This is one of the core events of Festival 42: a meeting of the great international participants of the Festival who are either working on, or have recently published, works of fantasy. A meeting precisely to discuss where this genre is going (an equivalent discussion on science fiction will be held the previous day). Under the guidance of the translator, editor and prescriber Alexander Páez, who is coming from Copenhagen to take part in Festival 42, Alexandra Bracken, Nicholas Eames, Lucy Holland, Jennifer Saint and Francesco Nepitello will work together to ascertain where this genre will be going in the next few years, either in their own individual trajectories or as a collective trend. At the very least, they are sure to contribute top-class reflections. And you will have the opportunity to witness them. This isn't something that happens every day.

Taking part:

Alexandra Bracken rose to fame as an author thanks to her young adult fiction series The Darkest Minds (made into a film in 2018 and currently available on Disney Plus) and Passenger. Having topped the New York Times sales ranking, she brings her recent work Lore to Festival 42.

Nicholas Eames is a Canadian epic fantasy writer. He is the author of Kings of the Wyld and the recently released sequel Bloody Rose. He is a great lover of black coffee, neat whisky, October and video games.

Lucy Holland is a writer who also works for Waterstones and directs the feminist podcast Breaking The Glass Slipper. She is the author of books such as Starborn, the first in the Worldmaker fantasy trilogy, and the recent hit Sistersong.

Jennifer Saint is a writer, English teacher and fan of Greek mythology, her specialist subject in her degree from King's College London. She has just published Ariadne, a dramatised version of the myth of Theseus, which has been translated to many languages.

Francesco Nepitello is an Italian game designer who is internationally known for his works set in J.R.R. Tolkien's universe, which include War of the Ring. He has also created others such as Age of Conan, Marvel Heroes and Barcelona: The Rose of Fire.

Giovanna Rivero is an award-winning Bolivian short-story writer and a novelist of international renown. She has written novels such as Las camaleonas, Helena 2022 and 98 segundos sin sombra, as well as collections of short stories such as Para comerte mejor and the recent Tierra fresca de su tumba.

Stuart Turton is a British writer and journalist whose first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is an international bestseller that’s soon to be screened on Netflix. The Devil and the Dark Water has also been published in Spanish as El diablo y el mar oscuro. 

Moderated by:

Alexander Páez is an editor and manager of Saga Egmont's audiobook department. He has translated books by authors such as Kameron Hurley and Lavie Thidar and has created or taken part in blogs and podcasts such as Neo Nostromo, The Spoiler Club and Donde acaba el infinito.