Game of tome #1 coming soon

Do you want to win a mountain of books and learn to write prose at the same time? Take part in our Game of tome!

The rules are simple:

1. Bring one book published after 2000 – that is your admission ticket for the event.

2. Listen to a short talk on writing by Maria Kula – an editor and a host of writing courses and the Novel Writing School. The watchword of the meeting will be the most important element of the novel which is a literary character. Be aware as these clues will be useful in the next stage of our game!

3. On the basis of a short lecture, write a short fragment of a novel on a given topic. Use your imagination!

4. Do you want to read your first words of your new story? Grab a microphone and share the text with other participants.
5. Time for voting – all the participants (who had and had not read their texts) vote for the best piece. The winner gets all the books that had been brought – the admission tickets, which are loyal companions during cold, December nights.

The event is free, registration is not necessary. Take a book and come to Cheder Café (36 Józefa Street) soon – 20 December at 6.00 p.m.

The Game of tome is an event that accompanies the programme of supporting literary debuts by the Krakow Festival Office. This programme includes the Conrad Award, which is granted every year for the best literary debut, as well as the Creative Writing Course by UNESCO City of Literature, weekend workshops of creative writing and open meetings with commissioning editors from the biggest Polish publishing houses.

GAME OF TOME #1

When: 20 December, 6.00-8.00 p.m.
Where: Cheder Café

Colson Whitehead, an author honoured with National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, popular literature and genre cinema lover will met the readers on 3 December in Krakow as part of the Conrad Festival after hours series. The meeting will begin at 5.00 p.m. at Pod Baranami Cinema. It will be finished with a showing of the film I Am Not Your Negro (beginning at 7.00 p.m.) that will be introduced by the writer himself.

Free tickets are available here: www.colson-whitehead.evenea.pl The number of invitations is limited.

Whitehead has become extremely popular with his novel The Underground Railroad. It is a name used by the abolitionists, describing a trafficking network that was created with a view to help the slaves that escaped from plantations. Thanks to the network, the fugitives could get to the North, where with a little luck and with the help of some people, they were able to start a new, safer life. The luck was necessary, as it frequently happened that slave catchers followed them. That is what the book is about on a very basic level: about the escape of a young Cora, who is chased by one of the “hunters”. However, Whitehead made a volt: in his novel, the underground train really does run under the ground like an abolitionist subway. Above, there is a world of white people, in which almost every single act of violence is justified and explained under a coherent system of beliefs, more important than human lives for many. Beneath – like in arteries of an enormous body – the title “black blood” flows, raged and looking for the outlet.

Grzegorz Jankowicz, Conrad Festival Programme Director, will host the meeting with Colson Whitehead.

Organisers: Krakow Festival Office – the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature programme, Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation. ALBATROS Publishing House is the co-organiser of the meeting.

The project was co-funded by the Minister for Culture and National Heritage.

Join us: www.facebook.com/events/138958463536401

Organizers: Krakow Festival Office – the operator of the UNESCO programme in Krakow, Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation. The co-organizer is the ALBATROS Publishing House.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The celebration of the Conrad Year continues! This time, the Krakow Festival Office, together with Radio Kraków would like to invite you to one and only “detective story” in the works of Joseph Conrad. The only novel that does not contain exotism and the sea, and the only Conrad’s book set entirely on the territory of England, namely London. Listen to Radio Kraków from 20 November to 5 December!

Some authentic events of 15 February 1894 were the origins of the plot of The Secret Agent, when a bomb was detonated in a park surrounding the Royal Astronomical Observatory in Greenwich. The building was undamaged because the explosive charge exploded in the hands of the terrorist.

On Radio Kraków – The Secret Agent in a new translation by Maciej Świerkocki. The book will be published by Officyna Publishing House in 2018. Juliusz Chrząstowski will be reading some fragments on Radio Kraków. Stay tuned from Monday (20 November) until Friday (1 December) at 11.45 a.m.

The recording was accomplished as part of the Joseph Conrad Year project, in cooperation with the Krakow Festival Office.

Almost 150 restaurants and cafes all over Poland have joined Czytaj PL – one of the biggest actions aimed at promoting reading in the world. During their visit in a restaurant, the guests will get codes enabling them to download some e-books. Waiting for their meal, they will be able to look through the books available, become familiar with the selected one and start reading.

The first edition of Czytaj PL as a starter project, organized as part of Czytaj PL action began in November. According to a report Polska na talerzu (Poland on a Plate), almost 70% of Polish people eat out. In turn, the research conducted by an American NIDA institute indicate, that most teenagers never leave their mobile phones, even during a meal. Therefore, the guests of almost 150 selected restaurants all over Poland will be able to read 12 bestselling e-books for free, as part of this action. The restaurants and cafes will be equipped with special menu covers presenting the 12 books and a QR-code. It will be possible to rent a book while waiting for the order. That is 15-20 minutes on average which is worth to be devoted on getting familiar with the titles. A smartphone and an application is enough. The partners of the action include so far: Poznańska Weranda, Klubogaleria Szajba from Wrocław, and Heritage and Semolino restaurants from Warsaw Hala Koszyki. They are joined by new places, all the time. You can find a list of venues taking part in the action on the webpage.

Czytaj PL have been organized on an scale i unprecedented n Poland so far, yet this year, its scope will be even four times bigger. The action involves almost 500 cities and towns. Free e-book rentals were installed on over seven thousand devices. QR-codes of 12 bestsellers, including five of absolute 2017 novelties, were made available. For the first time 10 foreign cities, among others: Barcelona, Dublin, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague and Reykjavik – UNESCO Cities of Literature will take part in the action. Last year’s edition encouraged thousands of people to read. This year, there will be even more.

From its inception, Czytaj PL action has been organized as part of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Programme by Krakow Festival Office and Woblink.com e-book platform. This year, for the first time, the action is also available in 1000 high schools all over the country as part of the project: Upoluj swoją książkę (Hunt Your Own Book) organized on the initiative of the Book Institute.

The list of books available:

1. Wojciech Drewniak Historia bez cenzury 2 (History Uncensored 2)
2. Krzysztof Piskorski Czterdzieści i cztery (Forty and four)
3. Gregory David Roberts Shantaram
4. Filip Springer Miasto Archipelag. Polska mniejszych miast (Archipelago City. Poland of Lesser Towns)
5. Anna Kamińska Wanda
6. Jakub Małecki Ślady (Tracks)
7. Dan Ariely The Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
8. Elżbieta Cherezińska Korona śniegu i krwi (Crown of Snow and Blood)
9. Camilla Lackberg The Ice Princess
10. Peter Wohlleben (The Hidden Life of Trees)
11. Jon Ronson So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
12. Marek Kamiński Marek i czaszka jaguara (Marek and the Jaguar’s Skull)

Krakow restaurants and cafes that take part in the action:

1. 2 Okna Cafe
2. Zenit
3. Klubogaleria Szajba
4. Cafe Botanica
5. Nowa Prowincja
6. Cafe Zakątek
7. Mo-ja Cafe
8. Bistro Antidotum

Organisers of Read PL: Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Strategic Partner: Polish Book Institute
Organisers of the initiative in schools (Hunt your own book): Polish Book Institute, Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Publishers: Znak Horyzont, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Wydawnictwo Marginesy, Wydawnictwo Karakter, SQN, Smak Słowa, Zysk, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Otwarte, Insignis Media, Znak Emotikon

Partner cities: Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Katowice, Lublin, Toruń, Częstochowa, Opole, Gdynia, Rzeszów
Other cities taking part: Warszawa, Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Chorzów, Mysłowice, Rybnik, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, Tychy
UNESCO Cities of Literature participating: Barcelona, Dublin, Dundee, Dunedin, Edinburgh, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague, Reykjavik

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage as part of the National Programme for the Promotion of Reading. The initiative is organised under the patronage of Ministry of National Education.

23 November, 6.00 p.m., at Piwnica Pod Baranami. 2017 marks the 80th anniversary of the death of Bolesław Leśmian and at the same time, the 140th anniversary of his birth.

For that reason, UNIVERSITAS the Society of Scientific Work Authors and Publishers together with Krakow Festival Office would like to invite you to take part in a poetry evening which will take place on Thursday, 23 November at 6.00 p.m. at Piwnica Pod Baranami in Krakow. The meeting shall take the form of recitation of some selected poems by Bolesław Leśmian by eminent representatives of Krakow cultural life: Anna Dymna, Bronisław Maj, and Krzysztof Orzechowski.

There will also be a presentation of a jubilee edition of collection poems by the author – annotated by experts on Leśmian’s works (Anna Czabanowska-Wróbel, Michał Głowiński, Eliza Kącka, Michał Paweł Markowski, Marian Stala, Władysław Stróżewski, and Adam Zagajewski) as well as the photographs by Andrzej Nowakowski – recently published jointly by UNIVERSITAS Publishing House and National Centre of Art:

Lecz nie było już świata…. Miłość i śmierć. Wiersze (Yet there was no world left… Love and death. Poems)

It will be possible to buy the book at a promotional price during the meeting.

On Tuesday, 28th November at 7.00 p.m. we will meet on an event devoted to “the fourth Bard” – Stanisław Wyspiański. The meeting in Krakow – the city which had become a space for his work as a whole will take place in the seat of the Jagiellonian Club at 34, Main Market Square.

Stanisław Wyspiański – „the fourth bard”? A versatile artist, gifted with extraordinary sensitivity. Different from Mickiewicz, Słowacki and Norwid. His output is not easy to categorise, there is no way to compare it to the works of the three poets mentioned above – he equals them in his greatness, yet remains different from them.

Everybody has read Wesele (The Wedding), maybe only once at school, maybe another time later, yet does this superficial knowledge of Stanisław Wyspiański’s works shed even a faint light on his output? Don’t we get fascinated with the author of Noc Listopadowa (November Night) automatically, before we even become familiar with him? The life and work of this complete artist cannot be limited to closing his person in one and only form: a playwright,a poet, a painter, a designer or an architect.

The forthcoming meeting of a Night of the Book series will be devoted to the opening of the biography of this remarkable figure, a colourful bird of his époque. The meeting will host two excellent specialists: Professor Włodzimierz Szturc – a theatre and drama historian and an expert on the 19thcentury literature, associated with the Jagiellonian University and Szymon Budzyk – Krakow actor and director of e.g. Noc Listopadowa based on the text by Wyspiański. He has currently been working on restoring Warszawianka (The Varsovian Anthem) by Wyspiański in the Theatre Odwrócony.

The Night of the Book: Wyspiański event is a part of the Night of the Book project ran by the Jagiellonian Club since 2015 and granted the patronage of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature. The Night of the Book as an initiative was taken as a response to the alarming decrease in reading among the Poles, which could have been observed over the past years. Through organizing meetings with the authors, urban actions, and discussions on literature, the Night of the Book opens it up, looks for a place in the contemporary world for it and proves that it is able to answer the issues and needs of today’s world. The project promotes literature and good reading attitudes in other cities as well: in Katowice, Poznań and Wrocław.

However, on 28th November we would like to invite you to Krakow – in the Jagiellonian Club at 34 Main Market Square, starting from 7.00 p.m. we shall be reading and discussing all night long!

More info here:

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/188049291754087
The Night of The Book Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/NocKsiazkiKrakow
Instagram:www.instagram.com/po_okladce

The lover of history, beautiful publications or just good literature will be pleased to hear that a book Był sobie król… Poczet Jagiellonów by Mariusz and Zuza Wollny has just been published. It is a second part of an extraordinarily interesting popular science series for native history lovers of any age. On the pages of several volumes, the authors tell a colourful story about our past based on the lives of Polish rulers, princes and – obviously – of Polish kings, all full of trivia and humour. The written content is accompanied with wonderful illustrations and the whole thing was designed and published with real taste and with extreme attention to details.

The first part of the series on the Piast dynasty was published last year and it truly delighted the readers of every age. The second volume tells a story of the rulers of the Jagiellonian dynasty (with a short prelude about the Angevins) who had led the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania to the heights of its power. Władysław Jagiełło, Mikołaj Kopernik, Bona Sforza, the battle of Grunwald, and the Prussian Homage – these are characters and events that probably every single person knows… Yet, have you heard of the Babin Republic, which was the first Polish cabaret in which Mikołaj Rej, Jan Kochanowski and some others performed? Or about the cheese war that was fought between Elizabeth of Austria and her mother-in-law, already mentioned Queen Bona? These and many more tidbits can be found on more than 400 pages of Poczet Jagiellonów. A foldable Battle of Grunwald illustration by the master Jan Matejko in the re-interpretation of Zuza Wollny is a real icing on the cake.

Both the first and the second part of the series, as well as the other works of Mariusz Wollny may be purchased (signed and with an inscription!) directly from the author at Skład Towarów Rarytnych at Kacper Ryks’s (3 St. Mary’s Square, Krakow) and by mail on www.sklep.kacperryx.pl

Krakow Festival Office and Krakow UNESCO City of Literature are partners of this edition.

There are ongoing celebrations of the round anniversary of 160th birthday of Joseph Conrad that occurs this year. On this occasion, Krakow Festival Office, together with Krakow Radio Station would like to invite you to listen to a radio drama Serce ciemności with the participation of Jan Nowicki and Jerzy Trela. It will conclude the series of events commemorating the writer and his associations with Krakow and at the same time will be a pinnacle of the celebrations of 90th anniversary of Krakow Radio foundation jubilee. The premiere broadcast will be on air on Friday (1 December) at 7.00 p.m. We invite you to be near your radios!

Just now, the preparations for the newest radio drama are taking place in Krakow Radio studio. The drama is based on the latest, famous translation of Conrad’s novel – rendered into Polish by one of the most interesting Polish writers, Jacek Dukaj, published in 2017 by the Wydawnictwo Literackie publishing house. j. The original interpretation of the most famous writer’s novel Serce Ciemności, whose premiere took place during the 9th edition of the Conrad Festival was produced by Krakow Radio, in cooperation with Krakow Festival Office. It will honour 160thbirthday anniversary of the writer that falls on 3 December and which will be an event concluding 90 years of Krakow Radio operation. It is also a part of Conrad Year celebrations, in which Krakow Festival Office, the operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Programme, has also been engaged for many months. Similarly to a series of events that have so far been organized by the Office, the radio drama Serce ciemności is again aimed at showing that the writer’s work may be interesting for the readers of any age, and that the issues raised by the author are still relevant.

We will hear Conrad translated by Dukaj for 21st century Polish readers – as the author of the translation says– in the interpretation of two excellent actors: Jan Nowicki and Jerzy Trela. Małgorzata Warsicka – one of the most talented directors of the young generation – undertook the task of directing Serce ciemności. When preparing for work I always look for musicality in the text. This time the experience is extraordinary as Conrad’s text is of truly dark character – the director emphasizes – The meaning of the drama will mostly depend on the actors’ interpretation by Jan Nowicki and Jerzy Trela.

The original music for the radio version of Serce ciemności which will be performed live during the premiere was composed by Karol Napelski – a composer of instrumental, vocal and theatre music. It is a beautiful and poetic translation of Conrad – Karol Nepelski evaluates Dukaj’s translation – For some time, we have been experimenting together with Małgorzata Warsicka with music and word in the theatre. This radio drama is an excellent testing ground for our creative activities. What is significant, we have also reached for the instruments of African origin so as the context of the story sounded well. Musicians: Olga Rusin – vocal and Aleksander Wnuk – the drums also take part in this radio drama.

Serce ciemności radio drama is one of many activities implemented by Krakow Festival Office as part of the Conrad Year 2017 celebrations. The events that have been conducted so far, as well as the ones planned for the following weeks, involve different spheres of literature and culture. Their main theme is a travel understood as the writer’s life path that had started in Poland and that had later taken him to the furthest reaches of the world. During the celebrations we discover the traces of the writer’s presence, not only in the texts of culture, yet in the urban space as well. We have already had among others: a series of art workshops, during which children became familiar with Conrad – not only as an exceptional Polish writer but also as a person of a fascinating life history: a brave traveller, an adventurer and a globetrotter. We have also organised an edition of reporter-traveller Creative Writing Course inspired by the travelling and marine trend of the works left by the author of Typhoon and dedicated to the writer himself. The celebrations of the Conrad Year also include some detective workshops with Joseph Conrad which continue throughout November. We have been trailing the traces of the writer’s presence on the streets of Krakow during our literary walks, we have sent thousands of postcards from literary Krakow. There were also some showings of films which included frequently awarded works by Andrzej Wajda or Francis Ford Copolla. We cannot forget about the reading lessons organized together with Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation. After-school meetings with the literature, encouraged high school students to perceive the text thoroughly and develop the skills of critical thinking. All these events were organized as part of 9th Conrad Festival. Two important points of this truly exceptional year celebrations are still ahead of us: Conrad and Pop-texts scientific conference on 25 November at Jagiellonian University Faculty of Polish Studies and a premiere planned for the end of the month: Konwencje, stereotypy, złudzenia. Relacje kobiet i mężczyzn w prozie Josepha Conrada (Conventions, Stereotypes, Illusions. Women and Men Relationships in Joseph Conrad’s Prose)by Monika Malessa-Drohomirecka, a book by Universitas Publishing House, which will be published under the patronage of Krakow Festival Office.

The premiere of the radio drama Serce ciemności broadcast in Krakow Radio will take place on Friday (1 December) at 7.00 p.m. in Romana Bobrowska Krakow Radio Studio and will be performed live with the participation of audience. Re-broadcast on Saturday (30 December at 8.10 p.m.).

Today, at 6.30 p.m. there will be a meeting pertaining to one of the most important authors of Polish 20th century literature – Witold Gombrowicz. This time, the work of Polish prosaist, playwright and essayist will be confronted with a lesson of Polish in a contemporary school. The event which is a part of the Night of the Book project, will be held at the seat of the Jagiellonian Club in Katowice, 36/16 Sienkiewicza Street.

Undoubtedly, Gombrowicz had to face sharp criticism from the very beginning of his literary activity. After having published Ferdydurke, the readers were divided into two groups: his followers and his enemies. During the meeting, we will discuss the way the prosaist is currently perceived. Are high school students able to express their opinion on his work or is his output rather treated with indifference and distance. We will ask questions, whether Gombrowicz is a difficult and uncomfortable writer, or perhaps for a contemporary young reader.

The results of questionnaire-based studies on Witold Gombrowicz’s work that had been conducted among this year’s high school graduates will be presented during the talk. The host, Magdalena Podleszańska and the guest, Filip Mazurkiewicz Ph.D. from the Faculty of Philology of the University of Silesia will try to comment and inquire about the reasons of the answers that the students had given. They will also raise the issue of the youth and immaturity that Gombrowicz writes about. In an interview with the expert, we will try to answer the question on how to present Gombrowicz and his output to the students so as not discourage them from reading, yet the opposite – fire a spark of involvement.

The Night of the Book. Katowice is a part of the Night of the Book project run by the Jagiellonian Club since 2015 and granted a patronage of Krakow UNESCO City of Literature. The events that are organized during the project cycle are aimed at promoting reading and encouraging Polish people to reach for a book more often. They are based on meetings and discussions on different forms and the ways the literature functions in the contemporary world. The upcoming Night of the Book will be a third event prepared by the organizers in Katowice.

We are inviting you to the seat of the Jagiellonian Club (36/16 Sienkiewicza Street). Today, as early as 6.30 p.m. we shall be reading and discussing all night long!

More info here:

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/825034884343769/
The Night of the Book’s Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/NocKsiazkiKrakow
Instagram: www.instagram.com/po_okladce