Famous Hungarians in history: Franz Liszt, the Virtuoso
Budapest, Hungary – The quintessential Romantic musician and artist, Hungarian-born Franz Liszt was arguably the most brilliant piano virtuoso ofContinue Reading
Tag: Books & Literature
Magda Szabo: Female destinies in the turmoil of Hungarian history
Magda Szabo was one of the most influential contemporary writers in Hungarian literature until her death, in 2007. Her mostContinue Reading
Five books from Central Europe to read during quarantine
Strasbourg, France – Like nearly half of the world’s population, I’m now in quarantine, forced to stay at home and,Continue Reading
Attila József, a Hungarian tragedy
Every year, Poetry Day – költészet napja – takes place in Hungary on April 11. This date has been chosenContinue Reading
Entertaining yourself while under a community lockdown
While Czechs and Hungarians are panic-buying guns, Poland is using contraband vodka as disinfectant and launched a special Minecraft server toContinue Reading
Czech Republic: Book World Prague festival postponed till October
Prague, Czech Republic – Book World Prague, a major international book festival held annually in the Czech capital, has beenContinue Reading
Olga Tokarczuk pulls out of Prague Book Fair, is replaced by Sapkowski
Prague, Czech Republic – Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk announced she wouldn’t be able to attend the Book World PragueContinue Reading
“Our eyes met. Havel smiled. I smiled. Years later, I like to think, perhaps, the dharma was transmitted”
This week, Kafkadesk spoke with René Georg Vasicek, born in Austria just shortly after his parents defected from Czechoslovakia followingContinue Reading
Prominent Slovak writer Pavel Vilikovsky dies at 78
Bratislava, Slovakia – Pavel Vilikovsky, widely seen as one of the most important and popular contemporary Slovak writers, died earlierContinue Reading
New Hungarian National Curriculum causes controversy
Budapest, Hungary – A decrease in the number of compulsory lessons a week from 35 to 34 in years 9-12, theContinue Reading
Czech Republic’s Nobel Prize laureates in history
Prague, Czech Republic – From turn-of-the-century pacifist activism to groundbreaking scientific discoveries whose impact can still be felt today, here’sContinue Reading
Poland’s Nobel Prize in Literature laureates in history
Warsaw, Poland – Last year, Olga Tokarczuk became the sixth Polish writer in history to receive the Nobel Prize inContinue Reading
Interview: “There is so much about Czech and Slovak history that lends itself to the espionage genre”
This week, Kafkadesk spoke with James Silvester, a British writer and author of a fascinating series of spy thrillers setContinue Reading
Second season of ‘The Witcher’ to shoot in Czech Republic and Slovakia
Bratislava, Slovakia – The second season of Netflix’s 2019 hit-show The Witcher will film in locations in Slovakia and theContinue Reading
The path of an exiled writer: Joseph Conrad and Poland
A lot of Polish celebrities and historical figures, known all around the world, share a strange similarity: their names doContinue Reading