The 28th edition of the international book fair and literary festival will be thematically exceptional. The “Authors Without Borders” concept reflects the current time when borders, whether physical, cultural, social, sexual, genre or political, are becoming increasingly blurred. Thus in 2023, the guest of honour is not a specific country but authors transgressing notional borders.
THE CELA FESTIVAL TOUR STOPS IN THE BOOK WORLD Prague 2023
Four authors will present their work at the international festival Book World Prague 2023: Urszula Jabłońska from Poland, Marija Pavlović from Serbia, Yelena Schmitz from Belgium and Lisa Weeda from the Netherlands. The entire project and its program at the international festival fully corresponds to this year's theme of the Book World Prague, which is "Authors without borders".
The main event is the Friday performance called "You'll love this cell!". The event will take place in Atelier Evropa on Friday 12. 5. from 5:00 p.m. As part of it, the audience will be able to listen to texts on the theme CHANGE, which were created during the project. Lucie Faulerová, Anna Beata Háblová, Urszula Jabłońská, Marija Pavlović and Yelena Schmitz will present their texts. Translations of texts by foreign authors will be presented on stage by Czech translators Tadeáš Dohňanský and Markéta Chlebovská. The moderator of the event, Filip Koryta, will talk to all participants about what it's like to embark on the path of a writer and succeed on the Czech and the European book market.
Lisa Weeda, the Dutch author involved in the CELA project, will present her debut novel to visitors on Saturday 13. 5. at 17:00 at the Atelier Evropa. The novel Aleksandra, which is very topical, in which the author introduces us to the family saga of her ancestors - Don Cossacks and Russian peasants, was published in Czech in 2022 by the Garamond publishing house, translated by Blanka Juranová. The novel was nominated for the renowned literary prize Libris Literatuur Prijs, Lisa Weeda was declared the literary talent of 2022 by the Dutch national newspaper de Volkskrant. Dora Kaprálová will talk with the author and translator about the novel, which is straddling the East and the West, between existentialism and fable.
As part of the Professional Forum, there will be a debate on Friday 12.5. from 14:00 p.m. between Czech and foreign translators who have already managed to publish their translations. Blanka Juranová, Martina Kutková, Agata Wróbel and Daniel Ordóñez will take part in the debate. Translators and foreign authors will have the opportunity to meet Czech publishers as part of the publisher's breakfast.