Held simultaneously in 24 cities around the continent, London’s events are a highlight of the capital’s literary calendar. This year we’re delighted to see European Literature Night move beyond just one night as we offer a host of events, from the main night’s plethora of inspiring interviews to a spoken word wonder fest, from learning the tricks of the translators’ trade to hearing stories of exile which connect Europe to the rest of the world. There’s something for everyone and literature by writers whose names you may not know yet, but will remember for a long time afterwards.
THE WRITERS
WRITERS FROM SIX COUNTRIES IN
A LITERARY FEAST OF COMPELLING FICTION,
POETRY AND SHORT STORIES
13 MAY, 18.30
British Library, Conference Centre
96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Admission: £10 (£8 over 60s, £7 concessions)
Booking: book online or call 01937 546 546
European Literature Night’s seventh appearance in the UK takes us on an engaging literary tour of the continent, travelling from the northerly reaches of Denmark, east to Poland and Slovenia, to the southern shores of Italy and then west through France to Spain. Prepare for a literary feast of compelling European poetry, fiction and short stories which explore the nature of relationships, childhood trauma, questions of morality and much more.
NAJA MARIE AIDT (DENMARK)
ANDREA BAJANI (ITALY)
JESÚS CARRASCO (SPAIN)
EVALD FLISAR (SLOVENIA)
WIOLETTA GREG (POLAND)
YASMINA KHADRA (FRANCE)
CHAIRED BY ROSIE GOLDSMITH
The evening events at the British Library will be followed by a reception in the Entrance Hall of the British Library, open to everyone who has attended The Writers or In Spoken Word events. It will include music, a glass of wine and the chance to buy books by the participating authors and have them signed.
IN SPOKEN WORD
EUROPE’S MOST VIBRANT PERFORMANCE POETS AND SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS SHARE THEIR WORK
13 MAY, 19.00
Admission: £10 (£8 over 60s, £7 concessions)
Booking: book online or call 01937 546 546
Telling the stories of the continent through the universal rhythm of poetry, a host of Europe’s most vibrant poets and spoken word artists gather together for one night only to share their work. Wide-ranging in theme and style, criss-crossing the local and the global, the personal and the public, there is something for everyone to enjoy, as well as the underlying music of the words which connects us all.
AVA VIDAL (UK)
BALOJI (BELGIUM/CONGO)
XAVIER BAUMAXA (CZECH REPUBLIC)
CHRISTODOULOS MAKRIS (CYPRUS/IRELAND)
JOELLE TAYLOR (UK)
KĀRLIS VĒRDIŅŠ (LATVIA)
The evening events at the British Library will be followed by a reception in the Entrance Hall of the British Library, open to everyone who has attended The Writers or In Spoken Word events. It will include music, a glass of wine and the chance to buy books by the participating authors and have them signed.
European Literature Night is presented in partnership with EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) London, the Czech Centre, the European Commission Representation in the UK, the British Library and Speaking Volumes Live Literature Productions. With thanks to Arts Council England for their support in 2015.
WHEN HOME IS FAR AWAY
THREE WRITERS WHO LIVE IN EXILE ACROSS EUROPE SHARE THEIR STORIES
3 JUN, 19.00
Waterstones Piccadilly
203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD
Free admission
Booking: piccadilly@waterstones.com
Living away from home, being away from family nowhere near the touchstones of childhood memories, is something many of us choose to do. But what if you haven’t chosen such a life and it has simply been thrust upon you? How does it feel to know you can’t go back? Three writers who live in exile across Europe share the stories that come to them and reveal how their creativity breathes new life into new places when home is far away. With Hassan Blasim (Iraq/Finland) winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2014, Hamid Ismailov (Uzbekistan/UK) the BBC World Service’s first Writer in Residence and renowned poet Ribka Sibhatu (Eritrea/Italy). Hosted by journalist Rosie Goldsmith.
HASSAN BLASIM (IRAQ/FINLAND)
HAMID ISMAILOV (UZBEKISTAN/UK)
RIBKA SIBHATU (ERITREA/ITALY)
ROSIE GOLDSMITH
TRANSLATION PITCH: NEW LITERARY VOICES
EIGHT ENTHRALLING BOOKS BY CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN WRITERS WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WILL BE PITCHED LIVE
4 JUN, 19.00
Free Word Centre
6 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA
Admission: £5 (£3 concessions)
Booking: www.freewordcentre.com, T: 020 7324 2570
Eight enthralling books by contemporary European writers which have not yet been translated into English will be pitched live to an audience and expert jury consisting of Max Porter (Granta Books), Kerry Glencorse (Susanna Lee Associates) and Stefan Tobler (And Other Stories Publishing). With just three minutes per pitch, and complemented by extracts read by actors, this whirlwind journey of discovery will uncover brilliant new European literary gems.
Featuring Jan Neměc’s A History of Light (Czech Republic) by Melvyn Clarke, Vonne von der Meer’s Take 7 (Netherlands) by Laura Vroomen, Pierre Autin-Grenier’s That’s Just How (France) by Andrea Reece, Jan Van Loy’s Scraps (Flanders) by Anna Asbury, Vladimir Zarev’s Ruin (Bulgaria) by Angela Rodel, Krisztina Tóth’s Pixel (Hungary) by Owen Good, Verena Rossbacher’s Small Talk and Slaughter (Germany) by Anne Posten and Jesper Wung-Sung’s Proper Fractions (Denmark) by Lindy Falk van Rooyen. Hosted by Chris Gribble (Writers Centre Norwich).
ANNA ASBURY
MELVYN CLARKE
OWEN GOOD
ANNA POSTEN
ANDREA REECE
ANGELA RODEL
LINDY FALK VAN ROOYEN
LAURA VROOMEN
The aim of The ELN Translation Pitch is to support and promote the work of EU writers who have not yet had a complete work published in English, whilst offering a public platform to emerging translators. The winning translator will be offered support and promotion from Free Word and English PEN, including a £250 PEN Samples grant and an interview published online.
LIARS’ LEAGUE: NEAR & FAR – NEW EUROPEAN WRITING
FIVE SHORT STORIES CELEBRATING FRESH TALENT FROM LITHUANIA, POLAND, GERMANY, SLOVENIA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC
9 JUN, 19.30
Admission: £5 (on the door)
www.liarsleague.com
T: +44 (0)7808 939 535
Writers write, actors read, audience listens, everybody wins. That’s the motto of Liars’ League, the award-winning, globe-straddling short story night which has been running in London since 2007. This showcase of European literature in translation celebrates fresh talent from Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Actors will read stories from some of the most exciting European authors, featuring extraordinary characters like Sigitas Parulskis’s World War II photographer and Jan Krasnowolski ’s drug-smuggler turned refugee-babysitter. From Kateřina Tučková’s Czech witches via Nora Bossong’s bereaved businesswoman to Tadej Golob’s struggling comic-book writer, these fictions will take you far from home, bringing the foreign into focus and turning the familiar strange.
SIGITAS PARULSKIS
JAN KRASNOWOLSKI
KATEŘINA TUČKOVÁ
NORA BOSSONG
TADEJ GOLOB
More information here and at European Literature Night.