Prague Writer's Festival 2009

 ● British and dissident roots

The Festival originated in London at Keats House, where, at the end of the seventies, Michael March (PWF’s President) started international poetry readings through the Helsinki Accords, which provided the financial support to invite writers from Central and Eastern Europe. Many of the readings were by writers who couldn’t express themselves in their countries for political reasons.

● Moving to Prague

Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became clear that the Festival should move to a country that had formerly been part of the USSR. In 1991, the festival came to Prague because “Prague was a natural host and meeting place for writers,” connected by its literary tradition and its freedom of speech. The first Prague Writer’s Festival took place at Valdštejn Palac in May 1991, under the theme “Wedding Preparations in the Country.”

● Progressive development

During the past 18 years, the PWF became famous step by step. Supported by the city of Prague, it became one of the most notable events in the Czech Republic. Its previous locations—including the Franz Kafka Center, Viola Theatre, Studio Ypsilon and the Divadlo Minor—and this year’s location, in the Laterna Magika Theater, confirm the festival’s status as an essential event in Prague’s cultural scene.

● Institutional Support

Prague Writer’s Festival is working closely with Czech cultural institutions: the City of Prague, the Ministry of Culture and the Czech-German Foundation. This support is the result of a mutual belief that the festival is an important event for the Czech Republic and the European Union.

● A Popular Event

Every year the festival welcomes many hundreds of people for each event. Even though its audience is varied, many of the attendees are young Czechs who are looking to discover and meet international writers as well as to confront their ideas. Over the years attendance has increased from only 120 in 1991, to over 2000 in 2008.

● A Long-lived Festival

2009 will be the 19th year of the festival. This makes the Prague Writer’s Festival one of the oldest literary festivals in Europe—older even than those in Berlin and Edinburgh.

● Offer for High-schools

The PWF offers discount tickets and other perks for high school classes. In partnership with principals and teachers it offers the elaboration of educational works, organized around its annual theme, its writers, or its literature.

● A Co-operation with Universities

The festival has been connected for many years—on the level of humanities, languages and literature—with numerous Czech universities and with New York University in Prague. Articles and translations done by students are often published on the festival’s website. The festival also arranges meetings between its invited writers and small groups of university students.

● Historical and Political Subjects

In its theme as well as its conversations, the festival often asks political questions. It is its hope that the festival will contribute to the creation of a sociopolitical conscience through its website and through events, which often deal with the pressing subjects of our time.

● Creation of a Literary Database

All of the festival’s archives are available to the public through its website. This gives students and lovers of literature in both Czech and English access to an important database of writers and writing. The archives included biographies, texts, videos and photographs, and are available for free use by universities or literary projects.

● Writers from all over the World

While the festival’s main purpose is to introduce a new literary dimension to Prague, the city’s central location provides an excellent hub by which to bring a core of ideas and innovations to Central and Eastern Europe. We are honored to have writers and guests from all over the world; because of this, the festival doesn’t focus on a specific part of literature, but is instead open to the entire world of creation.

● A Close Partnership with Embassies

 Each year the festival works closely with the embassies of its guests, including the U.S., French, German, Greek, Mexican, and Canadian embassies. Each year the festival elaborates its program in partnership with the embassies of its guest. Some events are held in participating cultural centers. The festival is covered by both national and international media which included The guardian, Agence France Presse and Radio Praha.

● Expansion

From Prague, the festival is constantly expanding its geographical borders. In 2005, it held a parallel festival in Vienna. The festival has plans for events in New York, Athens, and Paris.

● Simultaneous Internet Broadcasts

The festival is simulcast on its website as it occurs, in both English and Czech. This allows viewers throughout the world to experience the festival. Last year, an additional 1000 viewers attended each event.

● Extensive Archives

As stated, the festival’s entire archives are available on its website. This includes biographies, cultural and literary files, interviews, book reviews, and video and photo galleries. The archives cover all the previous festivals, including more than 200 writers from over 40 countries. (See Appendix 3)

● Detailed Files

Each year the festival’s website contains extensive information about its guests and theme: this includes articles, guides to previous festivals, a presentation of this year’s patron saints (Philip Guston and Edmond Jabčs), and background information covering all aspects of the festival.

● A prominent place in literature

Throughout the year the festival’s website provides information and conversation about the Czech literary world, publishing articles, reviews, translations, announcements, debates, and often controversial editorials, such as its defense of Milan Kundera. It also allows visitors to follow the festival’s previous guests with extracts from their latest works.

● An Open Space

Apart from providing a forum for healthy debate and literary conversation, the festival is also open to contributors who are non-members through its website. It often publish works by our partners (translators, critics, etc.) but also by students who are trying to improve their writing and critical skills. The Café Central section of the English website contains poems, prose and play scripts sent to the festival from talented writers. It provides a means to discover unknown authors to an international audience.

Each festival takes place for five days, with many different events

● Public Readings

The most central portion of the event is its schedule of public readings. Every evening three authors take the stage. After a ten-minute conversation, they read an excerpt from their work. Each writer reads in their native language, and Czech and English translations are broadcast simultaneously through headphones or read one the stage by actors.

● Conversations

Also, central to the festival are literary conversations. Each day round-table conferences are organized about literary or political subjects. These discussions last an hour, followed by questions from the audience. It occasions a free interaction between thinkers and artists, writers and audience, and helps make the Prague Writers’ Festival a festival of ideas.

● Meetings

After each event, the writers and their audiences are able to converse and interact through book signings, as well as over refreshments. In this way they can continue the debates and discussions that are established by the readings.

● Other cultural activities

As a cultural foundation, the festival is involved year-round in other cultural activities. It helps organize concerts (Ed Sanders and the Plastic People of the Universe), exhibitions (Dada East), movie screenings (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), publishing books and more.

● Short Story Prize

Since 2002, the festival has awarded a prize for the best submitted short story. Anyone may submit a story of ten pages or less that deals directly with the festival’s theme. The writer of the winning short-story will receive a prize during the festival, and will have the chance to read on stage alongside the festival’s invited writers. This provides a showcase for emerging writers from the Czech Republic.

● Vergos Prize

Since 2007, the festival has commemorated the death of the Greek poet Spiros Vergos (who was the PWF’s director in 2005) by presenting the “Spiros Vergos Prize for Freedom of Expression”. The prize honors a guest of the festival who exemplifies these pursuits. In 2008, the prize was awarded to Natalia Gorbanevskaya for her stance against communism in the Soviet Union and the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

The festival will be held on the 7 – 11 of June, at the Laterna Magika Theatre.

● Theme

This year’s theme will be “2001 Nights: the Art of Storytelling.” We will explore the parallels between “One-thousand and One Nights” and the event of 11 September 2001, and the connections between history, politics and literature. We will be discussing the power of stories, the relationship between truth and literature, and the struggles that emerge from differing perceptions of facts.

● The “Worlds” we will speak about

This year the festival presents stories from Arabia, China and the world of American underground comics. Through its guests and its theme, the festival will approach these three different “worlds”, and try to unify them by looking at common points in their voices.

● Authors

Fifteen writers will be joining us this year: Adonis, Iain Banks, Mourid Barghouti, Wolf Biermann, Robert Crumb, Gao Xingjian, Elias Khoury, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Ma Jian, Anne Michaels, Jaroslav Rudiš, Gilbert Shelton, Jiří Suchý, Anne Waldman and Yang Lian. (See Appendix 1) 

● Program