Continuing with our longstanding partnership with Hay Festival Cartagena, this year we invited writer and cultural icon Germaine Greer, historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto and the Guardian’s Children Fiction Prize winner Michelle Paver to visit Cartagena and be a part of this celebration of thought.

Our programme of events this year included:

MEET THE AUTHORS

For the fifth consecutive year, the British Council was pleased to invite senior school students to meet and interact with a group of distinguished authors, journalists and academics from the UK. Hosted by the Colegio Británico de Cartagena, this year’s event included Germaine Greer, Owen Sheers, Michelle Paver, David Aaronovitch, John Paul Rathbone, Bee Rowlatt and Felipe Fernández-Armesto.

LITERATURE IN THE ELT CLASSROOM

This teacher-focused conference, hosted by the Universidad de Cartagena, explored the uses of literature in the English language classroom from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Workshops were led by British Council staff and teachers. Guest presenters included Fitch O’Connell (BritishCouncil Portugal) and Claudia Ferradas (Argentina), with two of the authors that appeared at the festival, Michelle Paver and Owen Sheers, taking part in ‘Meet the Author’ sessions.

HAY PARA CONTAR

For the fourth year running, British Council and Hay Festival produced the daily paper Hay Para Contar, which included the Festival highlights, as well as reviews and interviews with the writers. Directed by Catalina Gómez and edited by Paula Silva, Hay Para Contar has established itself as a reference point for Hay Festival Cartagena’s attendees.

Above Image: Author Michelle Paver, © Orion Children's Books