What is the present climate like when it comes to getting Czech literature translated into English, and what have been some recent success stories in this area? And more generally, with AI translation constantly increasing in quality, what does the future hold for those who make a living translating from Czech to English? These questions and many more will be discussed by Melvyn Clarke, founder of the Czechlist online translators group, translator Melissa Dedina and Gerald Turner, veteran translator of such writers as Ivan Klíma and Ludvík Vaculík. In Conversation With… is a series of occasional talks in English at the Václav Havel Library hosted by journalist Ian Willoughby of Radio Prague International.

It’s estimated that at least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been forcefully deported or unlawfully relocated to Russia-controlled territories since the start of the full-scale invasion three years ago. To this day, only 388 children have been rescued.* Join us as we will be showing the film ‘Hearing Them Out: Returned Children of Ukraine’, directed by Tetiana Khodakivska and supported by the Prague Civil Society Centre. The short film documented the stories of 72 rescued children and revealed in their own words the horrors they endured. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director and human rights experts.

If we consider our beautiful cities which have developed through history, is it even possible to talk about any problems? The fundamental problems of the contemporary city from the perspective of urban planning and urbanism are many: mono-functional urban zones, brownfield sites, suburbanisation, industrial parks, sparsely populated and shrinking cities, traffic collapse, deteriorating environmental quality, neglect of public space, gentrification and lack of affordable housing, privatisation of the city, unoccupied buildings, aging housing stock and real estate speculation, insufficient new construction, lack of political mandate and lack of participation. This opening provocation aims to inspire the audience to search for alternative – and even better – solutions.

Discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more information visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

The conference’s debates will be devoted to topics such as the future and prospects of the restoration of Ukraine, Ukraine’s cultural and political links with Europe and the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century. Guests: Martin Dvořák, Minister for European Affairs, historian and member of the Ukrainian Parliament Volodymyr Viatrovych, historian Oleksandr Zinchenko and others. For more information visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the conference.

What is the culture of memory? How do the political and intellectual elite (and Czech society) deal with historical memory? In what direction is the staging of Czech remembrance headed? Can we create living places of memory? Are they a source of healthy and self-confident patriotism? What can fiction, cinematography and documentary film contribute to the culture of memory? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Czech reflection on 20th-century history and experiences with totalitarian regimes? What contributes to the resilience of civil society in the face of the misinterpretation of history by opponents of freedom and democracy? Where in Europe can we look for inspiration and lessons? Guests: writer and journalist Tereza Boučková, screenwriter and director Václav Marhoul, and director and documentary filmmaker Pavel Štingl. Chaired by historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček, director of the Department of Research and Education at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

Many countries do not take Western anti-Russian positions since the invasion of Ukraine as a given: only a minority of states have actually accepted and are adhering to sanctions or have curtailed diplomatic relations. This “rest of the world” (made up of the majority of its population, including countries with over a billion people, such as China and India) usually pursues its own interests, or in fact directly supports the Russian narrative, which corresponds to colonial and post-colonial (or Cold War) experience or simply anti-Western sentiment. Or is this a purely pragmatic approach based on economic ties? Does local political culture, the character of the system, or the personalism of local elites play a role in this? How does ideology correspond to practical foreign policy steps, and where to look for the reasons for any discrepancies between these two levels? The collective monograph Ukrajina mimo Západ (Ukraine Beyond the West) mainly traces the causes of this state of affairs in countries with a neutral, pragmatic or plain pro-Russian stance.

The evening will look at the phenomenon of prison poetry from communist labour camps and prisons between 1948 and 1989. The creators of the programme, literary historians Barbora Čiháková and Petra Loučová, will focus on various forms of this specific genre. They will also present the fates of selected authors, including both established and emerging poets, as well as political prisoners who are today unknown.

What is happening behind the facade of agency news in Russia? What development has society there undergone since the collapse of the USSR? Where to look for the historical roots of the current situation and the war against Ukraine? Tomáš Glanc, a Slavic scholar working at the University of Zurich, seeks answers to these and other questions in Ruská duše neexistuje (The Russian Soul Doesn’t Exist) a book-length interview conducted by Jan Bělíček, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Alarm. The publication will be “baptised” by journalist Petra Procházková.