Hola. This is Barbara, your guide to the latest cultural news from the Spanish-speaking world. This week, I am taking a break from the book anniversaries to provide you with cultural news in which women play a major role. We live in a time in which women’s equality is threatened again, and I think it’s high time to stand up and show our strength and power. My role models this week are: Pilar Quintana, Isabel Calderón, Lucía Lijtmaer, and Emily Hart.
The Colombian Women Writers’ Library
Colombian writer Pilar Quintana is the driving force behind the project La Biblioteca de Escritoras Colombianas. Her role involves curating and assembling the writings of forgotten women writers from Colombia. This initiative aims to preserve and promote the literary contributions of these women, ensuring their voices are not lost to history. Quintana's dedication to this project highlights the rich literary heritage of Colombia and the important role women have played in shaping it. The Library, which brings together the voices of authors as heterogeneous and as brilliant as Mother Francisca Josefa del Castillo, Soledad Acosta de Samper, Elisa Mújica, Sofía Ospina de Navarro, Meira Delmar, Maruja Vieira, Albalucía Ángel, María Mercedes Carranza and Silvia Galvis, was launched on Women's Day 2022 because it is also an act of vindication, a call to restore, to give balance, as it should be, to the canon of Colombian literature.
The project saw its first edition in 2022 with eighteen authors, but got renewed and expanded to include 97 women writers this year during Bogota’s book fair (FilBo). Throughout this five-year project, which comprises a total of 10 anthologies featuring short stories, poems, essays, journalism, theatre plays, and novels, Pilar Quintana has drawn a significant conclusion:
Fui engañada toda mi vida. Me dijeron que las mujeres fueron malas escritoras, que escribían sólo de temas femeninos, que esos temas no eran importantes, y todo eso es mentira: las mujeres en Colombia, por años, han escrito de todos los temas y no son malas escritoras. (quoted from https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2025-04-26/pilar-quintana-recupera-del-olvido-a-105-escritoras-colombianas-menospreciadas-por-la-historia.html)
Translation: I was deceived all my life. I was told that women were bad writers, that they only wrote about women's issues, that those issues were not important, and all of that is a lie: women in Colombia have been writing about all subjects for years, and they are not bad writers (translated with the help of DeepL)
For me, it is a treasure to explore. I am happy that Soledad Acosta de Samper is included, but I am sure I will find more excellent writers, so I can learn more about Colombian literature.
Deforme semanal Ideal Total
Recently, a Spanish friend introduced me to one of her favourite podcasts. Deforme semanal Ideal Total (DSIT) is a show which offers a distinctive blend of cultural commentary, political analysis, and humour, all presented through a feminist lens. Lucía Lijtmaer and Isa Calderón host it.
As my friend told me, it was originally produced in collaboration with Radio Primavera Sound, but has evolved into a self-managed endeavour. The podcast has garnered significant acclaim, including the Ondas Award for Best Podcast in 2021 and the Global Ondas Podcast Award for Best Podcast of the Year in 2022. It boasts a substantial listener base in Spain and across Latin America, particularly in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. My friend encouraged me to also listen to their live recordings, but so far, I haven’t found a time to do so. However, from what I have seen and heard, I can wholeheartedly recommend the studio podcast. Deforme semanal is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can watch the recordings on YouTube, too. If you subscribe via their Patreon, you get special materials. Here’s how I got to know the show:
Emily Hart’s Colombia Briefing
Those of you who have been reading this newsletter for a long time, know well that I regularly listen to Richard McColl’s podcast Colombia Calling. In each episode of the podcast, Emily Hart gives a weekly update on what has been happening in the country and its context, the Colombia Briefing. The briefing is in English. Emily Hart is a freelance journalist who lives in Medellín, Colombia. Her work has been published by the New York Times, the BBC, the Sunday Times and others.
I have decided to financially support her Substack newsletter because I really appreciate her updates. Especially since I deleted my Twitter account I have been finding it difficult to get concise and trustworthy updates on Colombian news. Unfortunately, the presence of Colombian press and politics on Bluesky or Mastodon is more or less non-existent.
I really like how she breaks down complex issues into understandable units of news. She also covers cultural topics and their social impact that often get forgotten in the noise of social media. Do read her work to see if you want to support her as well. Here’s a way to get to know her:
This is all for this week. I hope you found these recommendations as inspiring and enjoyable as I did. If you have any suggestions for future newsletters or want to share your own favourite content, feel free to reach out. You can also support me and my work.