Martin C. Putna will host a talk with two renowned experts on Plečnik’s work, Damjan Prelovšek and Tomáš Valena.

The lecture takes place in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia as part of Plečnik Year 2017, which marks the 145th anniversary of the great architect’s birth and the 60th anniversary of his death.

Maxim Butchenko’s novel is the partly autobiographical story of two brothers. One fights with the Donbass separatists organised by pro-Russian forces. The other lives in Europe and supports Ukrainian independence. Maxim Butchenko will explain the background to the book, translator Magda Bělková will read excerpts and Martin Laryš and Alexej Sevruk will discuss contemporary Ukrainian literature.

Organised by the Václav Havel Library and the Volvox Globator publishing house in cooperation with People in Need.

Readings from the works of Karel Pecka, who is best-known as the author of novels and short stories set in the Communist labour camps where he spent 10 years of his life.

This evening comprised of poetry (from the world of Prague’s Lesser Quarter), short stories (Malostranské humoresky/Lesser Quarter Humorous Tales, Svůdnost černé barvy/The Seductiveness of the Colour Black), novels (Veliký slunovrat/The Great Solstice, Štěpení/Fission), journalism (including from the samizdat monthly Obsah and exile magazine K–231) and recollections (Jan Lukeš: Hry doopravdy/Games in Earnest) will offer an overview of Pecka’s oeuvre, in which he attempted to overcome his post-prison trauma and captured the mutability of the late 1960s/early 1970s period.

Markéta Kořená will speak about Pecka, while members of the Spolek Dobrá čeština will read from his works.

Speaking at this seminar marking the 40th anniversary of the death and the 110th anniversary of the birthday Jan Patočka, one of the first spokespeople of Charter 77, will be people who were present at that time: Ivan Chvatík, head of the Jan Patočka Archive; Charles University philosophy professor Miroslav Petříček; Jaromír Kučera, philosophy teacher at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague; and Jiří Michálek, who teaches philosophy at Charles University’s Faculty of Science. Also taking part will be Markéta Bendová, a postgraduate student at Charles University’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.

Martin Palouš, director of the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy at Florida International University, will deliver the introduction and chair the subsequent discussion.

Seminar prepared in cooperation with the Jan Patočka Archive.

This publication, produced by publishing house Sociologického nakladatelství (SLON), will be presented by participants in the correspondence, while Miroslav Paulíček, Ivan Gabal and Petra Guasti will offer their perspectives on the period and legacy of Miloslav Petrusek.

Tomáš Dimter will chair a discussion with the writer and the heroines of his book.

An outside perspective can reveal details that we ourselves don’t notice – it is in this way that Mariusz Surosz offers a fresh view on well-known names such as Adina Mandlová and Věra Čáslavská. But first and foremost he discovers unknown heroines in the form of “ordinary” Czech women. The author studied philosophy and history at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University and has lived in Prague since 2011. The 2015 book Ach, ty Češky! (Lord, those Czech women!), which has this year been issued in Czech by publishers Mladá Fronta, follows his successful 2010 debut Pepíci. Dramatické století Čechů polskýma očima (Pepíci: The Czechs’ Dramatic Century Through Polish Eyes) and is Surosz’s second publication dedicated to Czech history.

Another meeting in a discussion series presenting contemporary Polish reporters organised by the Polish Institute in Prague and the Václav Havel Library.

Petr Minařík, editor in chief of publishers Větrné mlýny, will host the evening, while the author will read from his work. Followed by debate.

It is often said today that print is on the wane and has no future. But what will replace it? And what path do print outlets need to follow if they are to continue to fulfil their role in society?

Evening chaired by Petr Fischer and co-organised by the Ferdinand Peroutka Society.

How do social companies differ from ordinary employers of people with disabilities? Is it worth supporting the professional development of the handicapped? Is it realistic to prepare them for the free labour market? Do our fellow citizens with serious health issues have a chance of making it? What is the role of social companies in the complex integration of the handicapped and needy into fully-fledged life?

Taking part in the debate will be Jan Hutař, Jiří Herynek, founder of the disabled cooperative Ergotep Proseč, and Vojtěch Sedláček, founder of Agentura ProVás.

Evening organised by the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation.