Events: April 2023
March 2023
May 2023
Launch N: This Is What We Wanted
April 4, 2023, 19:00
It was a long 10 years. However, the book Tohle jsme chtěli (This is What We Wanted), about everything Miloš Zeman was capable of as president, what we allowed to happen and what, in our interest, we ought not to forget, is coming out shortly after the end of his term. Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with Deník N.
Magnesia Litera III
April 5, 2023, 19:00
Writers nominated in the literature categories of the Magnesia Litera awards will read from their books. A cross-section of the Litera for prose, Litera for poetry, Litera for journalism and DILIA Litera for debut of the year organised by the Litera association and moderated by Pavel Mandys.
Childbirth as Politics
April 6, 2023, 19:00
“It begins with childbirth” is how midwife Ivana Königsmarková, a tireless campaigner for dignified conditions for childbirth in the Czech maternity system, comments on often significant events in the social and political spheres. Why is childbirth a political matter, and who is responsible for that? How do we give birth and what does it all mean? Why, among other medical fields, is the Czech maternity system most backwards in comparison with Western European practice? Does violence occur during births? Who can and should conduct natural births? Do either old wives’ or doctors’ superstitions exist in the midwifery field? And who is a radical? More
Kriegel: Soldier and Doctor of Communism
April 11, 2023, 19:00
This April it is 115 years since the birth of František Kriegl, who had one of the most complicated fates of his generation. Václav Havel said he wished there were a good book on Kriegel and now, with the monograph Kriegel: Voják a lékař komunismu (Kriegel: Soldier and Doctor of Communism), historian Martin Groman has delivered the goods. For many Kriegel is a hero of 1968 but a villain of February 1948 and the People’s Militia. “The book is not intended to understand, interpret, justify, disparage, place somewhere or present from some angle Kriegel. It is meant to get to know him,” says Groman. The author and his guests will discuss the late politician at this presentation of the book.
Magnesia Litera IV
April 12, 2023, 19:00
Writers nominated in the literature categories of the Magnesia Litera awards will read from their books. A cross-section of the Litera for prose, Litera for poetry, Litera for journalism and DILIA Litera for debut of the year organised by the Litera association and moderated by Pavel Mandys.
Václav Havel: Audience
April 13, 2023, 19:00
We are presenting Václav Havel’s most famous play on the occasion of the 85th birthday of Andrej Krob, leader of the Divadlo na tahu theatre company and Havel’s “court” director. More
Debate with Respekt
April 18, 2023, 19:00
Discussion with editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more information and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.
Ukraine as a Task
April 19, 2023, 19:00
What is the view from the CR on the renewal of Ukraine? Rostislav Prokopjuk will discuss this with Tomáš Kopečný, government commissioner for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and Vladimír Votápek, a risk analyst and former consul general in St. Petersburg. A new discussion series helmed by Rostislav Prokopjuk, a Ukrainian psychologist, writer and painter long resident in Prague. He will introduce his guests at the VHL every month.
The jubilee 10th international conference 2023 Václav Havel European Dialogues: Europe in a Clash of Two Worlds
April 19, 2023, 14:00 Conferences
Throughout his life Václav Havel was in the habit of asking awkward questions. One of them concerned where Europe began and ended. Linked to this was also the question of where Russia began and ended. Instead of gradually moving closer to democratic and European norms, Russia has taken the opposite path, causing bloodshed on Europe’s eastern borders that threatens the results of more than 75 years of largely peaceful development. “European values” and the “Russian world” have found themselves in irreconcilable opposition. The future of the entire continent depends on the outcome of this conflict, which concerns more than the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. More
Old Town Square in the 20th Century – Place of Symbols, Rituals and Memory
April 20, 2023, 19:30
The Museum of the 20th century is preparing a permanent exhibition at Dům Pážat (House of Pageboys). One room will be given over to the history of Prague’s key place of memory, where significant 20th-century events took place, marking its urban form. In the course of the 20th century, a series of architectural competitions were held to redesign the area, while cultural and religious conflicts also led to the transformation of Old Town Square during this period. A number of different monuments and memorial plaques unveiled here during this period have provided symbolic representation. Controversies over their erection, or re-erection, will be one issue up for debate. More
The Abbot’s Good Work
April 24, 2023, 19:00
A discussion evening on the 110th anniversary of the birth of an inconspicuous but no less admirable figure in post-war Czechoslovak history, Břevnov monastery abbot Jan Anastáz Opasek, and the Catholic lay organisation Opus bonum, which in exile in Germany moderated open, prejudice-free dialogue among representatives of various outlooks on Czech history and culture. More
Echo from the Library
April 25, 2023, 19:00
Debate series with editors from the weekly Týdeník Echo and their guests in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library. Lenka Zlámalová will chair the discussion. For the theme and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.
Evenings with Reporters: On Children Who Grew Up Without Warning
April 26, 2023, 19:00
How do children perceive war? And what role do they play in propaganda? The Polish reporter Magdalena Grzebałkowska will introduce the new Czech translation of her book Wojenka (The Little War), focused on the stories of people who experienced WWII as children. More
The Václav Havel Library at Bookfest
April 29, 2023, 10:00 Participation on local events
After Prague and Pilsen, Bookfest, organised by the Guild of Small Publishers, will be held for the first time in České Budějovice (at the Žižkárna arts and creative hub). Naturally a Václav Havel Library stand will be present.