Tag Archives: The Finno-Ugrian Vampire

A whiff of terrorism in the air

As I made my way through Frankfurt Airport on the way back to Prague from the book fair a strange incident took place, something that reflects a new and interesting trend in writing from Central and Eastern Europe – certainly in terms of the books getting translated into English – but which almost got me […]

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Czech Literature Night goes European

From the works of Havel and Mácha to the Tata Bojs and a Hungarian vampire, Europe celebrates its literature What began as a Czech project called Literature Night has now spread from Prague across the continent, with Czech and European authors appearing and having their work read from London to Yerevan. In its fourth year […]

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European Literature Night profile: Noémi Szécsi

“After the difficulties I have encountered in trying to bring my edifying and instructive animal tales to the public I would have sold my soul to get them published. Now I no longer have even a soul, as I passed on last spring and I’ve been sucking men’s blood ever since, just like my grandmother. […]

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Literary roundup: Poets of our mad, transitory world

“To your mad world—one answer: I refuse.” – from new translations by Ilya Kaminsky and Jean Valentine of Marina Tsvetaeva’s “Poems to Czechoslovakia.” The latest issue of Poetry magazine features a number of selections of the work of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva. I will soon be writing something about Tsvetaeva’s brief but impactful time living […]

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