A thoughtful dialogue between a seasoned writer with a cultural manager on our environment, the dramatic changes taking place, in Europe in particular, and what the future holds, if indeed anything can be predicted. Canary Islander Juan Cruz, man of the periphery, where different cultures converge, and Cristina Fuentes La Roche, International Director of Hay Festival, will discuss how literature can confront and allay all this uncertainty.

Cruz has just published Secreto y pasión de la literatura, a "luminous and passionate" portrait of great contemporary authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García-Márquez, Jorge Semprún and Jorge Luis Borges.

There will be a book signing after the event.

Event in Spanish

Two language custodians will talk about how their work allows them to care for, celebrate and preserve their language. Mardonio Carballo in poetry, journalism and activism in his indigenous language; and Jemima Peláez through her role as an out-of-the-ordinary librarian.

Within the framework of the first Hay Forum Panama, we begin a series of events on cultural management that will take place at different Hay festivals around the world, supported by CAF. At this inaugural event, the participants will talk to the International Director of the Hay Festival, Cristina Fuentes La Roche, about their internationally renowned and innovative projects in the industry. With Orit Btesh (Panama) of the bookshop El hombre de la Mancha and the Panama Book Fair; Keyes (KC) Hardin (United States) of the La Manzana project; and Velia Vidal (Colombia), founder and creator of Motete.

In Noche negra, Pilar Quintana (Colombia) returns to the untamed and exuberant Colombian Pacific that she portrayed so convincingly in the acclaimed novel La perra. In her latest book, the protagonist finds herself alone for four days in a setting that is both terrifying and fascinating. She feels threatened not only by nature, but by the people around her. As well as her work as a writer, Quintana has recently edited the second issue of the Biblioteca de Escritoras Colombianas. In conversation with Cristina Fuentes La Roche.

Hay Festival’s connection with Pilar Quintana began in 2007 when the festival created Bogotá39, a list of 39 of the best Latin American fiction writers aged under 40. The Colombian author is this year’s winner of the Alfaguara Prize with her fifth novel, Los abismos. Violence and beauty usually come together in the books of Quintana and this is also the case with Los abismos, which tells the story of two generations of women. Unlike other of her novels, there is no blood or political violence, but there is another more subtle kind of violence, which is experienced within the family and particularly by women. Her latest novel, The Bitch, was shortlisted for the 2020 National Book Award. She is also the author of short stories, a collection of which has been published with the title Caperucita se come al lobo.

Quintana will talk to Cristina Fuentes La Roche, International Director of Hay Festival, and jury of Alfaguara Prize 2020.

20 years of the Hay Festival in Colombia condensed into a one-hour documentary. Through the voices of some of the most outstanding figures who have participated in the festival, the public can see some of the secrets behind the scenes of the Hay Festival in Colombia. Presented by Cristina Fuentes La Roche.

Duration: 70 minutes

Director: Gustavo Gordillo