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Hay Festival Book of the Month – September 2022

Untold Microcosms

The Central and South American collection at the British Museum collections contains approximately 62,000 objects, spanning 10,000 years of human history. The vast majority cannot be displayed, and those objects are the subject of Untold Microcosms, a collection of ten stories from ten Latin American writers, inspired by the narratives about our past that we create through museums, in spite of their gaps and disarticulations.

Featuring new original works by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, Cristina Rivera Garza, Joseph Zárate, Juan Cárdenas, Velia Vidal, Lina Meruane, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Dolores Reyes, Carlos Fonseca and Djamila Ribeiro, Untold Microcosms forms part of a global Hay Festival project, inviting some of the best writers from Latin America today to interrupt the profiling of cultures, making space for narratives shaped by imagination. 

Read it? Loved it? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #HBOTM.

Buy the book

About the Project

About the Writers

Further reading

How can storytellers inform our understanding of the past? British Museum

About the editors

Sophie Hughes has been translating Spanish and Latin American literature for a decade, including works by Fernanda Melchor, Alia Trabucco Zerán, José Revueltas and Enrique Vila-Matas. In 2020 she co-edited the Hay Festival anthology Europa28: Writing by Women on the Future of Europe.

Felipe Restrepo Pombo is a journalist, author and editor. In 2017 he was selected by Hay Festival as one of the best young Latin American authors of the decade. His work has been translated into English, French and Italian. He is the author of Retrato de una pesadilla, Nunca es fácil ser una celebridad, 16 retratos excéntricos, Formas de evasión, Perfiles anfibios and Ceremonia.

Tell us your favourite book of 2022!

It's that time of year. Journalists, reviewers and cultural pundits are making their selections of the year's best books. But in a year where books have never felt more vital, we want to hear from YOU.

Vote here

ABOUT HAY FESTIVAL'S BOOK OF THE MONTH

Hay Festival's Book of the Month is our monthly recommendation of a book we love and think holds particular resonance. This is our chance to celebrate great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry year-round.

Throughout the month, we'll share interesting links and articles relating to our selection on social media using #HBOTM and invite you all to get involved with your questions and comments.

If you'd like to recommend a book for consideration, please share on social media using #HBOTM.

Happy reading!