Claudia Amador

She is a professional in literary studies from the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga. Writer, workshop facilitator and bookseller. Her short stories have been published in Spain, Uruguay, Mexico and Colombia, in anthologies such as Rituales para una piedra sangrante: antología de folk horror colombiano; Contaminación futura Vol. 10; Fisura: a antología colombiana de ficción extraña, Las ciclistas: antología fantástica de autoras colombianas and five versions of the anthology of short stories from the Mirabilia Competition of Science Fiction.
She was the winner of the 15th International Short Story Contest Ciudad de Pupiales 2020 and the Relata 2022 contest. In 2023 she launched Macrored, her first book thanks to the grant for the publication of unpublished work of the National Stimulus Program of the Ministry of Culture. In 2024 she was the winner of the Elisa Mújica National Narrative Award, with Altasangre.

Daniel Alarcón

He is a novelist, journalist and executive producer of Radio Ambulante Studios, a sound journalism outlet that he co-founded in 2012. His books, including novels Lost City Radio (2007), At Night We Walk in Circles (2013), have been translated into more than fifteen languages. 
He has collaborated with the American magazine The New Yorker since 2003, and since 2014 he has been a professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York.

Other activities involving the participant:

Literature by the ear

Eugenia Ladra

(Montevideo,1992) 

Es licenciada en comunicación y magíster en creación literaria por la Universidad Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona. Publicó el libro álbum Ramona y Ramiro (2017) y los plaquettes de cuentos La naturaleza de la muerte (2019) y El espacio podría sonar así (2020). Su cuento “Leche” forma parte de la antología Nuevas emergencias (2023). Carnada, su primera novela, fue finalista del Premio IESS de Italia y ha sido publicada en Uruguay y Argentina por Criatura Editora; en España, por Tránsito y en Bolivia por Parc. En 2025 recibió el Premio Bartolomé Hidalgo en la categoría Revelación de Ficción.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Uruguayan fiction territories from Onetti’s Santa María

Claudia Neira Bermúdez

She has been the director of the Central America Festival since 2015, where she also coordinates the content curation. She combines her cultural management work with her experience in strategic communication and public relations.
Previously, she worked as an editor in media in Nicaragua; as a communication expert in the United States and Nicaragua, where she founded, in 2005, Crea Comunicaciones.

She holds a master's degree in strategic communication and public relations at Marshall University, West Virginia, United States. She is a fellow from the V class of the Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI, associated with the Aspen Institute). She has been a mentor at Voces Vitales and has been part of various cultural, business and leadership initiatives in Central America.

Nicaraguan born in Brazil, to a Peruvian father and a Nicaraguan mother. Since 2022, she has lived in Madrid.

Other activities involving the participant:

The Pleasure of Reading Gala
Central America in Mexico, and Mexico in Central America: a literary round trip

Lorena Salazar Masso

She is a publicist and writer, with a master's degree in narrative from the Madrid School of Writers. This Wound Full of Fish, her first novel has been translated into twelve languages. Maldeniña, her second novel, was published in Colombia, Spain and Argentina. She has published other texts in different journals:  Julia Escondida y otras mujeres, El malpensante; Hermano mayor, Gaceta; Bella a las once, La Maleta maleta de Portbou. El malpensante; Hermano mayor, Gaceta; Bella a las once, La; Niñas conejo, Casapaís; Missy y Huevos al desayuno, La Rompedora. She teaches at the School of Writers in Madrid. She works and writes from Medellín.

Other activities involving the participant:

Bad mothers

Elaine Vilar Madruga

(Havana, 1989)

A narrator, poet and playwright, winner of more than a hundred awards, she is one of the most important literary voices in Cuba and the Caribbean today. Her texts address the individual politics of the body, gender and dissidence, and the politics related to the recent history of her country in contexts of oppression, silence and claustrophobia. She cultivates the genres of novel, short story, poetry, fantasy and science fiction literature, journalism, criticism, theater, literature for children and young people. El cielo de la selva it won the Nollegiu Award for the best novel of the year in Spanish. It was chosen among the ten best books2023 by Babelia, from El País. 

Álvaro Bisama

(Valparaiso, 1975) 

He is a writer and professor of literature, master in Latin American studies from the University of Chile, and PhD in literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Among his published novels are Caja negra, Dead Stars, Ruido, El brujo y Laguna; in addition to the volumes of essays and chronicles Cien libros chilenos, Televisión and Deslizamientos, and the books of short stories Death Metal, Los muertos and Cuando éramos hombres lobo. In 2020, Alfaguara edited Mala lengua, a biographical chronicle about the life of the poet Paul of Rokha. He has won the Municipal Prize for Literature and the Academy Prize (awarded by the Chilean Academy of Language) for Dead stars, as well as the Award for the Best Literary Work in the novel genre for Ruido (2013) and Mala lengua (2021). His most recent book is La rabia y el augurio. A biographical essay on Carlos Droguett (Ediciones UDP, 2023). He is currently the director of the School of Creative Literature at the Diego Portales University.
 

Vanessa Rosales

She is a Latin American writer and thinker whose work is located at the intersection between fashion, feminism, aesthetics and cultural history. Her voice, deeply essayistic and critical, has renewed the thinking about fashion as a form of knowledge and expression of power. Her work combines historical perspective, the study of the 'feminine', critical theory and an intense look at the visual from the cultural point of view. 
Author of  Mujeres Vestidas (2017), Mujer incómoda (2021), and Mad Men (2024), Rosales has been a pioneer in the use of fashion, style and aesthetics as lenses to analyze the history of the 'feminine', the 'masculine', the philosophy of appearances, the expressions of music and culture. Her work has been published in media such as Refinery 29, Vogue Latin America, The Business of Fashion, Vestoj, BBC World, El Malpensante and The Daily Beast.
She trained as a historian at the Universidad de los Andes, studied a master's degree in journalism (La Nación + Universidad Torcuato Di Tella) and then obtained a master's degree in Fashion Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, where she received the Dean's Scholarship.
In her career she has combined teaching, disobedient academy, critical writing and sound creation: she is the voice behind the podcast Mujer Incómoda, where she fuses aesthetic sensitivity and intellectual gaze. She also made the podcast Popularmente and Nación Moda. She has been resident critic at the School of Visual Arts (New York) and creator of the first diploma in critical fashion studies in Colombia.
She is currently developing Gazing, an editorial platform and video podcast about style, culture and gaze.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Literature by the ear

Ana Clavel

Es maestra en Letras Latinoamericanas por la UNAM. Entre sus obras de narrativa breve destacan Fuera de escena (1984), Amorosos de atar (1992), Paraísos trémulos (Alfaguara 2002), Amor y otros suicidios (2012) y CorazoNadas (2023). Premio Nacional de Cuento Gilberto Owen 1991. Medalla de Plata 2004 de la Société Académique Arts-Sciences-Lettres de Francia.

Han sido traducidas sus novelas Los deseos y su sombra (Alfaguara 2000), Cuerpo náufrago (Alfaguara 2005), El dibujante de sombras (Alfaguara 2009), Las Violetas son flores del deseo (Alfaguara 2007), que obtuvo el Premio de Novela Corta Juan Rulfo 2005 de Radio Francia Internacional, y Breve tratado del corazón (Alfaguara 2019).

Other activities involving the participant:

Experience, narrative, and resilience

Joseph Zárate

Lima, (1986)
Journalist and editor. He received the Eccles Institute & Hay Festival Global 2025 Literature Award, the Gabo Award 2018 in the text category, the Ortega y Gasset Award 2016 for best story, and the National PAGE Award 2015 for environmental journalism created by the United Nations Organization (UN). He is the author of Guerras del interior (Debate, 2018), non-fiction book about socio-environmental conflicts caused by the exploitation of gold, wood and oil in the Andes and the Amazon. For his chronicles about funeral work during the covid-19 pandemic in Peru, collected in his book Algo nuestro sobre la Tierra (Random House Literature, 2021), received the 2020 National Journalism Award, Special Mention at the 2022 National Literature Award in the non-fiction category, and was nominated for the 2020/21 True Story Award. His work is included in the collective books En otro país (Candaya, 2024), Rabia. Crónicas contra el cinismo en América Latina (Anagram, 2022), Volver a contar. Escritores de América Latina en los archivos del Museo Británico (Anagrama, 2022), Un mundo lleno de futuro (Planeta, 2017), Eduardo Galeano, un ilegal en el paraíso (Siglo XXI, 2016), among other publications. He is currently a professor of non-fiction in the creative writing master's degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and has been part of Amazonias, the ancestral future, an exhibition of the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) dedicated to knowledge and biodiversity of this region of the world.

Other activities involving the participant:

The journey of a travel chronicle
The other side of the essay

Ignacio Piedrahíta

He is a writer and a geologist. His work combines science and literature. He is the author of several books around the Earth, including Grávido río (Magdalena River), Al oído de la cordillera (Andes Mountain Range), El velo que cubre la piedra (stories about stones, travel and literature) and La verdad de los ríos (essay for Comisión de la Verdad). Regularly collaborates with the newspaper Universo Centro from Medellín, where he writes about nature and the city. He is the creator of AMAH la Tierra, a digital initiative dedicated to scientific dissemination, and the appreciation of natural phenomena. Website: www.ignaciopiedrahita.com | Instagram: @agromena. @amahlatierra.

Other activities involving the participant:

The journey of a travel chronicle

Elma Correa

Es originaria de Mexicali, Baja California, donde coordina un encuentro internacional de escritores y gestiona @habitaciones_propias, una comunidad virtual en el que las mujeres del mundo comparten los espacios donde crean. Es licenciada en lengua y literatura hispanoamericana, maestra en estudios socioculturales y doctora en sociedad, espacio y poder. Escribió Que parezca un accidente (Nitro/Press, 2018), Mentiras que no te conté (UDG, 2021) con el que recibió el XX Premio Nacional de Cuento Juan José Arreola; Llorar de fiesta (BUAP, 2022); Lo simple (INBAL, 2023) Premio Bellas Artes de Cuento San Luis Potosí Amparo Dávila y La novia del león (Nitro/Press, 2024).

Other activities involving the participant:

The journey of a travel chronicle

Daniela Tarazona

(Ciudad de México, 1975) es autora de las novelas El animal sobre la piedra (México, Almadía, 2008-2019 y Argentina, Entropía, 2011), El beso de la liebre (Alfaguara, 2012) e Isla partida (Almadía, México 2021 y España 2023), así como del libro Clarice Lispector. La mirada en el jardín (Lumen, 2020), en colaboración con Nuria Mel. Algunos de sus textos han sido traducidos al inglés, francés y chino. Ha sido becaria del programa Jóvenes Creadores y es miembro del Sistema Nacional de Creadores del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes de México. Ganadora del Premio de Literatura Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (2022).

Alejandra Kamiya

(Argentina)

A Abelardo Castillo, mi maestro, le gustaba la anécdota de cómo gané un concurso de cuentos de una cadena de supermercados porque deseaba el premio, un premio banal, y de cómo a partir de ganarlo pensé que podía tomarme la escritura seriamente. Luego de aquel episodio pasé por su taller y antes por el de Inés Fernández Moreno, y la publicación de mis libros llegó como por añadidura, sin que yo interviniera prácticamente. Cada paso que di fue tan natural que siento que no hubo una intención detrás, anduve como quien pasea. 

Pero lo necesario y esencial no está ahí, sino en la niña callada que fui, en el hecho de que cuento entre mi familia y amigos íntimos a Borges, a Clarice Lispector, a Fernando Pessoa, a Akutagawa y desde hace unos años a Annie Ernaux, en una relación extraña y extrañada con el lenguaje, en algo que siento como avidez por el mundo y otros llaman “mirada”, y en que no puedo pensarme sin leer y escribir.  

Ahora, que miro hacia atrás para escribir estas líneas, veo que es como si paseando hubiera llegado finalmente a donde debía ir. 

Other activities involving the participant:

Annual International Storytellers Conference

Andrés Montero

(Santiago de Chile, 1990)
He is a writer and oral narrator, author of Tony Ninguno, Taguada, La muerte viene estilando and El año en que hablamos con el mar, among others. He has received several literary prizes in Chile and abroad, among which the X Iberoamerican Prize of Novel Elena Poniatowska of Mexico City stands out. His books have been published in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Greece and Denmark. Together with Nicole Castillo, he integrates the oral narration company La Matrioska; he directs the Literature and Oral Arts School Casa Contada, and hosts the television program Los cuenteros en ruta.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Annual International Storytellers Conference

Elena Bazán

A professional in the Spanish-language print and digital publishing industry with extensive experience in the creation, management, and distribution of electronic and audio content. She has collaborated with various companies and publishers in Mexico, Spain, Germany, and China. Elena is an editor, speaker, and educator on topics related to the digital publishing industry, and serves as co-academic director of the Master’s in Publishing and Digital Marketing at Escuela de Unidad Editorial (Esue) and the University of Alcalá de Henares.

She creates books in all formats for all audiences and is currently the Head of Publishing Production at Editorial Audiolibre. Elena is also the author of El acto de nombrar (Penguin Random House), Manual de escritura competitiva (Penguin Random House), and various articles on publishing-related topics.

Other activities involving the participant:

Reinventing the page: technology, game, and transmedia narratives for childhood
Opening Talk

Luciany Aparecida

(Brazil, 1982)

She was born in Bahia, in Vale do Jiquiriçá. She is a professor, researcher, writer of novels, short stories, dramatizations and poems, as well as a doctor of literature from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). In the field of literary criticism, the author's studies deal with literary theory, contemporary literature, the interface between history, memory, ancestry, afro-diaspora, immigration, nation and performances.
She is the author of Mata Doce, winning novel of the São Paulo Literature Prize 2024, finalist of the Jabuti Prize and semifinalist of the Oceans Prize 2024. She also wrote Macala and Joanna Mina. She has published short stories and novellas under the pseudonym Ruth Ducaso.

Other activities involving the participant:

São Paulo Prize for Literature
Destinação Brazil

Diego Recoba

(Montevideo, 1981) 

Es cofundador de la editorial popular La Propia Cartonera. Publicó, entre otros, el libro de poesía Instituciones personales; el libro de crónicas Hasta Borinquen y las novelas Locas pasiones, Sobredosis, El oso, Antártida y sus galaxias y El cielo visible. La novela El cielo visible recibió el Premio Bartolomé Hidalgo 2024 y el Premio Nacional de Literatura de Uruguay 2024, y fue seleccionada en el programa Mapa de las Lenguas de Penguin Random House.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Uruguayan fiction territories from Onetti’s Santa María

Vivian Lavín

(Santiago de Chile, 1967) is a journalist with extensive experience in the cultural field. Since 2001, she has hosted the radio program Vuelan las Plumas on Radio Universidad de Chile. She is the author of three books of interviews with Chilean and Latin American writers and intellectuals, and co-author of the illustrated book on botany Viaje Natural. An Encounter Between Art and Science (VLP Ediciones, 2021). In Spain, she published the essay Pisaremos las calles nuevamente (Cuatro Lunas, 2023), based on the testimonies of three former political prisoners from the Chilean dictatorship.

In 2018, she founded the literary agency VLP Agency, representing authors and publishers from Latin America and Spain, becoming a pioneer in the internationalization of Chilean books in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on Korea and China. She is a member of the Observatory of Books and Reading and served as president of the Society of Literary Rights (SADEL) from 2021 to 2025.

She has been recognized by the Society of Chilean Writers, the Chilean Book Chamber, awarded the Journalistic Excellence Prize for Pobre el que no cambia de mirada, and the Alejandro Silva de la Fuente Prize from the Chilean Academy of Language, among other distinctions.

Other activities involving the participant:

From manuscript to readers: the role of literary agents in children’s and young adult literature
Are generative artificial intelligences tools or competition for creative individuals?