A literary and musical evening featuring readings by Eva Turnová from her new book Turnový Háj (Turnová’s Grove) and songs from her and fellow musician Tomáš Hradil, introduced by Jáchym Topol.

In his adventure, social and also romantic novel Kufr (The Trunk), the painter, poet, prose author and songwriter Zbyněk Benýšek defines sharply and humorously the state of Czech society, in particular the unprecedented relativisation of all values and the serious blurring of the boundary between truth and lies.

Discussion with editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests on a topical issue. For more details and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

In his latest work Slovenské století (The Slovak Century), the writer Pavel Kosatík traces the development arc that Slovak society underwent in the period 1918–1998, concluding that the Slovaks did not waste their historical time. They began from a worse starting position than the Czechs; not only did their public and political life lack structure, it hardly existed. However, at the end of the 20 th century that society, which shortly before had barely existed, succeeded in uniting and removing from power a non-democrat with dictatorial ambitions. The Slovak Century is also a book about shared Czech-Slovak history. For the Czech reader it offers answers to the questions of what shaped the specific forms of Czech-Slovak coexistence and what is the Czech responsibility for the fact shared life in one state ended in misunderstanding.

A lyrical monodrama by Josef Topol (1935–2015)

Alexander Podrabinek, author of the book Soviet Dissidents, is cofounder of the Independent Psychiatric Association and a journalist who in the 1970s and 1980s worked with world- renowned opponents of totalitarianism, such as Andrei Sakharov and Nadezhda Mandelstam. His activities led to his jailing and exile in Siberia. In his book he outlines the everyday situation in the USSR, where undesirables were repressed and killed in various
ways, while also exploring the stories of KGB officers.

Debate series with editors from the weekly Echo 24 and their guests. The theme and guests’ names will be published prior to the event at www.vaclavhavel.cz.

Underground musicians and introverted philosophers, Trotskyites and right-wing Christians, intellectuals and workers – they all created a multifarious yet united community who by their signatures publicly aligned themselves with the Charter 77 declaration. Those invited to discuss the differences and solidarity within the movement, whose declaration was published 45 years ago, are playwright and early signatory Pavel Kohout and researcher and Czech underground mover František Čuňas Stárek.

The situation: The Belarusian regime is offering inhabitants of Asian and African states visas to Belarus with the promise of crossing the Polish border. However, Polish border patrols are preventing them from entering. Those who do succeed are forced back toward Belarus, but Belarus border guards won’t readmit them. Thousands of people are without food or warm clothing in damp, marshy forest. A state of emergency has been declared in a zone on the Polish side of the border, with admission barred to health workers, volunteers and journalists. Those who live in the forbidden zone are banned from helping the people in the forest. Winter is setting in and 12 people including children have already died – and the situation is not budging.

Guitarist, musician, composer and lyricist Tomáš Gregor released his first solo album, Na zemi, in 2016. However, he had already produced music for films and theatre productions and guested on the albums of musician friends.

The founder of the EDUin centre, Czech Television dramaturge and writer of the series Ochránce Tomáš Feřtek will be the guest in the latest From Time to Time debate at the Václav Havel Library.