This week, our writers bring you the latest news from Slovakia, where European Literature Night took place online, and the United Kingdom, where festivals such as the Big Book Weekend and Hay Festival have begun. Read on to find out more!
Julia Sherwood, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Slovakia
Readers of the literary journal Knižná revue voted, unusually, for a scholarly non-fiction title as their Book of the Year. Juraj Drábik’s Fašismus traces the history of fascism, offering a clear definition of the term and clarifying misunderstandings that lead to the label being overused and/or misused. The surprising success of this book with general readers might be explained by the rising popularity of a Slovak neo-Nazi party before the general election earlier this year, raising widespread concern that it might end up in government, which fortunately did not happen.
Like the rest of the world, Slovakia too has been grappling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The authorities responded early by imposing a comprehensive and strict lockdown. As a result, Slovakia has had one of the lowest death tolls in Europe and the country has started cautiously reopening. While bookshops were closed, one of the biggest online booksellers invited buyers to waive the online discount in favour of struggling publishers in an initiative called “Tip your publisher.” And as soon as they reopened, the country’s president Zuzana Čaputová visited the Bratislava branch of leading independent bookstore Artfórum and encouraged her Facebook followers to keep buying books.
Although many cultural events were cancelled, others managed to reinvent themselves digitally. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, where European Literature Night—a series of readings held for the past twelve years—has been postponed until autumn, the event’s Slovak organisers have pressed on with their ten-day programme of readings, swapping the planned venues for Facebook and all the participating actors wearing face masks. The series kicked off on May 13 with an excerpt from Ivana Dobrakovová’s Matky a kamionisti (Mothers and Truckers), a winner of the 2019 European Union Prize for Literature, followed the next day by Hodiny z olova (Hours of Lead) by Asymptote contributor Radka Denemarková, and on consecutive evenings by readings from works by Timur Vermes, Domenico Starnone, Lars Saabye Christensen, Gaël Faye, Miroslava Svolikova, David Grossman, Ryszard Kapuściński, and Fikry El Azzouzi. The entire series will be available on the Czech Centre’s YouTube channel from May 25.
As all the major international bookfairs were cancelled, the Centre for Information on Literature (LIC), the agency that promotes Slovak literature, has had to switch its activities online. In April it launched LIC Online, a new page on their website, posting brief videos in which writers and translators share their experience of life in the time of corona. Since these videos are in Slovak only, a new weekly podcast caters for German and English speakers, alternating weekly between these two languages and featuring interviews with publishers, translators, and academics. The first three episodes of Lit_Cast Slowakei, hosted by writer Michal Hvorecký, and Lit_Cast Slovakia, hosted by yours truly, are currently available through ApplePodcasts and Spotify, and hopefully soon also on other major podcast platforms.
Daljinder Johal, Assistant Managing Editor reporting from the United Kingdom
While the UK waits in anticipation of next week’s Jhalak Prize announcement, some good news has come for US author, Bryan Washington. The twenty-seven-year-old writer won the esteemed UK literary award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, worth £30,000. His “kick-ass” debut, Lot, is a short story collection exploring the author’s home town, Houston. For the prestigious award’s fifteenth year, one of the most diverse cities in the US came under Washington’s microscope in an examination of other marginalised individuals from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.
Literary events continue to persevere despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. From May 8-10, the Big Book Weekend brought together the best of British book festivals. The joint endeavour of novelist Kit de Waal and Bookseller journalist Molly Flatt, the virtual three-day festival featured twenty-seven authors events including 2019’s Booker prize winner, Bernardine Evaristo. However, it importantly addressed a persistent issue of UK’s literary scene. It is arguable that literary festivals can often feel inaccessible for many with the cost attending, travelling or they can feel intimidating or exclusive.
In comparison, all twenty-eight sessions of the Big Book Weekend aimed to reach as many families and communities across the UK as possible. This wasn’t difficult in the array of interviews, panel discussions, debates, and more from literary giants in addition to debut authors and rising talents. All events are still available to watch online and include downloadable transcripts. But a truly special element was the immersive 2D experience of the website, which was designed to emulate the feeling of being part of a real-life festival.
Hay Festival Virtual is another free event soon to inspire. In fact, the thirty-third year of the festival raised £350k in donations. Running May 18-31, this festival is again free to view online. It has an equally exciting lineup including poet Simon Armitage, author Margaret Atwood, and novelist Maggie O’Farrell. If that wasn’t enough, archived films are available to watch on the website including a free film of the week on the Hay Player.
The book industry is far from recovered from the pandemic. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see the long-term changes to how the industry works as they are forced to innovate—hopefully to become more inclusive for all.
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