These are just some of the topics to be explored by the Czech Literary Centre (CzechLit), a section of the Moravian Library (ML), at this year’s edition of the international book fair and literary festival Book World Prague (15 to 18 May).
The key part of CzechLit’s activities at this year’s Book World Prague is connected with preparations for the Czech Republic’s guest of honour appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2026. During the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Czech Republic would like to present as many current book translations from Czech as possible. For that reason, CzechLit invited fifteen foreign publishers from several European countries to the fair to help them arrange meetings with their Czech counterparts and deepen mutual collaboration and efforts in publishing contemporary Czech literature in foreign languages. Representatives from three publishing houses in Germany, two in Spain, two in the UK and five in France together with publishers from Switzerland, Sweden, and the Netherlands accepted the invitation. CzechLit in partnership with CEEBM (Central and East European Book Market – the programme section of the Book World) has prepared a specialised programme for them. It will feature
Professor Petr A. Bílek, among others, who will introduce publishers to current Czech book production and trends.
The hosting and benefits of the Frankfurt Book Fair for Czech writers will also be presented by CzechLit director Martin Krafl at an event where he will talk about the hosting project.
“I am very happy that Anna Luňáková, Petr Borkovec, and Jan Němec will be joining me in the discussion on how to support original works of literature as part of the Frankfurt project and on the Novel for Frankfurt competition. As president of ENLit (European Network for Literary Translation), I also appreciate that colleagues from 20 countries have accepted the invitation to Prague for their meeting on May 14. ENLit brings together major European state and non-state book institutions and organisations that support and promote national literature abroad, or literature in general. CzechLit has been an active member of the network since 2019. Among other things, ENLit members will participate in a professional programme of the Book World fair. I believe that the debate with them will be appreciated both by translators and visitors interested in connecting Czech and foreign literature,” says Martin Krafl, Director of the Czech Literary Centre, about the programme at the Book World.
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Part of the CzechLit’s professional programme focuses on the work of literary translators as without them the goals of the hosting programme could not be achieved. It will kick off with an interesting discussion on how to pitch a book to an American publisher, featuring prominent foreign literary professionals. The programme continues with a discussion among young Czech female translators involved in the European project CELA. This will be followed by a playful workshop entitled “Si to zkus!“ (“Give It a Try”) on Saturday, 17 May. The workshop will be run by translator Michala Marková, who will share her experience of what an English translator needs to know (apart from the language itself). She will highlight the pitfalls and hardships of working as a literary translator.
CzechLit is joining the programme of this year’s 30th anniversary fair, themed “30! The Energy of Youth – The Wisdom of Books” with a discussion bringing together foreign writers in their thirties from Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine, who are also involved in the CELA project and will be appearing before a Czech audience for the first time.
“I am thrilled to welcome Ukrainian writer Eugenia Kuznetsova, who received a special mention from the jury of the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) in 2022. This year, a Czech translation of her comic book Krátké dějiny ukrajinského boršče (A Brief History of Ukrainian Borscht) was published by Centrala publishing house,” adds Michala Čičváková, coordinator of international cooperation for German-speaking countries at CzechLit.
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The guest of honour at the 2025 Book World is Portugal. Therefore, the Czech Literary Centre, in cooperation with CAMÕES – Portuguese Centre in Prague, has prepared a series of debates bringing together Czech and Portuguese writers.
“I believe that events such as the discussion with Kateřina Tučková and Portuguese writer Lídia Jorge on writing about freedom, or Bianca Bellová’s interview with Gonçalo M. Tavares on dystopias in the contemporary world, will appeal to audiences of all interests and ages. I would also like to invite visitors to the closing event of CzechLit’s programme on Sunday (18 May): Ángelo Nestore, a non-binary artist and poet living in Spain, and Jana Orlová, a Czech poet and performer, will present a joint site-specific performance that follows the publication of a bilingual anthology of Czech queer poetry in Spanish translation,” explains Kateřina Chromková, coordinator of international cooperation for Spanish-speaking and Lusophone countries, about the programme of the Czech Literary Centre at the Book World.
The schedule of events organized by the Czech Literary Centre at Book World Prague can be found HERE.