During the fourth edition of Mapfre Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias (29 January to 1 Feb 2009), journalist Catalina Gómez brings us her impressions of all the writers, talks, parties, music and fun of the festival, while ‘the writers’ photographer’ Daniel Mordzinski captures them all in action.
Catalina Gómez (words)
Journalist Catalina Gómez has chaired many events for Hay Festival and for the Bogotá39 project, a gathering of 39 young writers originating from 17 countries within Latinamerica, which took place in 2007.
She worked for several years as a cultural critic on the review Semana, and for much of that time covered the Hay Festival in its first editions in Cartagena. One day, in 2007, she decided to change direction and make her way to Iran, a country which had interested her when studying for her Masters in International Relations. In Iran she has studied Persian for some time, and is now dedicating her time to gaining a deeper understanding of the society that fascinates her.
More recently she moved to Beirut, where she has started work as Middle East correspondent for various Colombian and international media. No matter where she is, she always makes time to travel to Hay Festivals in Spain and Colombia, covering the festivals and their events for the reviews Revista Arcadia and Semana in Colombia. After Hay Festival Cartagena 2009 she will return to work in Iran for a time.
Daniel Mordzinski (photos)
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1960, Daniel Mordzinski is known as ‘the writers’ photographer’. He has worked for thirty years on an ambitious ‘human atlas’ of Spanish and Latinamerican literature. Always faithful to the spirit of words, the Argentinian photographer based in Paris has created portraits of the most outstanding figures of literature in Spanish. Both sides of the Atlantic are united by his lens. He is the official photographer of the Hay Festival.
He has lived in Paris since 1980 and in 1982 he began his career as a professional photographer, as correspondent for El País and the EFE agency. He has had several exhibitions, of which recent highlights include those organised by Casa de América de Madrid and by Mapfre Hay Festival Segovia, both in 2008. In March Gallimard will publish his latest book.
www.danielmordzinski.com
