Online Events

How do big corporations and governments use our data to manipulate our behaviour? Up to what point should this be permitted, and how should regulations deal with actions that end up affecting the realities of our societies? Carissa Véliz (United Kingdom) is an Associate Lecturer at Oxford University’s Institute for Practical Ethics, and a regular contributor to publications including El País, The Guardian, The New York Times, New Statesman and The Independent. In her book Privacy is Power (Transworld, 2020) she analyses these matters, as well as others that are of critical importance to our time, arguing in favour of the prohibition of the sale of personal data. In conversation with Mónica Meltis.

Valerie Miles, writer, translator and editor of Granta, is the curator of the Correspondence section of the magazine Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos in which two writers explore the epistolary form and its function as a philosophical parenthesis in everyday life: a remote conversation that is projected in the imagination, where the interior and sequential voice invites us to enter a strange intimacy. Miguel Ángel Hérnandez is the author of award-winning novels such as El dolor de los demás and Anoxia, as well as an art historian and Berta Ares, a journalist and cultural researcher, author of Joseph Roth, Legacy and Testament.

Event in spanish

Essential workshop on digital journalism with Carolina Robino (Chile), the Director of BBC Mundo, in which she talks about the digital model of one of the world’s most respected media organizations. Robino started working as a journalist as a writer with La Época newspaper, the first opposition media outlet founded during Pinochet’s regime. Later she worked as national and culture editor of the Chilean magazine Hoy. In the year 2000 she moved to BBC Mundo, where she has worked as a reporter, a video editor, General Editor and Director, her current position.

Event for university students

What happened that night? The question that prompts the narrator of the animated film They Shot the Piano Player sets off an investigation into the fateful event that took the life of Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Jr, a musician destined to change the course of Brazilian music forever. Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal talk to the Head of Culture of Cadena SER, Pepa Blanes, about what led them to undertake this passion project, which will be released in theatres on October 6, and whose graphic novel adaptation has just been published by Salamandra Graphic.

Mariscal is an internationally renowned illustrator and designer who won the National Design Award in 1999. He is best known for being the creator of Cobi, the mascot of the Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games. He has exhibited his work at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the MOMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the IVAM and the MACBA. Trueba (Madrid, 1955) is a world-renowned Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. His most critically acclaimed films include Belle Époque (The Age of Beauty), winner of nine Goya awards and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and La niña de tus ojos,(The Girl of Your Dreams) also a multi-award winner at the Goya Awards. The collaboration between the two artists was already reflected in Chico y Rita, an animated film also adapted to a graphic novel that won the Goya for Best Animated Film, received an Oscar nomination in the same category and won the European Film Award.

Event in Spanish

The eminent historian Margaret MacMillan (Canada) lectures at the University of Oxford and is the author of various books that cover, among other subjects, that devastating and urgent matter, one that is a threat in all civilizations: war. Her book, War: How Conflict Shaped Us (2020) examines the role of war in the history of humanity. Since the end of the Second World War, humanity has experienced what Steven Pinker has called “the long peace”, a period in which much of humanity has enjoyed an absence of major wars. However, MacMillan questions this idea and analyses the continuous military conflicts that have occurred since 1945. Her latest book published in Spanish is 1914. De la paz a la guerra (2021), which is an account of the political, social, cultural and economic forces that brought about the First World War. These essays ask us some disturbing questions: is war an inherent part of human nature? Is it inevitable? MacMillan explores these crucial questions with the eminent writer and historian, Enrique Krauze.

Four women deeply interested in women's leadership, from women in business to coaching for —and by— women. All four of these leaders understand the transformational change needed to unlock women's presents and futures, and the critical collaboration needed between women to see that this is realised.

Cece Helgesen is the one representig this afternoon Sally Helgesen, the world's leading Forbes-cited expert on women's leadership and author of the best-selling leadership books worldwide, with a place in the Thinkers 50 Hall of Fame; Julie Finch, CEO of the Hay Festival, leader and expert in the culture and creative sectors and in private and public not-for profit organisations such as the Arts Council England; and Maria Antonia Elliott, coach and yoga trainer share their views and experiences in a discussion moderated by Marta Williams, IE University professor, and expert in executive leadership and coaching for women leaders.

Event in English with simultaneous translation to Spanish

In recent decades, one of the world’s literary events has been publication by Granta magazine of its lists of the best fiction writers in a certain territory aged under 35. Over the years the writers on these lists have gradually established themselves internationally. In 2021, the second list for Spanish-language writers appeared, and three of those selected will talk to Valerie Miles, the Publishing Manager of the Spanish-language edition of Granta. Andrea Chapela studied Chemistry at UNAM and did a Master’s in Creative Writing (in Spanish) at the University of Iowa. She has won the 2019 Gilberto Owen National Literature Prize and the 2019 Juan José Arreola National Prize. She is the author of the series of fantasy literature, Vâudïz. Alejandro Morellón (Spain) won the 2017 Hispano-American Short Story Prize for the collection El estado natural de las cosas, and he is the author of the novel Caballo sea la noche (2019). Aura García-Junco (Mexico) is a Philology graduate of UNAM. She writes fiction, essays and screenplays. She has published the novel Anticitera, artefacto dentado (2019) and several translations. Her second book, A., will be published at the end of 2021.

Javier Cercas (Ibahernando, Cáceres, 1962) has been saying things since he published his first novel in 1987. Nothing in his fiction is alien to his environment, to the society and circumstances that surround him. They are contexts that help us understand the characters in his works and their stories. But there is also the article writer and essayist Javier Cercas, where reality takes centre stage, and he is the protagonist, as in his latest book No Callar. Crónicas, ensayos y artículos 2000-2022. Author of novels such as El vientre de la ballena (The Whale’s Belly, 1997), Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamis, 2001), Anatomía de un instante (Anatomy of a Moment, 2009), Terra Alta (a Planeta Prize-winner in 2019) and Independencia (Independence, 2021). His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have won the most prestigious awards, such as the Premio Nacional in Spain, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Fiction Prize, the Mondello Prize in Italy, the Malraux Prize in France, and the Prize for the Best European Novel awarded by the European Parliament. He has also been awarded major awards for essays and journalism, such as the Francisco Cerecedo and the Mariano de Cavia awards in Spain.

He will talk about his latest work and his career with the journalist Vicente Vallés, who currently presents and directs the news programme Noticias 2 on Antena 3 TV channel. He is the author of the essay Trump y la caída del imperio Clinton (Trump and the Fall of the Clinton Empire, 2017) and the novel Operación Kazán (Kazan Operation, 2022).

At the end of the event, the authors will sign their works at the bookstand in front of the IE University.

Event in Spanish

One of the terrible lessons that the pandemic has taught us is that the worst of the health and financial consequences have fallen on the poorest nations, and poorest populations within nations. This has emphasised the large and growing economic gaps that exist around the world today. Perhaps it would be true to say that each country has experienced its own version of the pandemic, and this event is a moment to reflect on the specific case of Mexico, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries.The journalist Mario Arriagada Cuadriello; the Executive Director of Oxfam Mexico, Alexandra Haas; and the academic, Ana Laura Magaloni will talk to Jacobo García about this extraordinary moment.

With an extensive career as a member of the National English Opera (ENO) and the Welsh Opera House, tenor Marc Le Broq marks his presence at Hay Festival Segovia 2023. With a repertoire ranging from Cavalli, Debussy, Wagner, Puccini, Strauss, Verdi and much more, with outstanding appearances at the most important festivals in the world (Salzburg, Grimeborn, Southwell) and records recorded with the best publishers and most relevant music entities, Lebroq will engage in a conversation with journalist Irene Hernández Velasco about his career as a tenor and the problems that beset the world of opera today.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish

Luz Gabás, winner of the 2022 Planeta Prize, will talk with Jesús Vigorra about her historical novel Lejos de Luisiana (Away from Louisiana), an illustration of a time when this US territory was French, Spanish and then American. The main protagonist is the Mississippi River and its original peoples, who coexisted with European colonisers and others in a world in permanent transformation that will irrevocably mark all their destinies.

Gabás (1968) has a degree in English Literature, and is a university lecturer, although after many years dedicated to this, she left teaching to focus on writing. She began her writing career with Palmeras en la nieve (Palm Trees in the Snow, 2012), a literary phenomenon that brought tens of thousands of readers, translation into several languages and a successful film adaptation. Then came works such as Regreso a tu piel (Return to your Skin, 2014), Como fuego en el hielo (Like Fire on Ice, 2017) and El latido de la tierra (The Heartbeat of the Earth, 2019), all achieving widespread circulation.

At the end of the event, the author will sign copies of her books at the book stall outside IE University

Event in Spanish

The writer and journalist Verónica E. Llaca has worked with different media outlets, and has edited the magazine Ser y Estar. She is the author de the novels Cuerpos en renta (2011), La simetría de los árboles (2016) and her most recent work, El llanto debajo del llanto (2021). The publisher and writer Ana Negri, who has a doctorate in Hispanic Studies from McGill University, Montreal, presents her literary debut, Los eufemismos, a novel about the relationship between Clara, a women aged 30, and her mother, an exile from the Argentinean dictatorship. They will talk to Imanol Martínez.

Mercedes Ron is a young writer and audio-visual communicator born in Argentina and now a Spanish national, specialising, and achieving enormous success in children's literature. Despite her youth she has already published many books, including her trilogy Culpa mía (2017), Culpa tuya (2017) and Culpa nuestra (2018). She wrote the first of these under 20, and when she couldn't find a publisher, she decided to launch the book on the WattPad reader platform. Since then, tens of thousands of teenagers have read her works. After that came the Marfil y Ébano books (2019), and the trilogy Dímelo bajito (2020), Dímelo en secreto (2020) and Dímelo con besos (2021). At this event she will talk about her work, the importance of reading in childhood and adolescence, and the themes that young people want to find in the books they read.

At the end of the event, the author will sign copies of her books at the book stall at the main entrance of IE University.

Event in Spanish

The Queretaro writer and publisher Braulio Guerra Mendoza is the winner of the second State Competition for Young Adult Literature, run by the Queretaro State Department for Youth in 2020. That same year he was a fellow of the San Miguel de Allende International Writers’ Festival. He is the author of the books Microcuentos del Mago and 8 cuentos sobre el espíritu animal. He will give a workshop on writing stories.

Event for university students

A good novel must have a powerful story as a starting point. From there, the plot and the characters, shaped by the author, will do the rest to capture the reader's attention. Giuliano da Empoli's novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin, starts with its own story that is so real that it seems pure fantasy. A trusted advisor to Vladimir Putin - based on a real-life character - is the protagonist of a book that moves at a furious pace and delves into the intricacies of ruthless power. How an enlightened and cultured man can put himself at the service of Putin, who uses power with a blend of chaos and ruthless decisions that confounds Western countries.

Giuliano da Empoli is a sociologist, essayist and political consultant of Italian-Swiss origin. Director of the think tank Volta in Milan, he also teaches at Sciences Po Paris. The Wizard of the Kremlin, his first novel, is the literary phenomenon of the year in France and has won the French Academy’s Grand Prix de Novel and the Honoré de Balzac prize, as well as being a finalist for the Goncourt and Interallié prizes.

Da Empoli will be in conversation with Eva Orúe, journalist, writer, cultural manager and director of the Madrid Book Fair.

The event will be presented by Jean-Michel Casa, French Ambassador to Spain.

After the event, the author will sign his book at the book stall at the main entrance of IE University.

Event with simultaneous translation from French to Spanish and vice versa

El Tema, an original idea by Gael García Bernal and Pablo Montaño, directed by Santiago Maza and produced by La Corriente del Golfo, is a web series of six short documentaries that cover some of the most urgent matters related to the climate crisis in Mexico. The series is presented by the actor, director and producer, Gael García Bernal, and the writer and linguist Yásnaya Elena Aguilar. At this event we present episode five, Océanos, which looks at the coral reefs of the island of Cozumel. The ocean gave us life and is the planet’s main climate regulator. 1% of the seafloor has coral, an ultra-diverse ecosystem that is home to a quarter of the world’s fish species. Yet 0.5% of this has been destroyed by human activity. It is time to stop turning our back on the sea. With Yásnaya Aguilar and Mina Morsán, in conversation with Claudia Ivonne Hernández.

Language: Spanish

Documentary duration: 12 minutes

Élmer Mendoza is widely considered to be the pioneer and major writer within the sub-genre of narcoliterature. For a long time before it had become an established form, he had been writing memorable novels, an example of which would be El amante de Janis Joplin, with social commentary made possible by growing up hearing these kinds of stories in the real life around him. Mendoza is the Professor of Literature at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, a member of the Mexican Academy of the Language and the author of over 20 novels and short story collections. His most recent work is Ella entró por la ventana del baño (2021), in which Lefty Mendieta, the attractive character that we met in novels like Silver Bullets and Asesinato en el parque Sinaloa, is out to capture The Sicilian, the pitiless leader of a band of former army drug traffickers, while he helps a dying man find an old love. In conversation with the writer Luis Jorge Boone.

Yuri Andrukhovych is one of the most singular figures in European narrative in recent years. Novelist, poet, essayist and translator, in his new book Small Encyclopedia of Intimate Cities, he uses his unique flair for uncovering the different among the obvious as he maps life in 39 cities, all scenes of historical events. Andrey Kurkov, recently awarded the Médicis Étranger prize in France, began a diary when the first Russian rockets fell on Kiev on 24 February 2022. In Diary of an Invasion, he recounts the horrifying impact of the conflict through a personal chronicle, which is also an astonishing account of Ukrainian identity and the daily lives of his compatriots. Both will discuss their latest books and the current circumstances with María Sahuquillo, El País correspondent in Brussels.

After the event, the authors will sign copies of their books at the book stall at the main entrance of IE University.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

Marisa Manchado is a renowned composer and pianist, as well as a teacher, and researcher, she has also been an important voice on topics such as women in music. She has held top positions in cultural management, such as the Deputy General of Music and Dance at the INAEM - Ministry of Culture. Manchado is a figure who embraces all the themes of music, women, feminism and even technology, as one of the most striking aspects about her is her interest in the synthesis of music and electronics. She now faces an exciting, perhaps daunting, challenge: in September she will begin rehearsals for her opera La Regenta, based on the novel of the same name by Leopoldo Alas Clarín and with a libretto by Amelia Valcárcel. It will premiere in October, in a joint production by the Teatro Real and the Teatro Español.

Manchado will talk about her work and career with Charo Izquierdo. Journalist, independent advisor and business consultant, she is editorial advisor to El Español, for its women's section, MagasIn, and its sustainability section, Enclave ODS. She has published the books Puta no soy, Socorro, soy abuela, ¿Soy yo o es que aquí hace mucho calor? (written together with Laura Ruiz de Galarreta) and Fashion ® Evolution.

Event in Spanish

The award-winning French writer and film and television director Philippe Claudel is the author of 16 novels, translated into at least 11 languages. His most recent book, which has already sold 200 thousand copies around the world, is La petite fille de Monsieur Lihn (2020), the story of a man who, fleeing war, arrives on the French coast with his granddaughter in his arms: he does not know where he is and has no knowledge of the language. Claudel talks to Gabriel Hörner about his writing and his cinematographic vision.