Festival de las Ideas and Redeia bring the work of Zadie Smith to students in Madrid, Burgos, Segovia, and Cuenca

On 18 September, nearly 370 students and teachers from seven secondary schools in Madrid, Burgos, Segovia, and Cuenca will participate in a public event with the British author Zadie Smith in Madrid's Plaza de España. The activity is part of the programme for the Festival de las Ideas, organised by the Círculo de Bellas Artes and La Fábrica, and is supported by Redeia.

Thanks to this collaboration, young people from both rural and urban backgrounds will have the opportunity to discover the work of one of the most renowned voices in contemporary literature and speak with her directly. The event is designed as an egalitarian, participatory, and intimate space for dialogue, steering clear of traditional presentation formats. 

The participating schools are IES Marqués de Lozoya in Cuéllar (Segovia); IES Juan Martín El Empecinado in Aranda de Duero (Burgos); IES Fray Luis de León in Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca); and four schools in Madrid: IES Beatriz Galindo, Colegio Madrid, Colegio Lourdes FUHEM, and Colegio Hipatia FUHEM. Each school will attend with a group of approximately 50 students, primarily from the first year of Bachillerato (Year 12), along with their accompanying teachers. 

Reading, debating, and preparing for the event

The young participants' involvement will begin before they arrive at Plaza de España. The Festival de las Ideas has sent all the schools a teaching guide and a complimentary copy of White Teeth, Zadie Smith's debut novel. A chapter from NW – a work in which the author once again explores the diversity, inequalities, and identities that coexist in urban spaces – has also been proposed as supplementary reading.

Using these materials, the students will prepare their own questions for the author. The conversation will revolve around the central theme of 'The Urban vs. the Rural: Identity, Territory, and Complexity'.

The debate will address how the places we live shape our identity, the pace of our lives, and the way we interact with others. Contrasting with the acceleration, digital hyperstimulation, overcrowding, and control of public spaces typical of large cities, the event will also analyse the pace of rural environments, their relationship with the landscape and physical surroundings, their community dynamics, and challenges such as isolation or unequal access to opportunities.

Prompted by the students' questions, Zadie Smith will offer her literary and critical perspective to examine how culture and thought can build bridges between the centre and the periphery, questioning the geographical, social, and cultural borders that intersect our experience of the world.
As part of the preparations for the activity, a rapporteur and a photographer will visit IES Fray Luis de León in Las Pedroñeras on 11 September. Rapporteur Timanfaya Custodio and photographer Miguel Ángel Jorquera will document the preliminary work carried out by the students and capture their experiences, reflections, and concerns.
Madrid as a meeting point between territories
The three schools located outside the Comunidad de Madrid will be provided with transport, thanks to the collaboration of Redeia. This will allow the groups from Cuéllar, Aranda de Duero, and Las Pedroñeras to spend the entire day of 18 September in the capital. The conversation will take place in English and will feature simultaneous interpreting into Spanish. The event will also be interpreted into Spanish Sign Language, thanks to the support of CaixaBank.

Redeia connects people and essential services through its electricity and telecommunications networks, but it also helps to connect territories, realities, and perspectives through active listening and dialogue. Its collaboration with the Festival de las Ideas stems from the conviction that exchange between different communities is essential to generating a positive impact on local areas, the environment, and the people who inhabit it.

With this inter-territorial event, Redeia and the Festival de las Ideas invite young people to imagine, from the heart of Madrid, a fairer, more connected, and more cohesive future: one with fewer barriers between rural and urban areas, and with equal opportunities and access to technological and social possibilities, regardless of age or place of residence.
 

Event details
Date: 18 September, 18:30.
Location: Plaza de España, Madrid.