Central European poets will compete at the MUO on St. Wenceslas Day

NEWS: 27 09 2023

The 8th year of the Václav Burian Poetry Prize is traditionally held on St. Wenceslas Day in Olomouc. The main programme - a poetry reading by the participants of the competition and a debate by the jury - starts on 28 September 2023 at 14.30 in the Olomouc Museum of Art. The winner receives a brooch and 1,000 euros.

A selection of contemporary lyrics from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary will be presented by an international jury consisting of Zofia Bałdyga, Petr Borkovec, Sabine Eschgfäller, Mária Ferenčuhová, István Vörös and Tomáš Tichák. In the Poetry category, the Hungarian poet Zsofia Balla, the Slovak poet and prose writer Katarína Kucbelová, the Austrian-Italian poet Greta Maria Pichler, the Czech poet Lubomír Tichý and the Polish poet and botanist Urszula Zajączkowska are competing. The prize in the category Cultural Contribution to Central European Dialogue was awarded to Ukrainian writer Taras Prochasko.

The show will open with a musical and literary performance by composer Ian Mikyska, poet Petr Borkovec and musicians from the Prague Quiet Music Collective. The authors performance will be followed by a jury discussion, a public debate and a vote on the winner. A debate on the work of Taras Prochaska will follow, with his translator Ekaterina Gazukina and Alexandra Vojtíšková. The moderator will be the Ukrainian scholar and writer Alexey Sevruk.

The Václav Burian Award builds on the legacy of Olomouc-based journalist, polonist and poet Václav Burian (1959-2014). The jury nominates five poets from Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, German-speaking Europe and this years guest country is Hungary.