Colombia Digital 2021

The origin of racism against Afro-descendent people goes back to slavery, empire building and the capitalist development of the world. In conversation with Paula Moreno will be Susan Neiman, a US philosopher and writer, author of Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil; and with Colson Whitehead (United States), author of The Nickel Boys, among other books.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Poetry and narrative; fiction and non-fiction; creation and translation; two writers who cross these borders will talk to Daniela Pabón. With María Negroni (Argentina), the author of numerous poetry books, essays and novels, translated into several languages, Doctor in Latin American Literature from Columbia University and Director of the Master’s in Creative Writing at UNTREF in Buenos Aires. Guggenheim, Rockefeller and now DAAD fellow, her recent publications include La idea natural, a homage to nature, literature and everything they bring, and Utilidad de las estrellas. Cristina Rivera Garza (Mexico) is a translator, essayist, fiction writer and founder of the doctorate in Creative Writing in Spanish at Houston University. MacArthur fellow and winner of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, she won a Pulitzer Prize for Liliana’s Invincible Summer. On this occasion she presents the poetry book, Me llamo cuerpo que no está.

Rachel Eliza Griffiths (United States) is a multimedia artist, poet and novelist, and has received fellowships from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and the Cave Canem Foundation. Her literary and visual work has been published in major magazines and newspapers including The New Yorker and The New York Times. Author of various poetry collections, her most recent collection is Seeing the Body. Her first novel, Promise, tells the story of the Kindred sisters in the rural town of Salt Point in 1957 within the context of the civil rights movement; it is a book that celebrates resistance and love in times of adversity. In conversation with Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

This workshop with the cultural manager and educator Jesús Herrera Babilonia (Colombia) seeks to boost the community’s individual and collective identity by means of self-knowledge and critical reflection on their cultural roots. It will offer spaces where people can connect with their history and traditions, recognising their value as part of the construction of the territory.

Ages 6 and over

At its book clubs, Hay Festival Cartagena offers intimate encounters with a selection of festival guests. These are spaces to talk in greater depth about recent work by some of the festival’s participants. At this event, Melba Escobar (Colombia) will talk to Ana María Aponte about her book Las huérfanas, a novel that delves into the family past, origins, the creation of a female identity, and the place of the dead, who never die in the minds of the living.

Those attending must have read the book

Ana Belique is a sociologist and human rights activist. She is part of the Reconoci.Do group, which works against racial discrimination and in favour of the recognition of Afro identity in the Dominican Republic. At this event, Belique will talk with inhabitants of the Tierra Baja community about empowerment through self-recognition of Afro identity, building a bridge between the local experiences of Afro-descendent communities in the Dominican Republic and in Cartagena. In conversation with Laura Romero de la Rosa.

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. Given the uncertainty created by the appearance of AI and its increasing use in everyday tasks, figures from the Hay Festival Cartagena ask us to reflect on its development based on the following questions: How can we make ethical use of biomedicine and artificial intelligence? How is it possible to guarantee that artificial intelligence does not increase existing inequalities? In conversation with Sylvie Duchamp will be Marcus du Sautoy (United Kingdom), Rodrigo Quian Quiroga (Argentina) and Rafael Yuste (Spain).

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. With democracy being questioned and affected by growing disinformation, the participants at this round table invite us to reflect on the following questions: Are we experiencing the end of the single Western narrative? Are there models other than the democratic one? Will we give up our civil rights to have more security? How should we combat disinformation? How should governments manage immigration? With Daniel Coronell (Colombia), Anne Applebaum (United States), Nataliya Gumenyuk (Ucrania), Susan Neiman (United States) and Edward Chancellor (United Kingdom). In conversation with María Elvira Samper.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

The Pulitzer Prize finalist, Deborah Baker (United States), is the author of novels and biographies that explore extremism, repression and radical ideologies. The novelist, poet and essayist, Mayra Santos Febres (Puerto Rico) is the author of Lecciones de renuncia and La otra Julia. Suraj Yengde is a noted Indian academic and intellectual, an associate researcher with the Department of African and African American Studies at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. They will talk to Agustín Laó-Montes, exploring the relationships among race, caste and class, from an intersectional perspective.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

The writer Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and was raised in the United States. A professor at the University of Southern California, he has received Guggenheim and MacArthur foundation fellowships. Author of the acclaimed The Sympathizer, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, he has also written the short story collection The Refugees, the book of non-fiction Nothing Ever Dies, finalist for the National Book Award, and he edited the anthology of refugee writings The Displaced. His recent publication, A Man of Two Faces, is a brilliant memoir that tells the life story of Nguyen as a refugee, and his identity, both Vietnamese and American. In conversation with Óscar Guardiola-Rivera.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

In 2025, the Hay Festival celebrates 20 years of conversations and thought in Colombia. To mark the anniversary, we have run a collaborative project in which Colombian society has helped us to put the twenty key questions for our time. We are asking ourselves more and more whether we are progressing towards equality of gender, race and class; we tackle this matter based on the following questions: How can we fight structural racism? How is it possible to guarantee that artificial intelligence does not increase existing inequalities? What can the city learn from the countryside, and vice versa? With Bocafloja (Mexico), and Justin Torres (United States) in conversation with Ayisha Osori.

Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available

Two writers talk about their recent work with Elisa Guerra. In her latest book, El Miedo, María Hesse considers her own fears: those that have accompanied her throughout her life and the same ones that she shares with so many other women. Through a highly visual and allegorical language, her pages bring to life anxiety, manipulation, precariousness, change, loneliness, madness, maternity, aging and death. The Cartagena writer, Cindy Herrera, is an audiovisual media producer who, having studied Linguistics and Literature and a Master’s in Creative Writing, is in the final stages of her doctorate in Latin American literature. She is the author of the short story book El manifiesto del espejo and the book of hybrid narratives Des-entierro. This book is a form of resigned fascination with death as an episode, a long moment to be reflected on.

This year we celebrate 20 years in Colombia: two decades of conversations, debates, questions, music, film, photography and books. Through the voices of some of the festival’s most iconic guests, as well as those who make this great festival of ideas possible, we mark the date and wish a long life to the Hay Festival in Colombia through this special documentary.

Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes

Direction: Gustavo Gordillo