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Current AffairsKafka-Borges festival opens in Prague this week
"One morning Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams to find himself
transformed into a giant beetle...." One of the most famous opening
lines in world literature, Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. Now if you're a
fan of Prague's greatest literary son, it will be well worth coming to the
Czech capital in the next few weeks.
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Czech BooksRadim Kopac and the joys of Czech Surrealism
Today I'm joined by Radim Kopac, who is one of the better known figures of
the Prague literary scene. Radim was born in 1976. He studied media theory
at Charles University, and works as a journalist. He is involved with
Czech Radio, and writes book reviews and essays; he has also often helped
other authors, who are trying to publish their books. Radim is well known
as editor of the literary magazine "Intelektual".
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One on OneIvan Klima - no nostalgia for "Mythical Prague" of pre-1989
Rob Cameron's guest in this week's One on One is the writer Ivan Klima, one
of the most important cultural figures in the Czech Republic. Ivan Klima
was born in Prague in 1931, and during the war was sent to the Terezin
concentration camp - his father was Jewish, although he himself was raised
as a Protestant. He later became a successful author, but was labelled a
dissident by the Communist authorities and his writings were banned.
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MailboxMailbox
In this week's edition of Mailbox: Lenka Reinerova - author and honorary
Prague citizen, and Roger Chambers - a Radio Prague listener who has been
tuning in since the late 1960s.
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Czech BooksPavel Zajicek - a Czech poet who crosses the line between words and music, reality and dream.
Pavel Zajicek is a contemporary Czech legend. Now in his early fifties, he
is a poet, musician and artist, and although he prefers not to use the
term, he was at the very heart of Prague's underground scene in the 1970s,
when the regime was slowly and systematically paring away at all the
reforms of the decade before.
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ArtsArts news, Havel returns to National Theatre stage after fourteen years
In this week's Arts - former dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel makes a
comeback to Prague's most prestigious stage with his 1985 play
"Temptation" but before that we look at some of the cultural
events this week:
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Current AffairsUK writer Neal Ascherson discusses NATO, EU on Prague visit
The journalist and author Neal Ascherson is one of Britain's leading
experts on central and eastern Europe. He first visited Poland in 1957,
and has spent a great deal of time in the region in the decades since
then. Mr Ascherson recently paid a visit to Prague, where I spoke to him
at an outdoor café. Before getting on to the recent eastwards enlargement
of the European Union, I asked Neal Ascherson if that other alliance,
NATO, was still relevant, so many years after the end of the Cold War:
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One on OneBrian Keenan - Irish author who survived five years of hostage hell
My guest today has, without any exaggeration, been to hell and back: Brian
Keenan was kidnapped in Beirut in 1986 by the militant group Islamic Jihad
and held hostage in the most appalling conditions for almost five
years. Mr Keenan, who comes from Belfast, won a great deal of respect and
admiration for the way he documented his terrible experiences in his book
"An Evil Cradling". When he was in Prague last weekend promoting
the Czech version of the book, I spoke to Brian Keenan in the dining room
of his hotel. He began by outlining what had happened to him. More
Current AffairsSuccessful Irish-American author Michael Collins visits Prague for Bookworld 2004
The focus of this year's Prague Bookworld was on Irish, Scottish and Welsh
literature. Among the guests at Bookworld, which was held at Prague's
Vystaviste trade-fair centre, was novelist Michael Collins, who was born
in Ireland but has made his name in the US, with books such as The Keepers
of Truth and The Resurrectionists. Before the event ended on Sunday
evening, I spoke to Michael Collins and asked him why he had come to
Prague for Bookworld.
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Czech BooksTomas Mika - a Pilgrim's Progress from lyric poetry to hip-hop
Tomas Mika is a man of many talents - poet, translator and hip-hop
performer. Today we talk to him about his most recent work and his history
as a poet, but I'd like to start with his work as a translator. The books
he's translated include Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", James
Hogg's "Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" and most
recently Samuel Beckett's "Watt".
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