Segovia 2015

Culture is a powerful instrument for strengthening the Spanish brand in the area of cultural cooperation. This is successfully promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), which reaches two million people in 130 countries.

Actress, journalist and television presenter Cayetana Guillén Cuervo and AECID's Director of Cultural and Scientific Relations, Santiago Herrero, will discuss the image both of our culture and our artists abroad, and the opportunities to promote development through them, seeking to answer questions such as whether we are fully aware of our potential in Spain, and is our culture appreciated outside our own country?

Event in Spanish

Concepts such as algorithm, data, and artificial intelligence overlap in an ever-accelerating race toward horizons that are increasingly distant from the common good. The demand for European digital sovereignty or decentralization of digital infrastructures is gaining strength, But the concentration of Big Tech in the market is increasing in the light of the passivity of many governments.

Francesca Bria is an innovation economist, professor, and digital and technology policy advisor to the European Commission. She is also part of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board to the Spanish government. Along with Miquel Molina, writer and deputy director of La Vanguardia, she will discuss a key question: Are we still in time to reverse this trend?

With simultaneous translation from English to Spanish

The historian sticks to facts and data to try to explain, with rigor, what has happened and interpret why it has happened. In the historical novel, the author also plays with the truth of some facts, but they are the starting point of a story in which the characters are modeled at the author's service. It is not about disfiguring, but about going further and showing what she thinks of them, how she believes they made his decisions. It is fictional reality, a way of telling “our way.” And in that field, Julia Navarro moves like a fish in water. Journalist and writer, she became known in the literary world with The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud, which was published in 30 countries. The success of her books, common on the best-seller lists, led her to leave journalism. Among her titles are novels such as Tell me who I am, Shoot, I'm already dead, You won't kill, or, the latest, A shared story.

Navarro will talk about her work, experiences, and inspirations with Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, a journalist and writer who works at El País, where he writes for the cultural section. He has written novels such as Los ojos no ven, Preludio and Gordo, which won the Sent Soví Prize for gastronomic writing, Ahogada en llamas, Placer contra placer and Contar la música. Hotel Transición won the Fernando Quiñones Unicaja Novel Prize.

At the end of the event, the author will sign copies of her book in the Plaza Mayor bandstand in front of the theatre.

Event in Spanish

New performance of Propios y Ajenos, a cycle of readings held for the 16th time at the Hay Festival Segovia. The event will be held in the Romeral de San Marcos, the most personal and private garden of the landscape designer and architect Leandro Silva, who, in addition to other projects, restored the Botanical Garden of Madrid.

Quico Serrano, Javier Gila, Elisabeth Grüniger, Carlos Giménez Rengifo, Javier Giráldez, Beltrán Gambier, José María Parreño, Ignacio Gómez de Liaño, Maribel Gilsanz, Sergio Artero, Claudia Schaefer, Manuel Gómez Anuarbe, Miguel Ángel Moreno, Gervasio Posadas and Sheila Cremaschi will read texts of their own or by their favourite poets in memory of the cherished Julia Casaravilla, recently deceased, museologist and owner-curator of Romeral de San Marcos, and wife of Leandro Silva.

José Antonio Municio, an expert in the history of the garden, which he has written a book about, will reveal some of its secrets. Félix Valdivieso will lead the readings as master of ceremonies.

In case of rain, the event will be moved to the IE University Sala Capitular

With readings in Spanish

There are cells that make the journey to malignancy and begin to mutate over and over until they become so self-centred they create a cancer. On top of that, they aspire to be immortal, something which should go against their own nature. Carlos López-Otín will talk to journalist Helena de Bertodano about this journey, science’s study of it, and the treatments to cure these cells.

López-Otín is one Spain’s most internationally renowned researchers. Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Oviedo, he combines his teaching work with research on cancer and aging. He is a member of the European Academy and Spain’s Royal Academy of Sciences. His group’s work has led to the discovery of more than 60 new human genes; the deciphering of the genomes of hundreds of patients with cancer or other diseases; the discovery of new genes which cause accelerated aging, sudden death and hereditary cancer. De Bertodano is a journalist specializing in celebrity interviews and profiles, as well as features and travel articles for publications such as The Sunday Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Observer, Harper's Bazaar and Marie Claire. She has interviewed more than 1.000 people over the past 25 years, including the Dalai Lama, Meryl Streep, George Soros, Ringo Starr, George Best, Yehudi Menuhin, and Jacinda Ardern.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event in the room next to the entrance.

Event in Spanish

José Carlos Plaza invites us to a masterclass based on a famous theatrical text and joined by a surprise guest. Plaza is a stage director and acting teacher, three-time winner of the National Theater Award. Creator of famous productions based on acclaimed works of literature, such as Las bicicletas son para el verano, las Comedias bárbaras íntegras, Crime and Punishment, Hamlet, and La casa de Bernarda Alba, he has distinguished himself in directing actors such as Ana Belén, Concha Velasco, Berta Riaza and Charo López.

Haz. Otra mirada a la vida desde el escenario is his first book; a story about life in the inspirational theatre industry.

In this masterclass, using textual analysis and character interpretation, he will unravel the great mystery of the act of theatre.

Event in Spanish

On August 21, 1622, two hired assassins brutally murdered the Count of Villamediana in the middle of Madrid’s Calle Mayor in a crime that many attributed to his love for Queen Isabella of Bourbon, while others saw it as an act of revenge for his satirical verses on the ministers of Felipe III and Felipe IV. Don de la insolencia, by Carlos Aganzo, revives the figure of Don Juan de Tassis, one of the most important poets of the Spanish Golden Age. Together with Luis Alberto de Cuenca, a great connoisseur of Tassis' work, and Diego del Alcázar Silvela, Founder and President of the IE University Foundation, he will explore the Count of Villamediana’s eventful life and how his legend lives on to this day.

De Cuenca is a poet, linguist, classicist, translator, essayist, columnist and literary critic. He is Spain’s National Poetry Prize winner and member of the Royal Academy of History as well as being one of the foremost cultural figures of our time. Aganzo is the author of some twenty books of poetry and as many travel books. Former editor of Diario de Ávila and El Norte de Castilla, he is currently director of the Vocento Foundation.

Event in Spanish

Where does the expression tía buena come from? What makes a hottie hot? What exactly is sexy? Why does a woman's success still largely depend on her looks, even in this day and age? How does feminism deal with the sociocultural aspiration of beauty? Is beauty a gift or can it sometimes be a curse?

Columnist and writer Alberto Olmos, author of the essay Tía Buena and film critic an editor of El Confidencial Marta Medina discuss the evolution of the relationship women have with men, with their bodies, and with the marketplace. Because ever since women's bodies were first used to sell products, there has been a constant and often unhealthy capitalisation of the female physique. Cinema and advertising have turned this business of looks into one of the most successful profitmaking phenomena of all time.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event.

Event in Spanish

Women must keep fighting to achieve the transformation that unlocks the power of the present and prepares for the future. This is true despite the fact that women bring enormous potential to their work environment and an exceptional capacity for motivation. However, that alone is still not enough for them to achieve full inclusion and professional equality.

Sally Helgesen will delve into this topic with Stephen Adamson, academic director of IE Business School and Vera Bercovitz, editor-in-chief of Forbes Women magazine, after working for other publications as S Moda, Yo Dona, Vanitatis, El País Gente, Harper’s Bazaar or Icon. Helgesen has been named by Forbes as the world's foremost expert on women's leadership. She is an internationally best-selling author of books on leadership, and member of the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame. Among the books she has written are How Women Rise (where she includes her now famous "12 Habits Holding You Back"), Rising Together, The Female Vision and The Female Advantage.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event in the room next to the entrance of IE University

With simultaneous translation from English to Spanish

January 26, 1936. Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. Dmitri Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is being performed for the umpteenth time. But this is no ordinary performance. That night, hidden behind the curtains of one of the boxes, Comrade General Secretary Joseph Stalin is watching. He leaves the theatre before the end and the next day Pravda publishes a devastating critique that many attribute to Stalin himself. From then on, a silent struggle ensues, with Shostakovich trying to save his art from a bureaucracy set on breaking him. Xavier Güell, joined by the director of ABC Cultural, Jesús García Calero, reflects on power, its oppressive force and the chances of emerging unscathed.

Güell, author of the novel Shostakóvich contra Stalin, has a musical background, having conducted several orchestras. He is also the author of La música de la memoria; Yo, Gaudí and Nadie logrará conocerse.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event.

Event in Spanish

While the debate rages on about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) making music into something uniform and trivial, there is a sudden proliferation of initiatives that show how technology can, in fact, help expand this form of expression’s creative boundaries.

Barcelona's Sónar + D festival has become a global forum for debate on how music and new technologies intersect. Ricard Robles, founder and co-director of Sónar, will explore the topic along with the future of macro-festivals with Miquel Molina, deputy editor of La Vanguardia and writer.

Event in Spanish

Jon Fosse's theater has not yet been represented in Spain in an open way. With this presentation, Editorial De Conatus wants to show the power of this author who has written more than 30 plays. All the innovation of Fosse's style is felt above all in the dialogues. Fosse has said many times that he writes music and that is how it can be felt in the reading aloud that a great actress like Marta Nieto can interpret. Silence and expressiveness, poignancy and depth. In addition to the 2023 Nobel Prize, Fosse was a finalist for the International Booker Prize 2022, National Book Award 2022, Circle Award, as well as Book of the Year in The New Yorker. Among his books, Trilogy and Septology stand out: The Other Name (I and II); I is another and A new name.

The event will be presented by Silvia Bardelás, editor of Editorial De Conatus

Event in Spanish

Violeta Gil, Angélica Tanarro, David Hernández, Norberto García Hernanz, Alberto Martin and Blanca Baltés. Six poets, six senses, six forms of expression. Each poet by vocation demonstrates the nuances of the word, of their word, as personal as it is universal. Gil is a linguist, dramatist and translator; she received the 2022 Castilla y León Critics Award. Tanarro is a journalist and writer, author of three books of poetry. García, maths professor, is the author of eight books of poetry and has participated in numerous poetry publications. Martín teaches a degree in advertising and Public Relations at Universidad de Valladolid and it's the author of five novels, and combines poetry and narrative. Baltés is a playwright, theatre researcher and audio entrepreneur. Serrano is a writer, disseminator and TedSpeaker; Her works include Flowers in the Garbage, Daughters of Nobody and Power Migrant.

The master of ceremonies for this poetry gala, in which the authors will perform excerpts of their own work, will be Juan Carlos Monroy, Councillor of Culture at Segovia City Council.

There will be a book signing at the end of the event in the bandstand in the Plaza Mayor in front of the theatre.

Event in Spanish

Víctor Erice's films and María Zambrano's poetic philosophy cover common ground in their exploration of an inner gaze performed with closed eyes; and in their own sweeping portrayals of Segovia, both present in Erice's filmography —including in his recent film Cerrar los ojos— and in Zambrano’s life and works. Coming together to discuss these points are: Mercedes Miguel Borrás, director of the Master's Degree in Film, Communication and the Audiovisual Industry at the University of Valladolid; José Manuel Mouriño, essayist, researcher, filmmaker, and patron of the María Zambrano Foundation Audiovisual Poetics Laboratory; and Juan Carlos Gargiulo, architect, photographer and filmmaker, coordinator of the Film Studio at the Palacio Quintanar Centre for Design, Innovation and Culture.

Presented by Sheila Cremaschi, Director, Hay Festival and chosen by Forbes among the 75 Latina women to follow 2024, and Agustín García Matilla, Vice-Rector, María Zambrano Campus UVA (Segovia).

16:00 - 18:50pm Film Screening: Cerrar los Ojos ('Close Your Eyes'), Víctor Erice

19:00 - 20:30pm Discussion: S.E.Z. (Segovia/Erice/Zambrano)