Book World Prague
The Book World Prague (Svet Knihy Praha) is the largest book fair in the Czech Republic, and as the Czech Republic is traditionally one of the most important regional markets for Hungarian literature, the Petőfi Cultural Agency (PLF), together with the Liszt Institute in Prague, organized a stand presenting Hungarian original books translated into Czech and Hungarian original books published in Hungarian.
The Hungarian stand will feature recently published Hungarian fiction, children's literature and Czech translations published in recent years.
The Hungarian participation is organized by the Petőfi Cultural Agency (PLF) and the Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Centre Prague.
Book World Prague - 11-14 May 2023
Our programmes:
11 May
18.00 LITERARY SALON (LITERÁRNÍ SALON) - outdoor tent
Presentation of The Continental Literary Magazine
Can literature help us understand what is happening in Ukraine? What is the role of literature and what impact can it have in a situation of war? Can the written word capture the war and its consequences? Is it even possible to write literature when there is a war going on in the neighborhood? The Petőfi Cultural Agency's quarterly thematic literary journal in English provides an opportunity to showcase Central and Eastern European literature in the West.
Contributors include writer Sándor Jászberényi, editor-in-chief of TCLM, and prose writer Ján Němec.
Moderated by Margit Garajszki, editor of TCLM.
In Hungarian and Czech, with simultaneous interpretation.
12 May
11.00 LITERARY SALON (LITERÁRNÍ SALON) - outdoor tent
Borbála Szabó - Dániel Varró: Líra és Epika - book launch
Two feuding kingdoms, the sophisticated and poetic Liria and the sartorially practical Epicum, have long been at war with each other, financially ruining the royal families of both countries. The war is to be ended by the marriage of Prince Líra and Princess Epika.
Translator Robert Svoboda talks to poet Dániel Varró. Tomáš Turek reads excerpts from the play.
In Hungarian and Czech, with simultaneous interpretation.
16.00 LITERARY SALON (LITERÁRNÍ SALON) - outdoor tent
Izsó Zita: Enclosed Forest - book launch
An astronaut lands in the Garden of Eden. He sees the scripts of a decoded language, the cycle of destruction and creation, and sees our wounds multiplying like teeth marks on a piece of flesh exposed to stray animals. Zita Izsó's fourth book of poems is a stark vision of the fenced-in forest of us all.
In conversation with Zita Izsó, the author of the book, is poet Olga Stehlíková. With the participation of translator Robert Svoboda.
In Hungarian and Czech, with simultaneous interpretation.
18.00 AUTHOR'S ROOM (AUTORSKÝ SÁL) - outdoor tent
László Szilasi: The Third Bridge - book launch
The story begins at a school reunion. The plot of this one-day novel is set in the sunny city of Szeged, but the plot does not unfold serene and happy destinies but plunges us into the deeper and colder depths of life.
In conversation with writer László Szilasi and translator Marta Pató, literary critic Jan M. Heller.
13 May
18.00 LITERARY SALON (LITERÁRNÍ SALON) - outdoor tent
A forthcoming anthology of Hungarian literature in Czech - introduction
The Liszt Institute (Hungarian Cultural Centre) in Prague celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the institute, in collaboration with Malvern Publishing House, is publishing a Czech-language anthology of Hungarian literature, a comprehensive selection of works published in Czech over the past 70 years.
The concept is presented by the editor of the volume, literary historian Jenő Gál and literary translator Robert Svoboda. The selected excerpts will be read by the actor Tomáš Turek.