viral videos of cats that jump when they see a cucumber. This strange fact is the starting point for The Cat and the Cucumber, the children’s book by Marisa Ebsworth, illustrated by the Queretaro artist, Sens. A story about the friendship between Pepe, a black cat, and Carlos, a cucumber, who become inseparable and have adventures together.

Elvira Sastre in conversation with Laura García

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Thousands of people have come to poetry thanks to the warmth of Elvira Sastre. With poetry books such as Baluarte and Aquella orilla nuestra —in addition to the novel Las vulnerabilidades— she has made poetry an everyday form of expression for a generation of readers. Here, the Spanish author will speak to Laura García, and offer the audience a poetic reading.

With the support of Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Aura García-Junco, Ángeles Romero and Tamara Tenenbaum in conversation with Connie Garrido Sicilia

On love

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Feminisms have taught us that there is not only way to love, just as love has not just one goal or way of working. Aura García-Junco (Mexico), Ángeles Romero (Mexico) and Tamara Tenenbaum (Argentina) reflect with Connie Garrido Sicilia on the many ways of creating emotions and living love.

Hiram Ruvalcaba in conversation with Javier García del Moral

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Jardín Guerrero

Hiram Ruvalcaba is a contemporary voice who tackles the complexities of memory and violence in Mexico. After winning acclaim and awards for her stories and reporting, Todo pueblo es cicatriz is Ruvalcaba’s debut novel. He will talk to the cultural producer Javier García del Moral.

Bibiana Collado and Fatima Ouassak in conversation with Yael Weiss

South to North Conversations

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Museo de la Ciudad (espacio escénico)

«There is only one mother», as the saying goes, but there are many different motherhoods. Such as one of the characters in Yeguas exhaustas by Bibiana Collado (Spain), a mother whose fingers are stiff from work, in a novel about exhausted mothers; or that motherhood that never comes in Chispitas de carne. Fatima Ouassak (France), in La puissance des mères, proposes that mothers can become a new revolutionary subject, able to challenge institutional violence and transform fear into resistance. From a force for peace to a threat to the established order.

Simultaneous interpretation from French to Spanish available

With the support of Open Society Foundations, the French Embassy in Mexico and Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Liliana Viola in conversation with Gina Jaramillo

Anagrama Reporting Prize

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Museo de la Ciudad (sala 2)

In La hermana, the Argentinean journalist Liliana Viola reconstructs the story of Martha Pelloni, the nun who challenged the political authorities of Catamarca (Argentina) in the 1990s after the rape and murder of the young woman María Soledad Morales. A profile and a work of literary journalism that has won the 6th Anagrama Reporting/Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation Award.

Elvira Liceaga, Paulina Flores and Tania Tagle in conversation with Miguel de la Cruz

Sunday 7 September 2025, 10.30am CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

Both Elvira Liceaga, in Las vigilantes, and Tania Tagle, in Fauce, explore the complexities of bereavement and female relationships. Liceaga does so through the link among three women marked by loss; Tagle, through the voice of a mother who must speak to her son about death. In La próxima vez que te vea, te mato by Paulina Flores, the grief lies in the future —or perhaps not—, since the protagonist is trapped in the midst of a polyamorous relationship. In conversation with Miguel de la Cruz.

With the support of UNAM

Workshop with Braulio Guerra Mendoza

Starry tales: explorers of the universe

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12pm CST –  Centro Cultural Gómez Morín (salón 5A, planta baja)

Become a cosmic explorer with Braulio Guerra Mendoza in this astronomical adventure. We discover far-off galaxies, brightly-coloured nebulae and clouds of stars that shine like jewels in the sky. Weather permitting, we will look at the sun, safely, using a phone screen and a telescope that everyone will be able to use. To finish, we will send the universe a symbolic message with our very own cosmic ray. An experience for looking at the sky, but also leaving something there.

Workshop with Jemima Peláez

Biciteca Akari

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12pm – 1.30pm CST –  Alameda Hidalgo

There is a mobile library on two wheels that has over two hundred stories and books, and which can become a space for sharing literature. With reading-matter for all ages, the Biciteca Akari promotes social inclusion, creativity and socio-emotional education through sharing stories. At this event with Jemima Peláez we can see the Biciteca Akari for ourselves, exploring tales that help to boost identity, self-esteem and acceptance, aiming for each participant to take away a new view on harmony and inclusion.

Ricardo Raphael in conversation with Laura García

The Wallace case: a fabricated truth

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

The story that all Mexico believed: the kidnapping of a child and the later media campaign of a mother seeking justice, which involved the highest spheres of power in the country. This was the Wallace case, when the victim became the perpetrator. In Fabricación, the journalist and writer Ricardo Raphael (Mexico) tells how a manufactured grief became a spectacle, and a manipulation of the reality, justice and the media. A true story that could have been a thriller and a systematic reminder of the impunity that haunts us.

Ilse Salas and María Fernanda Monroy Gómez in conversation with Romina Pons

Hay Festival Constellations: film

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Hay Festival Constellations creates a space for intergenerational dialogue within the Mexican cultural scene, in fields such as literature, film, music, science and architecture. At this event, Ilse Salas and María Fernanda Monroy Gómez talk about the profession of telling stories on screen, playing the part that is the simplest and most complicated of all: oneself. In conversation with Romina Pons.

Tamara Tenenbaum in conversation with Jumko Ogata

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Patio de la Delegación del Centro Histórico

In order to understand Un millón de cuartos propios (2025 Paidós Prize) by Tamara Tenenbaum, we must go back to mid-2022, when the Argentinean writer was asked to translate Virginia Woolf’s famous book, A Room of One’s Own. Against this background, she proposes a re-reading of the classic work in order to reflect on the current situation of women. Her view is that even a major landmark of feminism such as Woolf’s deserves an update, a hundred years after it was first published. In conversation with Jumko Ogata.

Eduardo Rabasa and Mariana Salomão Carrara in conversation with Gina Jaramillo

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Museo de la Ciudad (espacio escénico)

Mariana Salomão Carrara (Brazil), winner of the 2023 São Paulo Literature Prize in the Best Novel category for Não Fossem as Sílabas do Sábado, deals with the intimacy of human relations at moments of vulnerability. Eduardo Rabasa (Mexico), who presents El hotel de los corazones rotos, explores in this novel matters related to identity and impostures, and social and family expectations. They will talk about their different approaches to writing with Gina Jaramillo (Mexico).

Simultaneous translation from Portuguese to Spanish available

Supported by the Open Society Foundations

Andrés Cota Hiriart and Mariana Matija in conversation with Connie Garrido Sicilia

Literature and nature

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Museo de la Ciudad (sala 2)

The power of literature also reaches into the natural world. In nature writing, our natural surroundings become another character, the foundation of the narrative experience. Books such as Fieras familiares by Andrés Cota Hiriart (Mexico) and Niñapájaroglaciar Mariana Matija (Colombia) reimagine our relationship with nature. Our guests will talk about habitable futures, writing, and harmony with the world around us together with Connie Garrido Sicilia.

Sponsored by CAF

Brenda Navarro in conversation with Ateri Miyawatl

Sunday 7 September 2025, 12.30pm CST –  Jardín Guerrero

Brenda Navarro's (México) first two novels, Casas vacías and Ceniza en la boca, have captivated audiences and critics alike. With writing that addresses themes such as non-normative motherhood and migration in a sensitive way, she has received various literary awards. Furthermore, Casas vacías has been taken to the stage, and Diego Luna will direct the film adaptation of Ceniza en la boca. In conversation with Ateri Miyawatl.

With the support of Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Diego Luna and Diego del Río in conversation with Javier Lafuente

Hay Festival Constellations: film

Sunday 7 September 2025, 2pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Hay Festival Constellations creates a space for intergenerational dialogue within the Mexican cultural scene, in fields such as literature, film, music, science and architecture. Commitment to social and political causes has been something that has characterized the careers of Diego Luna and Diego del Río, who will talk to Javier Lafuente about how to raise awareness and promote change.

Workshop with Ileana Alvarez and Gina Jaramillo

Emotional Letter Box

Sunday 7 September 2025, 2pm CST –  Alameda Hidalgo

With the Emotional Letter Box, Gina Jaramillo (Mexico) proposes ways for children to talk about their feelings and name and understand what they are experiencing. At this event the broadcaster and writer and Ileana Alvarez, will help readers to express their emotions through emotional education.

Letra Capital presents Cajas de Agua

Sunday 7 September 2025, 4pm CST –  Alameda Hidalgo

The publishing house Letra Capital presents its collection of beautiful children's books—proudly made in Querétaro and to be shared with the audience during the event. With the participation of Raúl Ángeles Flores, Emiliano Arredondo, Isabel Gamma, Nicolás García, Braulio Guerra Mendoza, Catalina Guillén, Pat Muñoz, Daniela Nieto, Sofía Romo Saavedra and Yolanda Rubioceja. Introduced by Margarita Ladrón de Guevara.

Deborah Levy in conversation with Brenda Navarro

Sunday 7 September 2025, 5pm CST –  Teatro de la Ciudad

Deborah Levy (United Kingdom) is back with a novel in which she delves into her own life experience. August Blue is a stunning and melancholic portrait of a transformation; that of a virtuous pianist that abandons the stage at the peak of her career and embarks on a journey to the island of Poros, where she revisits her personal history and renovates her identity. After her autobiografic trilogy, Levy draws an intimate, personal and introspective text. In conversation with Brenda Navarro.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

With the support of British Council

Tatiana Bilbao and Inés Vachez in conversation with Ayelén Oliva

Hay Festival Constellations: architecture

Sunday 7 September 2025, 5pm CST –  Cineteca Rosalío Solano

Hay Festival Constellations creates a space for intergenerational dialogue within the Mexican cultural scene, in fields such as literature, film, music, science and architecture. Tatiana Bilbao and Inés Vachez believe in the importance of human requirements, and in an architecture that is integrated into its setting. A dialogue on how to inhabit a city and a country, moderated by Ayelén Oliva.