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Current AffairsCall for Czechs to reclaim lost literary heritage by buying Franz Kafka letters
Preparations are being made to recover what is being dubbed a part of the
lost literary heritage of Prague and the Czech Republic. These are some of
the many letters written by world renowned author Franz Kafka of which
almost no examples are left in his homeland. More
PanoramaA love of pork, Kafka and yo-yoing
In this week’s edition of Panorama: a taste of country life in Prague –
city hall organizes a pig slaughtering feast on Náměstí Míru. The Czech
capital boasts a unique and costly enterprise -a bridge leading from
nowhere to nowhere, and the European Yo Yo Championship raises the roof at
Prague’s Archa Theatre. More
Current AffairsBank vaults could deliver Franz Kafka literary treasure trove
A legal battle centred on the legacy of Prague-born writer Franz Kafka took
a new turn this week with manuscripts and other material locked away in
Swiss bank vaults being opened up for expert examination. The move should
help determine whether a literary treasure trove has been kept hidden away
for decades and could help to make it public.
More
Czech BooksEdwin Muir: a Scottish poet in Prague
Literature sometimes makes for some unusual connections. What, for example,
could Franz Kafka possibly have in common with the Orkney Islands off the
north coast of Scotland? To find the answer we start at the busy British
Council office, just a couple of streets down from Czech Radio’s
headquarters. Just after World War II, the British Council here was headed
by Edwin Muir, who was born in 1887 in Orkney and grew up on the tiny
island of Wyre. He is one of Scotland’s best known 20th century poets,
but it is also quite possible that you will have come across his name and
that of his wife Willa on the inside cover of one of Franz Kafka’s novels
or stories. They translated many of his works and did much to establish his
reputation in the English-speaking world. What is less well-known about
Edwin Muir is the time he spent in Prague, first in the 1920s and then
again between 1946 and 1949. Clarice Cloutier, who teaches literature at
two Prague universities, has written about Edwin Muir’s link to this city
– a link which, she tells me, is a good deal more than skin deep:
More
One on OneSculptor Jaroslav Róna on Kafka, America, and life in Prague
In this week’s edition of One on One we talk to the artist, sculptor,
painter, musician and actor Jaroslav Róna. In the 1980s, he was one of the
founders of the art group Tvrdohlaví, or The Stubborn but today, he is
perhaps best known as the author of the Franz Kafka Monument in Prague’s
Old Town. I talked to Jaroslav Róna in his studio and asked him was why he
decided to base the highly acclaimed Kafka memorial on his short story,
Description of One Struggle.
More
Czechs in HistoryMax Brod bridging the gaps between Prague’s Germans and Czechs
Before the Second World War, the Czech capital was home to several ethnic
groups – the Czechs, the Germans, and the Jews. Their co-existence in the
modern era was often a source of conflict that only deepened after the 1918
foundation of Czechoslovakia. The question of identity in the multi-ethnic
environment posed considerable challenges for leading intellectuals of the
time; among them was the Prague writer, journalist and composer Max Brod.
In this edition of Czechs in History, we talk to the Prague-based French
historian Gaelle Vassogne, the author of “Max Brod in Prague: Identity
and Mediation”. The book – only available in German to date – focuses
on the role of one of the most significant personalities of the time during
the fist decades of the 20th century.
More
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