From September 16 to 19, literature, history, art and fashion will come together around the Aragonese painter under the theme "Goya, a Literary Journey Through His Time". This year, the Historical Novel Festival offers an approach to the artist through insights into figures such as José Luis Corral, Amelia Noguera, Sergio del Molino, Roberto Verino and Luis Zueco.
Goya's literary creation, historical events, myths, social changes and connections between different artistic disciplines will be the subject of debate during a cultural festival that is firmly established in the city. The program maintains its format of lectures and meetings with writers and specialists, while adding an educational component this year, with activities for schools at municipal libraries aimed at bringing Goya and historical literature closer to primary and high school students.
All the events will take place at the headquarters of the Fundación Caja Rural de Aragón, although the Centro Socioeducativo Las Armas has been added as a complementary venue for the program. This municipal facility will host a closing event on Saturday, September 19, conceived as a celebration of historical fiction and Aragonese literature.
HISTORICAL NOVEL FESTIVAL PROGRAM
The festival will begin on Wednesday, September 16, at 7:00 p.m. at Caja Rural de Aragón's main headquarters. The opening will feature Jesús Pescador portraying Goya, serving as the guiding thread for presenting the program. Next, at 7:10 p.m., Sergio del Molino will take part with "La hija", a novel focused on Rosario Weiss, the painter's pupil, companion and possible daughter, whose career was overshadowed by Goya's figure.
The first session will conclude at 8:00 p.m. with a presentation by historian and novelist José Luis Corral, the festival's director. In "Goya in the War of Independence", he will analyze the artist's view of that conflict and its impact on the series "The Disasters of War".
The program will continue on Thursday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. with Amelia Noguera, author of "La hija de Goya", a historical novel that reconstructs the life of Rosario Weiss in the Spain of Ferdinand VII and explores exile, Romanticism, freedom and the role of women artists in the 19th century. Next, at 8:15 p.m., art historian Juan Carlos Lozano will discuss the painter's early years in the lecture "The Young Goya: Realities, Falsehoods, Myths and Legends".
Friday, September 18, will feature another of the festival's highlights. Aragonese writer Luis Zueco will open the afternoon program at 6:30 p.m. with "El juicio. La Inquisición contra Goya", a novel set in late-18th-century Madrid. At 7:15 p.m., writer and historian José Calvo Poyato will analyze the political and social context in which the artist lived in the lecture "Goya's Spain, a Time of Change".
Designer Roberto Verino will close the day at 8:00 p.m. with the presentation "Fashion, Art and Literature". His participation will broaden the festival's perspective beyond strictly literary creation through a conversation with the public about the connections between these three artistic and cultural languages.
