Michal Ajvaz has been invited by American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) to be part of a panel on artificial languages in Czech literature at the AATSEEL conference in Washington DC. Two lectures will be given on his novel, Lucemburská zahrada (The Luxembourg Gardens), on 2 February. More information here.

On 5 February, he will appear in LA on the occasion of the 2018 Literary Arts Reading Series, organized by The John Fowles Center for Creative Writing. More information here.

Ajvaz (b. 1949) is a poet and writer whose works might be described as playful literary fantasies filled with symbolism. His first book came out when he was in his forties, although he has been writing with various intervals since he was fifteen. He has won the Magnesia Litera Award and the French Utopiales prize for science fiction. Three of his novels have been published in English by Dalkey Archive Press (The Other City, The Golden Age and Empty Streets). An English translation of Cesta na jih (Journey to the South) is in preparation.

The two events are supported by a travel grant from the Czech Literary Centre.