Some of the most popular Latin American writers will be participating in this year’s Hay Festival, and for the first time, Dallasites will be able to experience it.

The Hay Festival is an event that celebrates Latin American literature, while facilitating important discussions. Literary lovers from across the Dallas-Fort Worth area will unite at this talent-filled one-day event made possible through a collaboration of The Wild Detectives and the Hay Festival organization.

“There’s never been a more urgent time to promote dialogue — writers have a unique ability to reveal universal truths, their words crossing borders and breaking boundaries,” Cristina Fuentes La Roche, international director of Hay Festival, said on the event’s page. “Dallas, a quintessential crossroads city with rich literary links, is the perfect place for that dialogue to be celebrated.”

The festival assembles emerging Latin American fiction writers under 39 from 15 different countries into an anthology titled Bogotá 39. Some panelists at the Dallas edition of the Hay Festival are part of this select group, including:

Daniel Saldaña, author of “Among Strange Victims”
Gabriela Jáuregui, author of “Controlled Decay”
Juan Cárdenas, author of “Los estratos.”

Don’t worry though, because there’s no need to dig up your old notes from Spanish class—all of the events are bilingual. Discussions will elaborate on issues of gender, identity, and translation from diverse perspectives. The panels will include:

“Mujeres & Women”
“Norte / South”
“Tomate / Tomato.”

And, the party doesn’t end just because the panels do. A dance party is scheduled to top off the evening, with performances by Dallas-based Cumbia band, LowBrow Collective, and DFW-based visual artist and improviser, DJ Mutarrancho.

“We’re thrilled to have Hay Festival coming to Dallas,” Javier Garcia del Moral, owner of The Wild Detectives, said on the event’s page. “This is a huge opportunity to bring some of the most relevant Latin American culture to the U.S. and let Texas embrace it as the melting pot that we really are.”

NEED TO KNOW

The Dallas edition of the festival will take place this Saturday, Sept. 8, from 3 – 11 p.m. The event will be held at The Wild Detectives, a bookstore nestled in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. If you’re still craving additional literary discussions, remote events will take place at SMU and UT Dallas the following Monday and Tuesday.