South to North conversations
With the South to North series, the Hay Festival offers a forum for some of the most innovative voices of the global South, in order to share different ways of seeing the world, as well as non-Western solutions to the problems that beset us. This series is supported by Open Society Foundations
Upcoming events
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Winter Weekend (26-30 November, 2025)
- Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China. Jung Chang talks to Erica Wagner
- 20 Years of Hay Festival in Latin America – Celebrating its Literature. Carlos Fonseca and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera talk to Cristina Fuentes La Roche
- The Betrayal of Afghanistan. Lyse Doucet and Sune Engel Rasmussen
- Reporting on the Middle East. Jehan Alfarra, Lyse Doucet and Imran Khan talk to Bethan McKernan
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias (29 January — 1 February, 2026)
- Necessary histories. Sani Ladan and Karima Ziali in conversation Javier Ortiz Cassiani
- The world is different after Gaza. Héctor Abad Faciolince, Omar El Akkad and Janne Teller in conversation with José Manuel Acevedo
- Fictions from the remains of Empiress. Mia Couto, Pankaj Mishra and Lea Ypi in conversation with Nesrine Malik
- The hidden side of artificial intelligence. Karen Hao, Chao Tayiana y Carissa Véliz en conversación con Luhan Gabel
- Media organisations outside the Anglo-centric world. Fernando Arancón, Denise Maerker, Pankaj Mishra en conversación con Javier Lafuente
- The silence that will weigh on our consciences. Omar El Akkad en conversación con Nesrine Malik
Past events
Watch or listen to the events by clicking on the hyperlink.
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Arequipa (6-9 November, 2025)
- Feminisms. María Galindo, Arwa Mahdawi and Rafia Zakaria in conversation with José Luis Ramos Salinas
- The Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Rodolfo Sánchez-Aizcorbe and Arwa Mahdawi in conversation with Natalia Sobrevilla
- This democracy is not democracy. Nelly Luna and Josefina Townsend with David Marcial Pérez
- In first person. Marie-Pier Lafontaine and Rafia Zakaria in conversation with Nelly Luna
- French ethnology in Peru Pascal Riviale in conversation with Mario Rommel Arce Espinosa
- Catholicism in the 21st century. Elise Ann Ellen, Pablo Quintanilla and Paola Ugaz in conversation with Camila Osorio
- Violences. Carlos Enrique Freyre and Enmanuel Grau in conversation with Paola Donaire
- 'Coreografía para trenzas solas'. Teresa Ruiz Rosas in conversation with Augusto Carrasco
- From the trenches and the periphery. María Galindo in conversation with Camila Osorio
- Inhospitable countries, sartling stories. Alejandra Moffat and Dany Salvatierra in conversation with Jorge Malpartida
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Forum Dallas (14-17 October, 2025)
- The pioneering cartoonist who redefined graphic journalism. Joe Sacco in conversation with Arwa Mahdawi
- From Mumbai to Harvard—rethinking caste through a global lens. Suraj Yengde in conversation with Miriam Fauzia
- Seven years embedded with “coyotes”: De León’s National Book Award winner. Jason de León in conversation with John Gibler
- Pulitzer Prize winner and author of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'. Junot Díaz in conversation with Paola Nagovitch
- Talk & Performance. Bocafloja in conversation with Paula Cuellar
- A Night Only Come Back. AfroPerreo
- Gabriela Cabezón Cámara and Michel Nieva with Carmen Álvarez
- A groundbreaking feminist anthology from Mexico, now in English. Tsunami: Marina Azahua, Gabriela Jauregui and Sara Uribe
- Presented by Manuel “Pantro Puto” Sánchez Viamonte from El Mato a Un Policia Motorizado. Festiclip: Music Video Stories from Argentina
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Segovia (11-14 September, 2025)
- Mariana Enriquez in conversation with Miquel Molina
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Querétaro (4-7 September, 2025)
- Pankaj Mishra in conversation with Mario Arriagada
- Gaza and the silenced conflicts. Reed Brody, Selma Dabbagh and Pankaj Mishra in conversation with Jaled Abdelrahim Aranda
- Bibiana Collado and Fatima Ouassak in conversation with Yael Weiss
- Screening of the documentary 20 años del Hay Festival en Colombia. Presented by Cristina Fuentes La Roche
- South Asia Speaks. Sonia Faleiro and V. V. Ganeshananthan in conversation with Mario Arriagada
- Future hacking: science fiction and neoliberalism. Michel Nieva in conversation with Eduardo Rabasa
- Disappeared in Mexico. Yadira González, Alma Delia Murillo and Mirna Nereida in conversation with Héctor Guerrero
South to North Conversations at Nairobi Lit Fest (27 June - 29 June, 2025)
- Masterclass: On the Mic: Crafting Your Voice in Podcasting. Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata
- Power of humour. Aditi Mittal and Ty Ngachira in conversation
- Indigenous wisdom and climate change. Bia'ni Madsa' Juárez López, Joan Otieno and Waringa Wahome in conversation with Edith Kimani
- Book Talk: Africa Is Not a Country. Dipo Faloyin in conversation with Astrid Madimba and Chinny Ukata
- Defying the long shadow of empire. Panashe Chigumadzi and Joe Sacco with Garnette Oluoch-Olunya
- Book Talk: 'Tidal Waters'. Velia Vidal in conversation with Wendy Njoroge
- Hearth as source. Leïla Slimani in conversation with Mukami Kowino
- Retrospective on a career. In Koli Jean Bofane in conversation with Nteranya A. Sanginga
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye (22 May - 1 June, 2025)
- Fictons: DeathTakes Me. Cristina Rivera Garza talks to Gaby Wood
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. Omar El Akkad talks to David Olusoga
- How to save the Amazon. Eliane Brum, Beto Marubo, Alessandra Sampaio and Jonathan Watts talk to Jon Lee Anderson
- Reclaiming History. Atinuke and Kavita Puri talk to Sonia Faleiro
- Is the mainstream media ready for a post-American world? Pankaj Mishra and Jonathan Shainin in conversation with Fara Dabhoiwala
- Fictions: Chaos and Control. Guadalupe Nettel and Saba Sams talk to Georgina Godwin
- Rainforests: The Centre of Earth. Eliane Brum and Guy Shrubsole talk to Ayisha Osori
- The Power of Narratives. Ngartia Bryan and Djamila Ribeiro in conversation with Ayisha Osori
- International Aid, What Next? Bob Geldof, Martin Griffiths, Ayisha Osori in conversation with Lyse Doucet
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Forum Sevilla (12 - 15 February, 2025)
- Rashid Diab in conversation with Sema D’Acosta
- Boris Izaguirre in conversation with Ana Gavín
- Xu Tiantian in conversation with Martha Thorne
South to North Conversations at Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias (28 January - 2 February, 2025)
- Jon Lee Anderson in conversation with Leonard Benardo.
- Managing our territory. Olimpia Palmar, Gustavo Ulcué Campo and Ricardo Villafañe in conversation with Weildler Guerra
- Viet Thanh Nguyen in conversation with Óscar Guardiola-Rivera.
- Colson Whitehead in conversation with Mayra Santos-Febres.
- Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Javier Zamora in conversation with Leonard Benardo
- Book Club. Camila Sosa Villada in conversation with Margarita Valencia.
- Creation. María Negroni and Cristina Rivera Garza in conversation with Daniela Pabón
- 20 questions: AI. Marcus du Sautoy, Rodrigo Quian Quiroga and Rafael Yuste in conversation with Sylvie Duchamp
- Camila Sosa Villada in conversation with Melba Escobar
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT HAY FESTIVAL AREQUIPA 2024 (7-10 NOVEMBER, 2024)
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT HAY FESTIVAL QUERÉTARO 2024 (5-8 SEPTEMBER, 2024)
- Thirty years of the Zapatista movement. Guiomar Rovira and Rosaluz Pérez Espinosa in conversation with Kevyn Simón
- Thirty years of the Zapatista movement. Rosaluz Pérez Espinosa and Guiomar Rovira in conversation with Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil
- Nimmi Gowrinathan in conversation wih Andrea Díaz Cardona
- Narratives in plural. Garry Gottfriedson and Josefa Sánchez Contreras in conversation with Mikel Ruiz
- Presidenta. Gabriela Jauregui, Brenda Lozano and Mariana H in conversation with Yuriria Sierra
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT NBO LITFEST 2024 (28-30 JUNE, 2024)
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT HAY FESTIVAL HAY-ON-WYE 2024 (23 MAY - 2 JUNE, 2024)
- An African History of Africa. Zeinab Badawi talks to Areeba Hamid
- How to Stand up to a Dictator: The Fight for our Future. Maria Ressa talks to Misha Glenny
- In the Shadow of the Mountain. Silvia Vasquez-Lavado talks to Kirsty Lang
- The Challenges of Covering the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Hind Hassan, Dalia Hatuqa and Lindsey Hilsum talk to Roula Khalaf
- On Democracy. Aditi Mittal, Elif Shafak and Lola Shoneyin talk to Roula Khalaf
- Writing from Elsewhere. Hisham Matar, Elif Shafak and Adania Shibli talk to Philippe Sands
- Minor Detail. Adania Shibli talks to Hisham Matar
- Colonialism. Sathnam Sanghera talks to David Olusoga
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT HAY FESTIVAL CARTAGENA DE INDIAS 2024 (25-28 JANUARY, 2024)
- South to South conversations: literature and freedom of expression. In Koli Jean Bofane and Adania Shibli in conversation with Jon Lee Anderson.
- South to South conversations: different ways of seeing the world. Tsitsi Dangarembga, In Koli Jean Bofane, Pankaj Mishra and Erna von der Walde in conversation with Juan Esteban Lewin Pinzón.
- South to South conversations. Pankaj Mishra and David Olusoga in conversation with Juan Esteban Lewin Pinzón.
- South to South conversations: cultural management. Cristina Fuentes La Roche, Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka in conversation with Margarita Valencia.
SOUTH TO SOUTH CONVERSATIONS AT HAY FESTIVAL AREQUIPA 2023 (9-12 NOVEMBER. 2023)
- South to South conversations: Literature. Lina Meruane and Lola Shoneyin in conversation with Jorge Bedregal La Vera.
- South to South conversations: The city. Natalia Beristáin, Carlos Moreno and Djamila Ribeiro in conversation with Emma Graham-Harrison.
- South to South conversations: Ancestral medicine. Pedro Favaron in conversation with Stefano Varese.
