1968: Laughter and Forgetting
19. November 2007 22:12
The 18th Prague Writers‘ Festival, 1 - 5 June 2008, presents the events of 1968 through its theme “Laughter and Forgetting”
“1968” marks the fortieth anniversary of the Prague Spring and resonates in the world as “the year that made us what we are”—as seen on the most recent cover of Newsweek. The Festival will look at the events of the sixties—that led to the events of 1989—and comment on the current state of affairs through a series of conversations with authors who participated in 1968.
The aftermath of the 1968 invasion and occupation was especially devastating for Czech culture. Numerous distinguished personalities emigrated west. Those who stayed had to adapt to the demands of “normalization”, or leave through internal emigration. 1968 laid the groundwork for the Czechoslovak alternative culture of the seventies and eighties.
Preview of the 18th Prague Writers´ Festival
Five authors connected to 1968:
Margaret Atwood {Canada} will read from “The Door”, her new collection of poetry; Paul Auster {USA}, whose anxious, New York novels are widely available in Czech translations, will read from his new, unpublished novel; Beatnik poet Michael McClure {USA}, brother-in-arms with Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder, will fly in from San Francisco to enchant the universe; poet Elena Schwarz {Russia} will unravel St. Petersburg in the tradition of Marina Tsvetaeva; and Petr Král {Czech Republic} will portray our times.
Over twenty authors will participate in “1968: Laughter and Forgetting”.
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