SLOVENIA’S PROGRAM AT THE PRAGUE BOOK FAIR 2005
Thursday, 5 May—Sunday, 8 May 2005
WEDNESDAY, 4 May
17.00
Rozinteater: a street performance outside Portheimka
Vila Portheimka, Štefánikova 12, Prague 5, Smichov
17.30
The opening of the Slovenian exhibition at the Portheimka museum— "3 X SLOVENIJA/SLOVINSKO" : Impressions about Kosovel, Jože Plečnik – works for president Masaryk, Contemporary Slovenian comics. —Organized by: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
A recital of Srečko Kosovel’s poems in translation at the opening of the exhibition. Graduate and postgraduate students of the Slovenian language at the Prague Faculty of Liberal Arts, under the tutorship of Jasna Honzak Jahič, will present their translations of Kosovel’s poetry into the Czech language.
18.30
Reception given by the Slovenian ambassador to the Czech Republic, Drago Mirošič, after the opening of the exhibition at the Portheimka.
20.00
Theater VIOLA, Národní třída 7, Prague 1
A Chrysanthemum on the Piano
Svetlana Makarovič, singer Janja Majzel, Jože Šalej on the piano.
The first lady of Slovenian poetry, her poems set to music and her chansons at an unforgettable event on the night before the opening of the book fair.
THURSDAY, 5 MAY
10.00 Big Hall (central hall)
Opening of the book fair. Address by the Slovenian Minister of Culture, Vasko Simoniti.
11.00 S 201 (central hall)
Opening of the Slovenian exhibition space. A speech by the Slovenian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Drago Mirošič. Rozinteater: a sketch from the street performance.
13.00 – 13.50
Big Hall (central hall)
Slovenian Literature in Czech
Hosted by: Petr Mainuš. Participants: František Benhart, Alenka Jensterle-Doležal, Hana Chmelikova, Petr Minařík (Větrné mlýny).
After Croatian, Slovenian literature is most frequently translated into Czech. Speaking about the success of these publications will be the most dedicated translator, a lecturer from the University of Prague, a representative of a publishing house that has published a number of translations from Slovenian, and other experts.
14.00 – 14.50
Chamber Hall (right wing balcony)
Literature – lost in the market? (Eng./Czech)
Hosted by: Alexandra Büchler, Literature Across Frontiers. Participants: Rachel van Riel (opening the Book, UK), Andrej Blatnik (author and editor, Slovenia), Jovanka Šotolová (iliteratura, Czech Republic) and Tony Ward (Arc Publications, UK).
Does the market help or hinder good literature? In our time of globalization and swift information exchange the whole world seems to be increasingly reading the same authors—how does this affect the cultures and literatures of the so-called small languages? How to encourage reading as one of the fundamental ways of getting to know the world and forming an attitude to it? The participants include head of the UK-based reader development project Opening the Book ( www.openingthebook.com) , an author, an internet review editor and a poetry publisher.
In cooperation with LAF.
15.00 – 15.50
Literary Hall (right wing)
Literature for Children
Hosted by: Ludek Janda. Participants: Svetlana Makarovič, Andrej Rozman-Roza, Iva Prochazkova.
Children are the keenest and most serious readers. And the most demanding as well—can a clever author get away with anything? How does reading survive the increasingly aggressive competition of the multimedia culture? A discussion with imaginative authors of literature for (not only) children.
16.00
Kino Evald, Narodni trida 28, Prague 1
www.cinemart.cz
Film: Zvenenje v glavi (Headnoise). Director: Andrej Košak. Based on the novel of:Drago Jančar. 2002, 90’
Hot summer 1970, Livada state prison. Keber, a Vietnam veteran arranges with the prison governor a viewing of a long awaited basketball match between Yugoslavia and the USA. During the match a guard provokes the prisoners, Keber smashes the TV against the window bars and an uprising starts. For four days prisoners take power, establish their committee and choose a leader. They come up with six demands…
16.00 – 16.50
Literary Hall (right wing,)
Contemporary literature in new member states of the EU
Organized by Študentska založba
17.00 – 17.50
Literary Cafe (left wing)
Reading: Poetry of the City
Hosted by: Alexandra Büchler. Participants: Jana Putrle Srdić, Tone Škrjanec, Edward Pasewicz, Semjon Chanin, Sergej Timofejev and Kateřina Rudčenková.
The city has provided endless inspiration to modern poetry. What is urban poetry like in the 21 st century? Poets from Ljubljana, Poznan, Prague and Riga read poems inspired by their fascination with the city.
In Slovenian, Polish, Russian and Czech.
In cooperation with LAF.
19.30
Rozinteater: street performance outside the Národní dům
20.00
NÁRODNÍ DŮM
Reception for all the participants of the fair, music: Fake orchestra
From hot samba to free jazz, from African lullabies to jaunty polkas—Fake orchestra, one of the favorite Slovenian late-night bands, can do it all. Come and be surprised!
FRIDAY, 6 MAY
During the day Rozinteater: two street performances in the city centre.
13.00
Movie – right wing 4
Film: Varuh meje (Guardian of the Frontier)
Director: Maja Weiss. 2002, 100’
For their summer holidays, three students—Alja, Žana and Simona-- decide to take a canoe trip down the Kolpa river, the river which divides Slovenia from Croatia. They are unaware that they are being watched by the Guardian of the Frontier, a conservative local politician, and the self-styled defender of traditional Slovenian values. As the girls float deeper into the woods, cracks develop in the three girls’ relationship. With nowhere to turn, the girls must decide: what is a border worth crossing and what is just an imaginary line?
14.00 – 14.50
Big Hall (central hall)
New Europe
Hosted by: Pavel Šaradín. Participants: Drago Jančar, Aleš Debeljak, Michal Viewegh.
What constitutes Old and what New Europe—and when was Europe first spoken of as an entity? How far does Europe extend? Is this a question of the reach of culture or capital? Is a new empire emerging in the post-Cold War era to counter the only remaining empire? And last but not least—is there such a thing as European literature?
15.00 – 15.50
Literary Cafe (left wing)
New Translations
Hosted by: Alena Šamonilova. Participants: Andrej E. Skubic, Suzana Tratnik, Iztok Osojnik, Aleš Kozar, Petr Mainuš.
A presentation of the latest Czech translations of works by Slovenian authors.
16.00 – 16.50
Literary Cafe (left wing)
Drago Jančar - New translations
Hosted by: František Benhart. Participants: Drago Jančar, Milan Machacek (editor of the Paseka publishing house).
The best known Slovenian author, most frequently translated into Czech, in conversation with his translator.
17.00 – 17.50
Literary Hall (right wing)
Urban Themes in Contemporary Poetry
Hosted by: Urban Vovk. Participants: Aleš Debeljak, Milan Jesih, Gregor Podlogar, Maja Vidmar, J. H. Krchovský.
Urban elements are a novelty in Slovenian poetry, which is traditionally nature-oriented. Can small Slovenian towns provide enough urban feeling or are poets forced to seek it in the great cities of the world, perhaps also in Prague?
18.00 – 18.50
Big Hall (central hall)
Gay and Lesbian Literature
Hosted by: Martin C. Putna. Participants: Alain Massuard, Suzana Tratnik, Brane Mozetič, Věra Sokolová.
What is gay and lesbian literature, what defines it? Is this a new subject in Eastern European literatures? How does this subject face up to the neo-conservatism in the East? Is this type of literature still being censored, and if so, what forms does the censorship take? A comparison of Slovenian and Czech experiences.
19.30
GLOBE - Coffehouse and Bookstore, Pštrossova 6, Prague 1
www.globebookstore.cz
New Poetry from Eastern Europe in English Translation. A reading with Primož Čučnik, Petr Borkovec, Edward Pasewicz, Kateřina Rudčenková and Sergej Timofeyev, hosted by: Alexandra Büchler.
Readings by poets from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia included in the anthology A Fine Line: New Poetry from Eastern and Central Europe.
20.30
GLOBE
Readings in English: Andrej Blatnik, Aleš Debeljak, Aleš Šteger, hosted by: Howard Sidenberg.
Readings by Slovenian authors from their works published in English translations.
SATURDAY, 7 MAY
Rozinteater: during the day two street performances in the city centre.
11.00 – 11.50
Literary Cafe (left wing)
Contemporary Travel Writing
Hosted by: Matej Bogataj. Participants: Evald Flisar, Aleš Šteger, Iva Pekárková.
How to respond to a foreign culture in a proper literary manner? National literary canons are slow to include even classic travel writers, while contemporary print media expect ever lighter and more spectacular texts, travel writings included. Will authors soon need to describe their travels twice, in one way for newspapers and magazines, and in another for books? A discussion with travel writers from the two cultures.
13.00 – 13.50
Literary Cafe (left wing)
Urban themes in Contemporary Prose
Hosted by: Matej Bogataj. Participants: Andrej Blatnik, Aleš Kozar, Mojca Kumerdej, Andrej E. Skubic, Jachym Topol.
How does the city inspire authors in a culture with a very short urban tradition? Is opting for urban speech an automatic decision, or a way of rebelling against traditional writings focused more on the countryside and village life rather than on towns? Are towns too small, or have they grown too large already?—Both Andrej E. Skubic and Jáchym Topol have focused on a single part of town in their books.
14.00
Movie – right wing 4
Film: Oda Prešernu (An Ode to the Poet)
Director: Martin Srebotnjak. 2000, 100’
Miha, a poet whom no one takes seriously, earns his living by writing cheap advertising slogans. This outsider poet of the new age gets commissioned to write an ode to the famous Slovenian poet Prešeren, for the occasion of the national celebration, due to the 200th anniversary of Prešeren’s birth. Who was Prešeren, what did he drink and what sort of women did he like? A comedy can begin.
15.00 – 15.50
Literary Hall (right wing)
Literary magazines
Hosted by: Primož Repar (Apokalipsa). Participants: Evald Flisar (Sodobnost), Urban Vovk (Literatura), Marek Sečkař (Host), Joachim Dvorak (Labyrint revue).
Literary magazines offer various opportunities for cooperation between national literatures; these will be discussed by the editors of leading Slovenian magazines Sodobnost, Literatura and Apokalipsa. Their Czech counterparts will complete the picture.
16.00
Kino Evald, Narodni trida 28, Prague 1
www.cinemart.cz
Film: Predmestje (The Suburbs). Director and script: Vinko M öderndorfer, 2004, 90’
Marjan and his group of friends are disturbed by a young foreign couple moving into their neighbourhood. Their secret filming of the couple reveals their own attitude of always blaming others for their misfortune. The Suburbs is a film about the rise of xenophobia and nationalism. It is a story of the suburbs of the human soul.
17.00 – 17.50
Big Hall (central hall)
Women Writing
Hosted by: Stanislava Repar Chrobakova. Participants: Mojca Kumerdej, Maja Novak, Alexandra Berkova, Magdalena Platzova.
Women’s writing is an inconspicuous, perhaps even obscured thread in Slovenian literature. Recently, however, a number of women authors have become prominent. Two of them will share their thoughts with their Czech colleagues.
20.00 – 22.00
CAFÉ MONTMARTRE, Řetězová 7, Prague 1
Literature live
Dane Zajc & Janez Škof, Maja Vidmar, Milan Jesih, Mojca Kumerdej, Andrej Rozman-Roza, Maja Novak; accompanied by Jože Šalej on the accordion.
The final readings to close Slovenia’s presentation in Prague will unite authors of different generations and esthetic persuasions. Also the accordion, the archetypal musical instrument of Slovenian folklore, can sound in many different ways!
23.00 – 24.00
Palác Akropolis, Kubelíkova 27, Prague 3
Poetry and music: Primož Čučnik, Gregor Podlogar, Tone Škrjanec
There is a time-honored tradition of association between literature and other arts. In recent years, poetry has often allied with electronic music. The three poets presented here regularly work with contemporary musicians, and on this occasion, they will themselves produce the sounds and noises of the urban environment.
24.00 - ?
Palác Akropolis, Kubelíkova 27, Praga 3
www.palacakropolis.cz
Slovenian after midnight party: DJ Bizzy & DJ Dojaja, electro house.
SUNDAY, 8 MAY
12.00
Movie – right wing 4
Film: Sladke sanje (Sweet Dreams).
Director: Sašo Podgoršek. Script: Miha Mazzini. 2002, 110’
Egon Vittori is thirteen years old and does not have a record player. It is the beginning of the seventies and Yugoslavia seems to be the land of prosperity. Goods are being imported from the West, and these include american music, films and fashion. Everybody but Egon owns a record player. Finding his path among his family members, hippie owners of music records, schoolmates, teachers, communists, and dissidents, Egon gets his record player in the end. And grows up somewhere along the way.
FINANCERS
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
The exhibitions are funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Sponsors
ORGANIZATION
Center za slovensko književnost
www.ljudmila.org/litcenter
The content of the catalogue is also available on the internet page www.ljudmila.org/litcenter
Center for Slovenian literature has helped to make the following publications available during the book fair:
- Slovenian edition of TRANSCRIPT, the European internet review of books and writing in English, French and German language http://www.transcript-review.org/
- Special Slovenian supplement in the Prague Literary Review in English language
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM
Presentations of Beletrina authors before the fair—organized by Študentska založba
Tuesday, 3 May - Prague
19.00 Déja vu, Balbinova ulica 4, Praha 2
Reading: Mate Dolenc, Miha Mazzini. Presented by: Mitja Čander
21.00 Déja vu
Reading: Irena Svetek, Dušan Čater, Jurij Hudolin. Presented by: Mitja Čander
Wednesday, 4 May - Brno
19.30 reading followed by a discussion at the Theatre v 7 a pul
Irena Svetek, Miha Mazzini, Mate Dolenc,Dušan Čater, Jurij Hudolin, Mitja Čander
5. 5. - 5. 6. 2005
National Library CR, Klementinum 190, Prague 1, main coridor
"Triglav pod hvezdami" /Triglav under the Stars/
An exhibition of Czech translations of Slovenian literature
Authors: Hana Chmelikova, MA, Radek Novak, MA