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Description
The project combines the mobility of writers with audience building and helps spread awareness of original Icelandic and Czech literature abroad. It involves writers from Iceland and Czechia. The project’s purpose is, among other, to convey current thinking about the European context, disrupt stereotypes, explain and connect.
It contrasts the growing uniformity of the media landscape with free literary creativity which brings forward opinions and reflects on important issues with an analytical and expressive strength that enables to capture and uncover significant connections.
31 Icelandic authors will join their colleagues from the Czech Republic and other European countries to participate in the project including dozens of authors’ readings and associated events. The outputs will include a book of essays introducing the Icelandic authors’ thinking about their country, an audiovisual anthology tracing contemporary Icelandic literature, and an audiovisual documentation archive providing a snapshot of the culture and society of Iceland from the perspective of its literary elite, last but not least Brno will be hosting the International Summer School of Icelandic Studies.
The cornerstone of the project will be the 22nd edition of the Authors’ Reading Month (ARM) festival, which will include 31 Icelandic authors as guests of honour. The ARM festival was first held in 2000 in Brno and gradually spread to other towns and countries. In Czechia, it takes place in Brno and Ostrava, while simultaneous events are held in Wrocław, Košice, Budapest and Lviv. The Icelandic edition will also take place in Reykjavík.
Thanks to its extensive scope, the festival keeps on going throughout the whole year, culminating in July and August when it constantly moves from place to place for 31 days on end. The main programme will include two lines: domestic and international, with the latter introducing the literature of the guest country, i.e. Iceland, in the year 2021.