Appearances from Nobel laureates Serge Haroche and Carlos Umaña; writers Douglas Stuart, Hernán Díaz, Liliana Colanzi, John Boyne, Muriel Barbery, Goran Petrović, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Manuel Vilas, Brenda Navarro, Gaëlle Obiégly, Geoff Dyer, Fernanda Melchor and Irene Solà; scientist Anil Seth; economists Ha-Joon Chang and Thomas Porcher; journalists and historians Carissa Véliz, Andrea Wulf and Fortino Domínguez; plus musicians and performers Andrea Echeverri, Galen&Paul, León de Aranoa, Gael García Bernal, Fernando, and more…
Hay Festival has today announced the line-up for the eighth Hay Festival Querétaro in Mexico with more than 151 artists from 20 countries taking part in person, 7–10 September 2023.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, while engaging with some of the biggest issues of our times, the programme blends Nobel laureates, award-winning writers and journalists, global policy makers and innovators in 105 activities live and online over four days.
A World Heritage City, Querétaro’s majestic architecture makes for a unique Festival backdrop as Hay Festival Querétaro takes over the city’s cultural venues and offers events in the municipality of Cadereyta.
Outreach and education programmes across the region, including Hay Joven and Hay Festivalito, will continue to open access to Festival inspiration more widely, while some sessions will be broadcasted live online, maintaining Hay Festival’s commitment to digital accessibility.
Explore the programme, book tickets, and register for the live-streams at hayfestival.org/queretaro
Julie Finch, Hay Festival CEO, said: “Over the next 12 months, Hay Festival brings citizens and artists together in eight events across four continents, starting in Mexico this September. Tackling some of the biggest issues of our time, we celebrate the power of words to unite us in solutions. In Querétaro, we are delighted to present a programme of conversations and performances to inspire, examine and entertain featuring 151 of the world's most essential writers, thinkers, scientists and leaders. Please join us in-person or online as we seek to imagine the world anew.”
Cristina Fuentes La Roche, Hay Festival international director, said: “As we mark our eighth year in Querétaro, here is a bold programme full of new thinking, innovative ideas, and rigorous analysis of the world around us. This is a space where great minds don’t always think alike and imaginations are free to roam. Join us in a detour from the day to day as we pose big questions, share and gather together as citizens in hope for a better world.”
PROGRAMME IN DEPTH
Stars of Mexican literature join global heavyweights to launch new work, including 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winner Hernán Díaz (Fortuna), Booker Prize-winner Douglas Stuart (Young Mungo), Muriel Barbery (One Hour of Fervor), Gaëlle Obiégly, John Boyne (All the Broken Places), Irene Solà (Canto yo y la montaña baila and Te di ojos y miraste las tinieblas; Eider Rodríguez (Material de construcción) Aroa Moreno (La bajamar), Eva Piquer (Aterrizaje), Manuel Vilas (Nosotros), Geoff Dyer (The Final Days of Roger Federer), Edmundo Paz Soldán (La mirada de las plantas), Sarah Ladipo Manyika (In-dependencia), Isabella Hammad (The Parisian), Goran Petrović (Papel con el sello de agua), Aura García-Junco (Dios fulmine a la que escriba sobre mí), Luis Jorge Boone and Julián Herbert (El polvo que levantan las botas de los Muertos), Fernanda Melchor (Páradais), Juan Villoro (La figura del mundo), Rosa Beltrán (Radicales libres), Verónica Murguía (El cuarto de jinete), Imanol Martínez (Desahucio), and cartoonist María Medem (Por culpa de una flor). Meanwhile, leading writers discuss their careers with a wider view including the Premio Internacional de Narrativa Ribera del Duero-winner Liliana Colanzi, In Koli Jean Bofane, Brenda Navarro and Greta García.
Rhymes and rhythms shake the main stages as poets offer up new work. There are performances and conversations with Welsh 2022/23 Cymrawd Rhyngwladol Hay Festival / Hay Festival International Fellow Hanan Issa, Querétaro poet Dalia Larissa Juárez, Spanish playwright and performer Alberto Cortés, and the celebrated Mexican writer Benito Taibo.
Researchers and science writers share the latest ideas in STEM including Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dr Carlos Umaña on the threat of nuclear war; Nobel Prize-winning physicist Serge Haroche on quantum strangeness; biologist and scientist Antonio Lazcano on vaccines; and neuroscientist Anil Seth on the biology of consciousness. Meanwhile, history is reimagined as Andrea Wulf presents Magnificent Rebels: The Early Romantics and the Invention of the Self.
Leading writers and thinkers tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues as theoretician María Ptqk shares an ecological vision of the future; Jumko Ogata talks anti-racism; Daniela Rea, Edith Lendechy García and Bibiana Mendoza shine a light on the issue of forced disappearances; philosopher Carissa Véliz talks the loss of privacy; journalists Diana Manzo and Yael Weiss celebrate journalism in México; and economists Thomas Porcher and Ha-Joon Chang discuss the changing shape of global economics.
Latin America today is drawn into focus from multiple angles as Daniela Rea looks at the care system; Dahlia de la Cerda looks at intersectional feminism; Bárbara Anderson joins photographer Enrique Covarrubias to discuss disability awareness; Tania Tagle reflects on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting today; and Chilean Childrean’s Laureate Alejandro Zambra shares stories around modern family life.
Democracy and citizens’ rights take centre stage as lawyer Juan Jesús Garza Onofre shares his new view for justice, while he joins economist Graciela Báez Ricárdez and philosopher Ismael Carvallo Robledo in a discussion of the benefits of living within a democratic system.
Hay Festival continues its international partnership with Lviv BookForum spotlighting Ukrainian culture in conversations with some of the country’s most influential artists. Sundance Film Festival Award-winning filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk presents her first feature film, The Earth is Blue as an Orange, and the journalist and writer Victoria Belim talks about her literary debut, The Rooster House.
Performers reflect on multidisciplinary arts and share new work. La noche de las alienadas sees 14 actors from theatre groups in the Municipality of Querétaro perform, while playwright Alberto Cortés discusses the art of theatre. There is dance from Greta García, while filmmakers share their passion projects: director Fernando León de Aranoa offers his new documentary on Joaquín Sabina, while actor and director Gael García Bernal returns to Hay Festival Querétaro to discuss the climate emergency. Finally, chess master Leontxo García discusses the sports global impact.
A special series of evening concerts keep the conversation and party going until late. Performers include Indonesian electronic duo Raja Kirik, Andrea Echeverri from Aterciopelados and the Mexican debut of band Galen&Paul, with multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Galen Ayers and Paul Simonon (former band member of The Clash). Simonon will also speak with Chris Salewicz about his artistic career.
Talento Editorial, the Festival series offering the latest thinking from the book industry, features leading figures in publishing and bookselling, including Rafael Blanco, Ana Cañellas, Lola Larumbe, Nacho Borraz, Lalo Pessoa, Verónica Mendoza García and Fernando Vera.
Hay Joven, the Festival’s free annual events for university students, will take place around the city and neighbouring districts with a series of sessions, while Hay Festivalito events for young readers throughout the Festival feature Maruan Soto Antaki, Valeria Gallo, Arnoldo Krauss, Alejandro Magallanes, Margarita Sada, Braulio Guerra Mendoza and Karen Valdés Zamora.
Hay Forum Dallas, an off-shoot event in partnership with The Wild Detectives independent bookstore in Dallas, USA, will once more take place during Hay Festival Querétaro with guests to be announced soon.
