4 October 2012 The Great European debate on literature – coming soon in Krakow

Representatives of Europe's most significant literary centres named as UNESCO Cities of Literature (Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa, Dublin, Reykjavik and Norwich), aspirant Cities of Literature (Prague, Heidelberg, Tromso, Vancouver and Lviv) and programme directors of the world's leading literary festivals associated with the Word Alliance will soon converge in Krakow to take part in an international conference entitled Kreatywne Miasta i Regiony: Wyzwania dla współpracy Miast Literatury (Creative Cities and Regions: Challenges for a Cooperation Among the UNESCO Cities of Literature). The two-day event, featuring several debates, workshops and presentations, will take place on the 26th and the 27th of October.

"The fact that the conference coincides with the Conrad Festival and the Book Fair, considered the most important events in the Polish bookselling industry, shows that Krakow is already a European capital of literature, we hope that it will soon join the prestigious network of UNESCO Cities of Literature", says Izabela Helbin, the Director of the Krakow Festival Office.   

Confirmed conference participants will include: Alma Lee - founding Artistic Director of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival (one of Canada's most prestigious cultural events), Ali Bowden - Director of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust (Edinburgh is the world's first city awarded with the title), Claudio Calveri - Director of the Naples UNESCO City of Literature Association (responsible for the city application to UNESCO), John Kenyon - Director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature and the coordinator of literature-related strategies in the city, Mike Shuttleworth - Programme Director of the Melbourne Writers Festival (Australia's biggest literary festival), Jane Alger - Director of the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and team coordinator responsible for preparing applications to UNESCO and Michael Williams - Director of the Melbourne Wheeler Centre, the world's first public institution dedicated to the discussion and writing practice.

Polish panel participants will be represented by: Grzegorz Gauden - Director of the Book Institute, Adam Pomorski - President of the Polish PEN Club, Magdalena Sroka - Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow for Culture and City Promotion, Michał Rusinek - President of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, Professor Michał Paweł Markowski - Artistic Director of the Conrad Festival, Jerzy Illg - Editor-in-Chief of the Znak Publishing House and Programme Director of the Czesław Miłosz Festival, Franciszek Ziejka - long-standing Rector of Jagiellonian University and Danuta Glondys - Director of the Villa Decius Association. Martin Pollack, this year's winner of the Stanisław Vincenz Prize, will deliver one of the opening lectures. Furthermore, the conference will welcome the representatives of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the city authorities, organizers of the largest book fair events in Krakow and the academic milieu.

"We hope that the conference programme will be interesting not only for the Krakow literary milieu: experts, writers, local government members, directors of libraries and literary festivals, academics and pedagogues, promoters and organizers of cultural events, but also for students, in particular those of humanistic, culture-related studies", says Izabela Helbin, "The conference provides aspiring writers and literary enthusiasts with a unique opportunity to make contact with representatives of the most important literary institutions in Poland and abroad".

Detailed conference programme.

Friday, 26 October 2012

9.30-10.00 AM
Registration of participants
Venue: Debating Chamber of the Krakow City Council (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 3-4)

10.00-11.30 AM
Opening ceremony. Place of literature in the promotion of cities and regions
Venue: Debating Chamber of the Krakow City Council (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 3-4)
Host: Robert Piaskowski (Krakow Festival Office)
Magdalena Sroka – Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow for Culture and City Promotion
Bogusław Kośmider – Chairman of Krakow City Council
Jacek Krupa Board Member of the Małopolska Region
Małgorzata Omilanowska – Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Grzegorz Gauden – Director of the Book Institute
Special guest – Martin Pollack: Pictures from Galicia, frightening and beautiful – opening lecture
Michał Rusinek – President of Wisława Szymborska Foundation: Wisława Szymborska Poetry Prize

11.30-11.45 AM
Coffee break

11.45 AM - 1.30 PM
Literature as a space for dialogue. The importance of literature in building international cultural cooperation
Venue: Debating Chamber of the Krakow City Council (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 3-4)
Host: Robert Piaskowski (Krakow Festival Office)
Adam Pomorski – President of the Polish PEN Club
Herkus Kunčius – President of the Lithuanian PEN Club
Ali Bowden – Director of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust: UNESCO Cities of Literature – foundations, actions, perspectives

3.00-5.30 PM
Title or strategy? Developing the creative economy and intercultural dialogue based on literary projects. Presentations of urban and regional literary strategies.
Venue: J. Leo Chamber, Municipal Office of Krakow (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 3-4)
Host: Ali Bowden – Director of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust

6.00-7.00 PM
Walk around the literary Krakow
Departure: J. Leo Chamber, Municipal Office of Krakow (pl. Wszystkich Świętych 3-4)

8.00 PM
Nonart. Meeting with Péter Esterházy
Venue: Pałac pod Baranami (Rynek Główny 27)
Host: Jerzy Franczak

Saturday, 27 October 2012

10.00-10.30 AM
Opening of the second day of the meeting. Place of literature in the city's cultural development strategies
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)
Magdalena Sroka – Deputy Mayor of the City of Krakow for Culture and City Promotion

10.30 AM-12.00 PM
Małopolska as a literary region
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)
Host: Robert Piaskowski (Krakow Festival Office)
Prof. Franciszek Ziejka (Jagiellonian University): Literary heritage of Małopolska in the European contexts
Prof. Michał Paweł Markowski (University of Illinois at Chicago): Literary Space and Literary Market
Jerzy Illg (Editor-in-chief of the ZNAK Publishing House, Artistic Director of the Miłosz Festival): From Meetings of Poets from East and West to the Miłosz Festival
Elżbieta Kalinowska (Vice-Director of the Book Institute): New Books from Poland
Danuta Glondys (Director of the Villa Decius Association): Literature and human rights
Marianne Hovdan (ICORN, Stavanger): ICORN as an example of international literary cooperation

12.00-12.15 PM
Coffee break

12.15-1.30 PM
Literary capital development strategies in Krakow and Małopolska
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)
Host: Robert Piaskowski (Krakow Festival Office)
Ha!art – Piotr Marecki, Katarzyna Bazarnik, Mariusz Pisarski, Jacek Olczyk: Liberature, cyberpoetry, avant-garde
Grzegorz Jankowicz (Executive Director of the Conrad Festival): Summary and presentation of the House for Literature discussion within Conrad Festival, with Beatrice Stoll (Literaturhaus Zürich), Michał Rusinek (Wisława Szymborska Foundation), Florian Höllerer (Literaturhaus Stuttgart), Grzegorz Gauden (the Book Institute)
Ewa Woch (Targi w Krakowie): Book Fair in Krakow – perspectives for development

3.00-5.30 PM
Cooperation of Cities of Literature: cities, regions, writers and literary capital
Workshop on opportunities for international co-operation and joint literary projects. Workshop participants will work in groups on a wide-ranging projects of international co-operation in the field of literature, focused on the integration of activities and creating a platform for cultural exchange.
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)
Host: Ali Bowden

6.00 PM

Visit to the Rynek Underground: In the Footsteps of Krakow European identity exhibition
Venue: Historical Museum of the city of Krakow (Rynek Główny 1)

or

6.00 PM

Liquid End. A meeting with Zygmunt Bauman
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)

Host: Jarosław Makowski

8:00 PM

Art and democracy. Krzysztof Wodiczko performance
Venue: International Cultural Centre (Rynek Główny 25)

Attention: Admission to all events is free of charge. All participants are required to register in advance at conference@readingmalopolska.pl

The Creative Cities and Regions: Challenges for a Cooperation Among the UNESCO Cities of Literature conference is part of a two-year programme entitled Literacka Malopolska (Reading Malopolska) supported by the European Union with resources from the Malopolska Regional Development Fund for 2007-2013. Within the programme, the Malopolska Region and its capital Krakow communicate their literary heritage and strive to create conditions for an active participation in the international network of cities creative in literature. The conference is organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish National Commission for UNESCO, the Polish PEN Club, the Marshal of the Malopolska Region, the Mayor of the City of Krakow and the Book Institute.

The project Literacka Małopolska is co-financed by the European Union as part of the The Malopolska Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 ERDF.