European Literature Night 2023 with Andrei Kurkov

European Literature Night returns to New York with a celebration of stories, authors, and cultures from across the continent. Annually, the event is a brilliant and lively showcase of a diverse and wide range of contemporary writers across many genres, from fiction and poetry, to memoir and histories. The Ukrainian Institute of America is pleased to partner with members of EUNIC New York cluster in collaboration with PEN America for an evening that will feature multilingual readings, a musical performance, panel discussions and Q&As, introducing the audience to the best of contemporary European literature.

Free and open to the public. Space is limited. Registration via Eventbrite is required.

More information available here.

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Authors, translators, and performers representing eleven European countries will gather at the UIA for an evening of cultural exchanges and conversations exploring the way history has shaped the current crises facing Europe and the power of literature to unearth the truths about how we live and understand the role of writers in times of war and political upheavals. The program will feature two panel discussions:

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE AND GLOBAL CRISES

Moderated by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, Chief Program Officer, Literary Programming at PEN America

The contemporary writer is a writer in a time of upheaval. Today, European writers write at a moment where instability looms and they are confronted with the human impact of global migration, the danger of the climate crisis, the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the devastating war in Ukraine. Readers turn to writers for a better understanding of the pivotal political and cultural moments that shape how European citizens live, dream of the future, and wrestle with their national identity and competing interests within the larger political and economic union. In this conversation, writers will discuss how they choose to speak to the current political moment in their work and reflect on how it may have affected their creative processes and approach to their craft. The panel will feature Kätlin Kaldmaa (Estonia), Anja Kampmann (Germany), Andrei Kurkov (Ukraine) Sanaë Lemoine (France), and Kat Mustatea (Romania).

THE PAST IS PRESENT

Moderated by Sabir Sultan, Associate Director, World Voices Festival and Literary Programs at PEN America

While the historian’s work of excavating the past offers invaluable revelations about the current political landscape of Europe, writers employ literary imagination to create insights into who we are, what happened, and what comes next. They dare to ask how we might build more prosperous and democratic futures. How are we shaped by the stories of the Holocaust? What is the role of traditional myths and folklore? What are the untold stories or subversive narratives created to critique autocratic regimes and societies? In this conversation the speakers will reflect on how they sometimes mine the national archives, historical narratives, and collective memory in their practice as writers and storytellers. The panel will feature Anna Frajlich-Zajac (Poland), Lore Segal (Austria), Laima Vincė Sruoginis (Lithuania), Kateřina Tučková (Czechia), and Kirmen Uribe (Spain – Basque Country).

“Our program brings together authors that write in at least ten languages,” says Jaanika Peerna, president of the EUNIC New York cluster. “Yet their voices traverse linguistic barriers and national boundaries. Literature enables us to understand the collective human experience, finding unity in our shared stories, on the page and in person.”

“PEN America is honored to partner with EUNIC-New York to present European Literature Night,” says Sabir Sultan, “In an era of great political and cultural divide, this gathering of writers from eleven countries is a powerful reminder that storytelling brings people together across language, racial, and geographical barriers, while elevating a common humanity and uniting us through the power of literature and free expression.”

The program will also include a special performance celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Portuguese poets Natália Correia, Eugénio de Andrade, and Mário Cesariny, with readings of their poetry, accompanied by the Portuguese guitar played by Pedro Henriques da Silva.

8:20-9:20 Intimate Author Readings in Breakout Rooms

9:20-9:30 Closing remarks
9:30-10:00 Final gathering and reception
10:00 PM End of the event

The evening is organized by the Czech Center New York, EUNIC New York and Ukrainian Institute of America with the collaboration of partnering cultural institutions and consulates: Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Camōes Institute, Consulate General of Estonia in New York, Etxepare Basque Institute, The Embassy of France in the U.S., Goethe Institut New York, Lithuanian Cultural Institute,  Polish Cultural Institute in New York, Romanian Cultural Institute, Consulate General of Portugal in New York, Ukrainian Institute of America, Villa Albertine, and PEN America, and the support of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations.

Select books will be available for sale and author signing. For those who can’t make it in person, an edited presentation of the evening will be available on Trafika Europe Radio.

 Andrei Kurkov | “Grey Bees”
Deep Vellum Publishing, 2022

Grey Bees is a bittersweet tale set in the period after the 2014 Russian invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine. The novel explores the life of an “ordinary” person—a beekeeper determined to take care of his bees during wartime—caught amid the terror of war, the consequences of military activity and political repressions on the life of individuals, families, small communities, and ethnic minorities. Through the lens of this everyman, readers bear witness to the surreal absurdity of war, propaganda, and senseless loss in all of life’s facets.

Andrei Kurkov is a highly acclaimed Russian-born Ukrainian writer, intellectual and commentator on culture and politics. He is the bestselling author of Death of a Penguin (2021, translation), Grey Bees (2022) and Diary of an Invasion (2023). Kurkov’s work has been translated into 40 languages and published in 65 countries.

This special evening is organized by Czech Center New York and EUNIC New Yorkwith the collaboration of partnering cultural institutions and consulates:Austrian Cultural Forum New York, Camōes Institute, Consulate General of Estonia in New York, German Consulate General New York, Goethe Institut New York, Lithuanian Cultural Institute,  Polish Cultural Institute in New York, Romanian Cultural Institute, Etxepare Basque Institute (Delegation of the Basque Country in the United States), Consulate General of Portugal in New York, Polish Cultural Institute New York, Villa Albertine, and the support of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations.