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We encourage all to stop by the International Cultural Centre for an interesting discussion on Kraków in Literature, which will take place on Monday, May 30th at 15:30, as part of the Krakow and the World 25th anniversary conference of the ICC.

Gaja Grzegorzewska, Eva Hoffman, James Hopkin and Alois Woldan will discuss the questions: What literary representations of Kraków have been created? Are the images of the city originated and developed by Polish writers considerably different from those conveyed by foreign authors? Is the myth of Kraków as a symbol of the nation’s viability and its artistic milieu still alive and well? Or has it perhaps been superseded by other narratives? Is it an arena where various memories and identities (Polish, Jewish; Galician; those of the intelligentsia, the working class and the bourgeoisie) clash with each other? What is the cultural potential of today’s Kraków?

For more informatio nabout the conference, we invite you to visit to the ICC website.

Some places do better than others even though they have the same resources. Why? Ambition is a main quality. It generates energy, motivation and passion from which other possibilities flow. It can jump start processes of change as key people think ‘it is not OK to only be OK’. Aligned to openness and creativity this is a powerful combination as conditions are created for people to think, plan and act with imagination in solving problems and creating opportunities to become and be the best city they can be. This can harness the collective imagination. Examples from Europe and elsewhere will be given that might inspire Krakow to make more of its potential and to establish itself more firmly on the global radar screen.

The lecture, which will take place on Tuesday, May 31st at 18:00 at the International Cultural Centre, will be conducted by an international authority on using imagination in creating self-sustaining urban change- Charles Landry. He works with cities around the world to help them make the most of their potential, helping to find apt and original solutions to seemingly intractable dilemmas, such as marrying innovation and tradition, balancing wealth creation and social cohesiveness, or local distinctiveness and a global orientation. He is widely acclaimed as a speaker (talks in over 60 countries), innovator and author. He has written over a dozen books, some of which make it to the list of classical publications on the debate on cities, including The Creative City: A toolkit for Urban Innovators, whose concept became a global movement, and The Art of City Making which was recently voted the 2nd best book on cities ever written by the planning website: http://www.planetizen.com/node/66462. His Creative City Index is a powerful tool to measure the creative eco-system of places. His last book Cities of Ambitions, that continues the discussion on the factors making cities successful, inspired the topic of the closing session of the ICC jubilee conference Kraków and the World.

 

From 23rd  to 25th May, the Sub-network Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature brought together representatives of Barcelona (Spain), Dublin (Ireland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Granada (Spain), Heidelberg (Germany), Iowa City (United States), Krakow (Poland), Ljubljiana (Slovenia), Lviv (Ukraine), Melbourne (Australia), Norwich (UK),  Nottingham (UK), Obidos (Portugal), Prague (Czech Republic), Reykjavik (Iceland) Tartu (Estonia) and Ulyanovsk (Russia).

Participants shared their opinions on issues related to future developements of the Sub-network, shared best practices and discussed future partnerships. The meeting also included discussion of future organization, how to support new member cities and strategies nurturing freedom of expression within the Network. The representatives of the Network also enjoyed a special viewing of the Book of Kells, a bus tour of literary Dublin, and the opportunity to enjoy Irish culture in a special performance.

The 5th edition of the Jan Błoński Festival will take place on the 18th and 19th of May 2016. The theme of this year’s edition will be “To see clearly… in translation?” The event is organised by the Department of Polish Studies of the Jagiellonian University, the Krakow Literature Foundation, the Department of Contemporary Criticism of the Jagiellonian University, the Critical Questions Workshop and the Krakow Festival Office, operator of the UNESCO Krakow City of Literature programme.

The paraphrase of the title of a book about Proust’s work serves not only as a reminder of Błoński’s interests and his work on acquisition of French literature and critical thought, but also determines two important and closely tied themes of this year’s edition of the Festival – the role of literary translation and literary criticism in the globalised reality, in which world literature and national literature coexist. Using this paraphrase, in which the translation both replaces and recalls the “excitement”, we want to invite everyone to a discussion about the perception of literature and reality in the framework of translation, as well as about literature and contemporary literary life, in which the global and local tendencies will inevitably compete.

The meetings with translators and critics – both translation and literary, will be a great opportunity to discuss terms such as “global literature”, “world literature” and “national literature”, as well as to ask many questions: Do we see anything in translation? What? How? Is “clarity” really desired in this context, or should it be – in relation to the translation – more problematic? Does striving for explanations and making everything that comes into existence in a given cultural circle thanks to translation understandable cause a blurring of the boundaries of literature, which becomes one of the elements of global reality? To what extent? How does the co-existence of many literatures influence Polish literature and our perception of it?

Find out more at: www.festiwal-blonskiego.pl

 

The programme of the Festival will be available here.

The meetings will take place at the Department of Polish Studies of the Jagiellonian Univesity, Grodzka 64, Jan Błoński Lecture Hall.

The Children Literature Festival is the largest European event, devoted solely to the literature for the youngest readers. 2016 will see the 3rd edition of the event. The Festival will once again take place in four Polish cities, including Krakow.

The Children Literature Festival is challenging rapidly falling readership. Despite the low statistics and gloomy prospects, the organisers want to raise the new generation of readers and prove that reading is not passé, and that literature can bring a lot of fun and joy.

The shaping of literary attitudes in children and taking care of those who already caught the literary bug is just as important. The festival wants to inspire everyone to explore new works by new authors – preferably the best ones, as one of the main goals of the events is teaching how to evaluate works, as well as promoting conscious and active readership.

Find out more or check out the Festival’s fanpage.

In 2016, the Children Literature Festival will once again accompany the Miłosz Festival. We are going to experience a few days full of fun and great literature. The programme comprises over 40 events with one common theme – travels and journeys. Not only in space and time, but also inside.

What’s in the plan? The author meetings are the core of any literary festival – including this one! We are going to meet Jarosław Mikołajewski (and walk around Rome with him), Rafał Kosik (and the characters from his new series – Amelia and Kuba), Andrzej Maleszka (author of The Magic Tree, who does not need to be introduced to anyone), Wojciech Widłak (author of Pan Kuleczka) and Zofia Fabianowska-Micy (Banzai. Japan for the Curious). There will be also a wide variety of artistic workshops, led by Grażka Lange and Daniel de Latour, who will come to the festival for the first time, as well as Marianna Oklejak (ethno-travels) and Tomasz Samojlik (animals).

Of course, we cannot forget to mention the readings before sunset, with many well-known figures, including our Mayor, Jacek Majchrowski. Apart from listening, the children will also participate in many activities – learning calligraphy, visiting a stained glass workshop, discover long-forgotten instruments, crafts and customs.

The festival will of course provide even more fun! We are going to hunt mysteries (not with a real gun, mind you!) during a family urban game titled Mystery Hunters. The finale concert will delight us all with Roma rhythms. It is also worthwhile to visit the Szczepański Square, where the PINXIT! exhibition by Bohdan Butenko will be hosted (we hope that we don’t have to introduce Gapiszon, do we?). Additionally, the Literary Emergency Room will also be operating there – thanks to them no one will be left without a prescription for a book and some literature.

Admission to the event is free, however the participants need to sign-up at: rejestracja@fldd.pl.

Check out the programme of the festival in Krakow here.

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From today, the residents of Grzegórzki have a new cultural place right behind the corner, at Daszyńskiego 16. A branch of Księgarnia Pod Globusem opens vis-a-vis the cafeteria!

Księgarnia pod Szesnastką will carry on with the tradition of Główna Ksiegarnia Szkolna, which was present there for decades. Apart from a wide offer of school books, fiction, non-fiction and biographies, the bookstore will also offer a playing corner and shelves with ambitious books for children. The owners plan to host a cyclical reading event, during which fairy tales will be read to children. Every formal and informal group is invited to take part!

The official opening of the new bookstore will take place on Wednesday, the 4th of May. The first reading event – Bajki pod Szesnastką – will take place on Saturday at noon!

Find out more HERE

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