Outstanding writers, thinkers and international figures from the worlds of art and architecture to take part in Hay Festival Segovia 2019

Exceptional writers, challenging thinkers and leading figures from the worlds of art and architecture will be taking part in Hay Festival Segovia 2019. The international event, which this year celebrates its 14th birthday, will be held from September 19 to 22 in Segovia. IE University, collaborator and academic partner of Hay Festival Segovia, thanks the IE Foundation for its support and will host a number of debates at its Segovia campus.

Hay Festival Segovia will feature prominent writers and thinkers who will discuss new trends in literature, art, architecture and other fields in different corners of the UNESCO World Heritage city, including the former Convent of Santa Cruz la Real, home to IE University. International experts, including architects Raj Rewal, Amanda Levete and Jeanne Gang, the only architect among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2019, will share their vision and experiences at IE University. Gang will speak with Martha Thorne, Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, at an event organized with FT Weekend. IE University will also be organizing a debate on Europe in collaboration with FT Weekend, as well as a project on New languages for history with leading Spanish daily ABC, along with a workshop with the sculptor Ricardo Cárdenas.

Among the guests at this year’s Hay Festival Segovia will be Fernando Aramburu, Manuel Jabois, Elísabet Benavent, María Dueñas, Antonio Muñoz Molina, James Ellroy, Valeria Luiselli, Inua Ellams, Soledad Puértolas, Elvira Lindo, Monika Zgustová, Alys Conran, Ahmed Saadawi, Jean-Christophe Rufin and Elia Barceló. Also attending will be philosophers Fernando Savater and Javier Gomá, environmental activist Suzy Amis Cameron; journalist Adam Michnik, singer and writer Christina Rosenvinge and pianist and writer James Rhodes. Carlota Casiraghi and Robert Maggiori will also participate, presenting their joint treatise ‘Archipel des Passions’ (Archipelago of Passions).

One of the highlights of each evening will be Voices in the Square, held in the Plaza San Martin, where almost a hundred writers and musicians will offer a series of readings, performances and concerts. IE University’s Music Club and several students awarded grants by the IE Humanities Foundation will play a leading role. Other artists taking part in Voices in the Square will include Nigerian author and entrepreneur Nnamdi Ehirim, Bubelo Mlilo (Zimbabwe), Giedre Pavalkyte (Lithuania), Daniel Bloch (Australia), Lucia Naveiro (Spain), Jack Straker (United Kingdom), Malak El Halabi (Lebanon), Jacob Axel Peter (Sweden), Gede Witsen (Bali), Gabrielle Isa (Nigeria), Ellie Sande (Ethiopia) and Sarah Rachel Westvik (Norway). A number of IE University students will perform songs from their own countries and the rest of the world. Among these will be Giulia Camargo (Brazil), Gilles de Trazegnies and Alejandro Sansour (Peru), Irene Delgado (Guatemala) and Paula Molina (Colombia).

Maria Sheila Cremaschi, director of the Hay Festival Segovia, said: "Hay Festival Segovia 2019 brings together writers and readers to discuss the fragility of the world in which we live, where democratic values are beginning to look uncertain, and to present the ideas that offer reasons to be optimistic about a shared future; our guest artists will transform the public libraries, squares and Segovia’s iconic theaters into centers of creativity, innovation and hope."

To see the full program click here.

About Hay Festival

In 1987, in Hay-on-Wye, a small town on the border between England and Wales that houses 1,500 people and is home to two dozen bookstores, two local residents, Peter Florence (current director) and his father Norman, decided to hold a festival literary. Since then, Hay has grown to become one of the most important ideas festivals in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year. The Hay Festival, which has a presence in Europe and Latin America, is chaired by the actor and writer Stephen Fry and its board of directors is headed by Caroline Michel. Thanks to its director Sheila Cremaschi, over the last 14 years, Segovia has captured the original spirit of the Hay Festival, attracting more than 20,000 visitors and turning the city into a national and international cultural benchmark.