Why Central Europe needs to reinvent itself

On November 7, at 18:30, the public discussion "Why Central Europe needs to reinvent itself" involving Slovak and Hungarian writers and journalists will take place at the PEN Ukraine Space (Kyiv, 14a Lukyanivska St.). The event is taking place in cooperation with the UkraineWorld project.

Speakers:

Viktor Horváth – writer, translator of ancient and medieval verses, guest teacher at Universities. His novels are translated to several languages. He won the European Prize for Literature (EUPL) award in 2012 for his novel: Turkish Mirror.

Jan Markos (*1985) is a Slovak writer, journalist and chess grandmaster. He wrote several books on critical thinking, ethical dilemmas and phenomenology, as well as chess. His book "Sila rozumu v bláznivej dobe" (The Power of Reason in Crazy Times) was a bestseller in Slovakia in 2019. His book "The Secret Ingredient", co-authored with David Navara, was awarded by the International Chess Federation as the best chess book of the year 2021.

Jan also writes a weekly essay for a major liberal Slovak newspaper, Dennik N, and lectures companies, NGOs and high school and university teachers on critical thinking, decision making and soft skills.

Miro Pastorek, journalist at Postoj.sk, leading Slovak conservative media outlet. Mainly focuses on domestic and cultural policy. He is interested in how Russian propaganda shapes Slovak public discourse and aims at overcoming growing animosities between conservatives and liberals/progressives. In the past he worked with regional newspapers, Slovak catholic weekly Katolícke noviny and Prague-based Z1 TV.

Marek Vadas (1971) is a fiction writer and author of children’s books, a journalist, traveller and member of the council of elders in a small Cameroonian kingdom. Much of his work is set in Africa, with stories told by adults and children living on the edge of society where the line between reality and fantasy is often blurred. This narrative approach enables him to look at apparently straightforward problems and questions from a different point of view and to create in the reader a feeling of uncertainty together with dreams full of beauty and magic. His style is influenced both by African folk narratives and by European modernism.

He is the winner of Slovakia’s most prestigious literary prize, the Anasoft Litera Award, for his book Liečiteľ (The Healer) (2007) while other books of his, including Šest cudzincov (Six Foreigners) (2021), have also been shortlisted for the same award.
Literary works of Marek Vadas have been translated into 17 languages.

He is currently the editor-in-chief of a literary magazine Knižná revue that gives space for essays from Ukraine in every issue.

Moderator: Volodymyr Yermolenko, philosopher, journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld, president of PEN Ukraine

Entry is free with prior registration: https://forms.gle/394o4pdx3WV3cM4M8

The event will be held in English without translation.

In Solidarity With Ukraine is a program aimed at creating a message about the consequences of Russian military’s crimes against Ukraine and its culture and giving participants of delegations a sense of context and understanding of the ongoing situation in Ukraine during the war.

The Slovak and Hungarian authors’ visit to Ukraine is arranged with support from the Prague Civil Society Centre. Informational partner of the project Espesso TV.