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Description
The project aims to create new cultural connections between Slovak and Norwegian literature and their audiences. While exchanging ideas and experiences from both backgrounds, the project finds shared topics of freedom of expression, fighting against extremism and promoting diversity in both societies. The cornerstone of the project consists of the Authors’ Reading Month (ARM). In creating the dramaturgy and choosing our collaborators, the project highlights a gender-balanced programme. Through the planned day camp, the project raises awareness on important topics such as anti-discrimination, diversity and representation of minorities in arts. The day camp will be open to a diverse audience and it will encourage the Roma children from Banská Štiavnica to attend. Literarnyklub.sk already highlights socially woke literature and ideas of free speech, freedom of expression, diversity and anti-discrimination. The Norwegian partner Norla is helping to prepare the dramaturgy of the ARM festival and activities to help promote Norwegian literature and initiate new translations of Norwegian books also thanks to Norlas grants. They also take part in the opening of the festival.
Summary of project results
The biggest challenge of the project was to create deeper cultural connection between the Slovak and Norwegian literature through connecting the authors to general audience and helping with the networking of the literature proffesional from both countries. While exchanging ideas and experiences from both backgrounds the shared topics of freedom of expression, fighting against extremism and promoting diversity in our societies have been found. All the events were free of charge to attract the most diverse audience possible. The authors benefited from promoting their work abroad and from the contact with a foreign audience. The project brought the literature back to where it came from – live audience – and let it become a tool for the authors’ engagement with readers. This particular project combined the mobility of writers with building an audience and helping to spread awareness of original Norwegian and Slovak literature abroad. During the the project implementation, the visits of Norwegian publishers, agents, Norla representatives, translators and members of the media to Slovakia, to meet with their Slovak partners was organised. And equally, a Slovak delegation represented by the project management, LIC representatives and/or a writer visited Norway to meet with the Norwegian partners in their field. One of the project’s purposes was also to convey current thinking about the European context, to disrupt stereotypes, explain and connect and at the same time to increase awareness about equality, integration and to spread the values of anti-discrimination and to fight hate-speech.
The cornerstone of the project consisted of the 23rd edition of the Authors’ Reading Month (ARM) festival, which welcomed Norway as the guest of honour. The festival included for 31 days each day a reading of a Norwegian and Slovak author in Bratislava, Prešov and Banská Štiavnica. The anthology of texts from Norwegian authors in Slovak translations were translated and published. The series of short documentaries The Norwegian Reading Book series with 16 Norwegian authors which premiered on and event in Bratislava and on the Czech national television were produced. The project included organisation of networking events between Slovak and Norwegian literature profesionals in Oslo and also in Bratislava. The meetings were organised for publishers and included a visit of the Lillehammer literature festival. The project also offered and carried out several residencies for translators and authors in city of Banská Štiavnica. During the ARM festival the project hosted a literature camp for children from marginalized groups in Banská Štiavnica.
The festival managed to attract a stable number of male and female spectators during the whole festival, with an average age of 40. The biggest success was the evening with Jørn Lier Horst, the opening night in the gallery, or the meeting with a prominent journalist Åsne Seierstad, who has already had two books published in Slovakia. Both of those events attracted aproximaterly 100 visitors.
The project provaded the study trip of several journalists to Oslo and to the literary festival in Lillehammer, where they had the opportunity to conduct several interviews with invited authors authors. As a result, the Norwegian edition of the festival had a really big coverage in media. The festival was also supported by close cooperation with the relevant RTVS media, Denník N or Knižná revue. The three editions of the festival have taken place in Bratislava and the Norwegian edition was the most successful. The positive reactions to the Norwegian edition have been received from the Slovak visitors, but also from NORLA representatives and participants Norwegian authors.
The project was aimed both for general public and literature profesionals so it impacted the widest possible target audience. Festival, anthology and the documentary series were aimed for the general public and the networking events for the professionals.
Summary of bilateral results
Norwegian literature center Norla helped with the dramaturgy of the ARM festival and helped to create networking events between Slovak and Norwegian literature profesionals. Norla provided us with contacts of Norwegian authors and participated in project events in Slovakia and Oslo. The project helped to initiate several translations of Norwegian books to Slovak language. Also, it helped to highlight the Slovak literature in Norway, for example with its inclusion to the programme of biggest Scandinavian literature festival in Lillehammer. The promoter literarnyklub.sk aims to cooperate with Norla, Norwegian literature center in the future. literarnyklub.sk aims to promote literature in both ways and we will further comunicate with Norla to bring interesting authors to Slovak festivals and offer through Norla tips for Slovak books to be translated in Norwegian publishers. We will continue to connect Norwegian and Slovak publishing houses.