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ArtsHow the Velvet Revolution overturned the literary landscape
Writers were at the forefront of the Velvet Revolution. But when the dust
settled on the political changes they found a fast changing publishing
revolution underway that left some of them sidelined. We look at the
changes in the publishing and literary world over the last two decades. More
Current AffairsKanzelsberger: small publishers & bookstores will be hard hit by VAT hike
Publishers, booksellers as well as many consumers in the Czech Republic are
far from happy about the government’s intention to raise the VAT on goods
including books to a uniform 20 percent to help pay for its pension reform.
Those in the book market fear that it will be hard hit and say that in
principle books as a cultural mainstay should be exempt, and that has led
to an online petition now signed by more than 80,000. But so far –
despite the culture minister’s own misgivings over the higher VAT on
books – there has been no signal from the government that books should be
left out.
More
One on OneAudio book publisher Karel Černošek: selling literature as the spoken word
This week’s edition of One on One features one of the joint founders of
the biggest Czech publishing house for audio books, Tympanum. The company
publishes dozens of titles, not just in Czech but also in Slovak. While
still a relatively new phenomenon, Karel Černošek says audio books are
beginning to carve out a place for themselves on the market. Chris
Johnstone caught up with him recently at a café in the centre of Prague to
talk about selling literature as the spoken word.
More
Current AffairsNumber of titles down but Czechs still big readers
For the first time since 2005, there has been a fall in the number of books
published in the Czech Republic. A regular survey by the Czech National
library shows that the number of books published in 2009 was about a
thousand lower than the previous year. However, despite the decrease Czechs
still rank among the most avid readers in Europe and overall sales of books
remain pretty much on the same level.
More
Letter from Prague1989 from abroad
The events of 1989 commemorated 20 years on this week brought back many
emotional memories. I was 19 when it happened, still living at home, only
not in Czechoslovakia, but in Canada. Like thousands of others of Czech
descent, born in new countries, I watched the Velvet Revolution unfold on
the TV screen, night after night, until, somehow, miraculously at the end
of it, the Communist system crumbled and collapsed.
More
Czechs TodayPrayer for Marta singer Kubišová recalls dramatic comeback during 1989's Velvet Revolution
Modlitba pro Martu, A Prayer for Marta, is a song that for many people will
be forever associated with Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution of 1989.
Performed by the 1960s Czech pop star Marta Kubišová, it had
previously come to symbolise resistance to the 1968 Soviet-led invasion. More
Letter from PragueMemoirs of a revolutionary
Papers, TV and radio stations in the Czech Republic and other former
communist countries are full of accounts by people who did something
important during the time the wall between east and west crumbled and
finally fell. Let me share with you my own memories of November 1989, when
I, as a secondary school student, added fuel to the flames of the
revolution.
More
PanoramaSuccessful Czech-Japanese entrepreneur Tomio Okamura on how Velvet Revolution changed his life
Czech-Japanese entrepreneur Tomio Okamura is a household name in the Czech
Republic, both for running a successful tourist business to representing
one of the country’s largest tourist associations. As an expert in his
field, Tomio makes numerous appearances on TV and radio and is also
jury member on a well-known business reality programme. His success, in a
way he says, is linked to one thing: the Velvet Revolution. Ahead of the
upcoming 20th anniversary, Tomio agreed to come in to the studio to
discuss
how the fall off Communism changed his life. He began by recalling the
atmosphere of 20 years ago. More
Czechs TodayFather and Son, 20 years after the Velvet Revolution
The fall of communism turned around the lives of millions of people. In a
special edition of Czechs Today we talk to a father and son of the same
name about how this dramatic change affected their lives. Petr Cibulka
senior was born in Opava and moved to Prague in August of 1989 –less than
three months before the Velvet Revolution broke out. He now owns a hotel in
Lednice, Moravia. His son Petr Cibulka junior belongs to the generation
which was barely touched by the communist regime. He moved to Prague at the
age of 15, later went for a study stay in the US and now works as a
researcher at the English-language newspaper The Prague Post.
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