The Hay Festival of Segovia will celebrate its twenty-first edition from September 10 to 13 with more than 60 events around art, politics, history, thought and letters in talks, exhibitions, performancesscreenings and concerts. The organization has assured that the event functions as “a cry for help in the face of emotional emptiness, express consumption and the cult of the superficial that invades and dehumanizes today’s society.” Sheila Cremaschi, director of the festival, has announced that this year it will celebrate “beauty as a way of relating to the world that requires delicacy, time and openness.” Julie Finch, CEO of Hay Festival Global, has pointed out that “the speed with which our world changes demands that we look for shared formulas” and that the programming aims to address current challenges through new ideas and the power of storytelling.
Among the guests, the organization highlights the writer Hwang Bo-Reum, the priest and writer Pablo d’Ors, and the businesswoman Anna Gener, who will reflect on the concept of beauty from their different experiences. There will also be a meeting with the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk to talk about the loss of the political and spiritual horizon. As for poetry, the art historian and writer Thomas Schelesser and the Loewe Poetry Prize winner, Leonor Pataki, will meet. In the field of thought and the arts, the German architect Niklas Maak will attend; the photographer Hubertus von Hohenhoe; multidisciplinary artist Olana Light; the British naturalist popularizer David Lindo; the painter Hernán Cortés or the musician, writer and artist Ramoncín.
Geopolitics and the role of Europe in international relations will have a space for reflection with José María de Areilza; Arancha González Laya; Enrico Letta; the diplomats Fidel Sendagorta and Santiago Herrero; and the directors of 28m magazine, Mahmoud al-Shaer and Muhammad al-Zaqzouq.
On the literary scene they have called upon foreign writers such as Jessica Andrews, Mathias Enard or Nelio Biedermann; and nationals such as Manuel Vilas, Javier Cercas, Marta Jiménez Serrano, Marta Robles or Nerea Pallares, in a collaboration with Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).
In addition to the list of attendees, the organization has reported that a meeting will be held between the Polígono Sur Reading Club of Seville and rural clubs from Segovia, where they will read together The good intentions by Victor del Arbol. Two global projects will also be hosted. Together with the Open Society Foundation, different conversations will be held: on asymmetric migrations with Sani Ladan, one with the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli, and another between Sonia Faleiro and Inma Ballesteros around reading as a generator of networks and communities. In collaboration with the CAF, Juan Bonilla, Martín Caparrós and Erna von der Walde will meet to present Other stories from the Archive of the Indiesa compilation of texts by 10 Ibero-American authors.
Festival tickets are on sale on the event website, where you can also consult the complete program and can watch the events in live broadcasts.