SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 5 photo : pedro szekely notebook Caroline Adderson, page 07 What to Read Now: Mixed Genre Literature, page 06 New Books: Childhood, page 09 W anderingdownthestreets of Cartagena, it is easy to understand why Gabriel García Márquez, one of the foremost writers of magical realism, has been so inspired by the city. Palm trees and pastel seventeenth-century architecture line the plazas, toucans perch on stoplights and café tables, and the sky and the sea at midday pervade the streets with a light so blue it seems as though Dr. Manhattan is cradling the city in his hands. Such is the magic of Cartagena that when García Márquez took a Spanish-born writer on a tour of the city, it lowered his opinion of the Colombian writer’s talents. The Spaniard later called García Márquez “just a notary without imagination,” disappointed that the magical atmosphere of García Márquez’s books was not entirely the writer’s invention but was present in his favorite city as well. Cartagena is located on the Caribbean coast, and since its founding in 1533,hasattractedavarietyofmaritime visitors. It was subjected to a centurieslong string of pirate sieges that began in thesixteenthcentury.Itscoastallocation has also attracted a more friendly crowd: Cartagena is a hub of immigration and international trade and has been since itsfounding,lendingadiverseandvaried texture to the city’s population. Today, Cartagena has an extensive network of libraries and bookstores. It hosts a year-round schedule of literary events, including author panels and theatrical productions that take place in the city’s many theaters. In addition to being the part-time residence of García Márquez, Cartagena is home to writers such as the poet Natalia Carbajosa. The crown jewel of Cartagena’s literary scene is the annual Hay Festival , an extension of the festival that originated in the Welsh town of Hayon -Wye and now takes place in fifteen cities across the globe. In 2001 Bill Clinton called the Hay-on-Wye festival “the Woodstock of the mind,” and with its scores of visiting writers , panels, and interviews, and what global director Peter Florence called its “total freedom without political responsibility,” Hay Cartagena more than lives up to its Welsh progenitor ’s reputation. It has attracted writers from around the world, including Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Andrew Davies, Ian McEwan, Michael Ondaatje, and Carlos Fuentes , the writer who originally conceived and campaigned for the Hay’s Cartagena incarnation. Cartagena serves not only as a hub of literary culture but also as an inspiration to the many readers and writers who come into contact with it. As Carlos Fuentes once said of the city, “aquí se pueden escribir grandes novelas”: here one is able to write great books. – Eliza Robertson Reading list Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, tr. Edith Grossman (Penguin, 2008) Gabriel García Márquez, Memories of My Melancholy Whores, tr. Edith Grossman (Knopf, 2005) Nam Le, “Cartagena,” in The Boat (Vintage, 2009) Glen David Short, An Odd Odyssey: California to Colombia by Bus and Boat, through Mexico and South America (Trafford, 2006) Cartagena Host to Colombia’s “Woodstock of the Mind” ...