Jiří Hynek, an investigative reporter with the website Odkryto.cz, mapped the influence of Russian oligarchs on Czech territory for over 20 years for Czech Television, shining a light on the dark shadows of Russian activities in the Czech Republic. What goes on within the walls of properties with murky ownership and behind the curtain of relations within the Orthodox Church? How do Russian politicians and influential tycoons promote their interests in this country? All this and more will be discussed during a talk linked to Jiří Hynek’s book Ruský Klondike (The Russian Klondike in Czechia), which explores how international sanctions have impacted Russian influence in Czechia.

Eugen Brikcius, a poet, writer, philosopher and visual artist, who has received the Jaroslav Seifert Prize and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, will introduce his new autobiographical novel with hoax elements Kraj náš vezdejší (The Next District to Ours). The legendary bard will be introduced by Jáchym Topol.

Thirty-five years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet-Russian empire began to crumble and Czechs embarked on the road to freedom. What was the role of the Czech dissent and Charter 77 in this process? What were the greatest achievements, and mistakes, of the former dissidents who were in power during the transformation of the totalitarian state into a liberal democracy? How is Czech society coming to terms with the communist past? And how can the dissident experience inspire today’s opponents of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes? These questions have given rise to Disidenti u moci. Česká cesta ke svobodě a demokracii (Dissidents in Power: The Czech Path to Freedom and Democracy), a book of essays and interviews edited by historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček and issued by the Bourdon publishing house.

A discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more details visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

The Soviet-born American conductor Semyon Bychkov has been a key figure in Czech culture since becoming chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic, a position he will have held for a decade when his time with the country’s most prestigious orchestra ends after the 2027–28 season. This special edition of In Conversation With… – a series of occasional English-language talks helmed by Ian Willoughby of Radio Prague International – will provide a rare opportunity to hear the great conductor speak in person about his life and career, as well as his relationship to Czech music and Prague.

You will be able to visit our stand carrying books, posters and other essentials throughout the entire Book World in Hall A at Výstaviště Praha. Our newest title – a collection of Václav Havel's speeches entitled Péče o stát (Care for the State) – will be presented by its editor Anna Freimanová, the director of the Václav Havel Library Tomáš Sedláček and other guests at the Václav Havel Hall on Friday 16 May at 11 am.

This gathering will present this year’s theme of the Broumov Discussions autumn conference and introduce the spring opening debate in Prague. Guests will include Deputy Minister of Culture David Kašpar, arts events organiser Stanislav Pitaš and others. Journalist Josefína Formanová will moderate. How does politics influence culture, and vice versa? What role do artists play in social debate? Is culture a source of conflict or understanding? How should the state approach the arts? Can culture be an agent of social or political development? What is it like to “do culture” in the regions? And what does culture even mean to us today?

The conquest logic of the Putin regime is highly transparent and is based on a specific interpretation of history and culture. While statues of Lenin and Pushkin are being removed in Ukraine, in the West the belief that culture is not to blame for the war is spreading. How is culture actually being abused? What role do Soviet politics or historical concepts play in the war? What did the Ukrainian 20th century look like within the Soviet empire, and what were the aims of the Ukrainian dissent? These questions will be answered by the Ukrainian historian Radomyr Mokryk, who will introduce his book Příběh kulturní kolonizace: Ukrajina v sovětském impériu (The Story of Cultural Colonisation: Ukraine in the Soviet Empire).

The cultural and historical memory of returning Holocaust survivors is a topic that links individual experiences and the broader geopolitical context. This roundtable will focus on the stories of those who faced the challenges of repatriation, reconstruction of identity and social acceptance in the post-war period. The differences between returns to Greece and Czechoslovakia will be discussed on the basis of the books Homecoming: Holocaust Survivors and Greece, 1941-1946 by Kateřina Králová and Rozpolcená doba, rozptýlené životy (Divided Times, Scattered Lives) by Daniela Groll-Spenser. The authors will discuss their motivations and methodology and key issues, such as the plurality of Holocaust experiences and the importance of historical memory for the present day.

In the book Vrbětice: ruská operace, která změnila Česko (Vrbětice: the Russian Operation that Changed Czechia), Jaroslav Spurný, an investigative journalist with the weekly Respekt, tells the gripping story of journalists' search for the perpetrators of explosions at the Vrbětice ammunition depot. Based on facts and circumstantial evidence, the book links the 2014 attack by a Russian intelligence unit on Czech territory – which resulted in two casualties and huge material damage – to the Kremlin’s interest in clawing back influence in the former satellites of the former Soviet Union, including the Czech Republic. The author describes not only the domestic investigation of the Vrbětice case, but also the related activities of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service, from the time of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia to the present day.

Putin's Russia is waging a genocidal war against Ukraine, which it sees as a proxy conflict with Europe and the West. But under Donald Trump the United States of America – hitherto the leader of the free world – is now hostile to Europe while negotiating with Russia. The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked NATO and EU allies. Are we witnessing the end of the Western alliance? What might the future hold for Europe? What can we expect from the US and Russia? What role will China play? And what will this mean for the Czech Republic? Taking part in the debate will be political analyst Jiří Pehe, essayist and political commentator Tomáš Klvaňa and Johana Hovorková, editor-in-chief of news outlet FORUM 24.

Ludvík Vaculík’s novel Český snář (A Czech Dreambook) is being published on the Česká knižnice imprint, with the new edition split into two volumes: the first contains a critical edition of the novel and accompanying texts focusing on A Czech Dreambook as a unique work of art; the second contains commentaries on contemporary realities, the development of the text and its reception and more. The publication has been prepared by Petr Šámal, Daniela Iwashita, Michal Kosák and Hana Kosáková, who will take part in the discussion. Literary historian and editor Michael Špirit and archivist Petr Kotyk will also speak as part of the evening’s programme, while Ondřej and Jan Vaculík, as well as those who lived through those times and served as models for the novel’s characters, will recall the circumstances of the work’s creation as well as the personality of its author. The evening, which will explore the complex history of the text of A Czech Dreambook, will be helmed by Jáchym Topol.

Design should be appealing – but art should rip your guts ou

We cordially invite you to the launch of Lidský rozměr (The Human Dimension), a book of interviews by Karolína Klinková, a journalist with the newspaper Deník N. Her thoughtful questions symbolically discard seemingly banal truths about life and ask with sincere curiosity – how to be a human being in the 21st century, with all the familial, social and psychological roles that go with that? The “baptism” of the book and subsequent discussion with the author will be helmed by Vítek Svoboda, while anthropologist Marie Heřmanová will also be a guest.

Plain insanity, or a well-thought-out approach that can have positive consequences for the US and the democratic world? Is the Trump administration’s economic policy built on long-outdated concepts? What does the world’s reaction tell us about the current position of the US within it? Can the US defeat the entire world economically? The new reality six months after the election of Donald Trump will be discussed by Miroslav Singer, former governor of the Czech National Bank; Alexandr Vondra, former minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic and ambassador to the USA and current MEP; and Martin Ehl, chief analyst with Hospodářské noviny. The discussion will be moderated by Matyáš Zrno, editor-in-chief of Aktuálně.cz

"Václav Havel summoned me to his office and spoke to me briefly: 'You know more about Tibet and the Dalai Lama than I do, and you brought me the messenger with his letter. Nobody’s got any time here now, everybody’s busy, so make it happen," recalls Saša Neuman, the most qualified of the president's associates and co-author of Dalajláma – Havel – Praha 1990 (The Dalai Lama – Havel – Prague 1990), about preparations for the Dalai Lama’s first visit. He will present the book alongside photographer Stanislav Doležal, ethnologist Zuzana Ondomišiová, businesswoman Dagmar Havlová and writer Eda Kriseová.

The author Alice Horáčková has written Václav a Kamila Bendovi (Václav and Kamila Benda), a biography of Václav (1946–1999) and Kamila (1946) Benda, who were leading figures in the Czech dissent. In her history of one extraordinary relationship, she draws on archival documents, correspondence, texts from his estate and the recollections of friends, fellow prisoners and leading politicians. The evening will include a screening of video footage from 1978. At that time, Václav Benda, a doctor of philosophy and cyberneticist, was sweltering in a boiler room in Spálená St., having ideas for one of his greatest texts, Noční kádrový dotazník (The Night Cadre Questionnaire), and observing as the talented mathematician Kamila ran a household with five young children. The book’s protagonists Kamila Bendová, Jiří Gruntorád and Štěpán Benda will take part in a debate with the author.