European Literature Night 2024 with Grażyna Drabik
A selection of Europe’s brightest literary talents gathers at the Ukrainian Institute of America to celebrate the power of international literature for the 6th edition of European Literature Night.
October 24, 2024 at 5:30 — 10:00 PM
Ukrainian Institute of America
2 East 79th Street New York, NY 10075
Free and open to the public. Space is limited. Registration via Eventbrite is required.
Polish Cultural Institute New York together with EUNIC New York, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute of America and PEN America, are proud to co-present another edition of the European Literature Night. The evening will introduce eleven European authors through readings and discussions. The event will feature multilingual readings, a musical performance, panel discussions and Q&As, introducing the audience to the best of contemporary European literature.
Hosted by the Ukrainian Institute of America, the event will feature inspiring multilingual readings, Q&A sessions, panel discussions, and musical performances. This year’s program explores a range of contemporary writing, from the intimate stories of Franz Kafka and post-Soviet autofiction to travel journals and anthropological essays.
The 2024 lineup represents a diverse and varied Europe with participants from Czechia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland.
Authors: Romain Buffat (Switzerland) presenting Grande-Fin, Paulo Rodrigues Ferreira (Portugal) presenting No One Goes Back to What They Left Behind, Rimantas Kmita (Lithuania) presenting The Southside Chronicle, Iona Nicolaie (Romania) presenting The Book of Reghina, Magdaléna Platzová (Czechia) presenting Life After Kafka.
Translators: Ross Benjamin (Germany) presenting The Diaries of Franz Kafka, Grażyna Drabik (Poland) presenting Wartime Notebooks.
Performers: Julijus Aleksovas (Lithuania), Nuno Marques (Portugal), Maryel Mayz (Portugal), Rita Sistrunk (Lithuania).
A decade-long tradition in many European countries, where readings and idea exchanges often take place in communal spaces like pubs and coffee shops, ELN brings the essence of European café culture to New York. Launched in 2017, ELN embodies a spirit of unity and the belief that literature serves as a unique medium for strengthening dialogue among diverse voices and cultures while breaking down communication barriers. This year, Polish translator Grażyna Drabik will be part of the panel discussion Reflections on the Page: Diaries, Autofiction and Memoir in European Literature, talking about Andrzej Bobkowski’s Wartime Notebooks, translated together with Laura Engelstein.
Read PEN America blog post about European Literature Night 2024
PROGRAM FOR OCTOBER 24, 2024
5:30 PM: Doors open.
6:00-6:15: Opening remarks by Czech Center New York (CCNY).
6:15-7:00: Panel Discussions.
Discussion 1: “The Novel as Social Commentary” moderated by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf of PEN America. Participants: Romain Buffat (Switzerland), Paulo Rodrigues Ferreira (Portugal), Iona Nicolaie (Romania), Magdaléna Platzová (Czechia).
Discussion 2: “Diaries, Autofiction, Memoir” moderated by Sabir Sultan of PEN America. Participants: Ross Benjamin (Germany), Grażyna Drabik (Poland), Rimantas Kmita (Lithuania).
7:00-7:15: Break.
7:15-8:40: Readings in Breakout Rooms.
| Time | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 4 | Room 5 |
| 7:15 – 7:40 | Kmita (LT) | Drabik (PL) | Nicolaie (RO) | Platzová (CZ) | Rodrigues Ferreira (PT) |
| 7:45 – 8:10 | Kmita (LT) | Benjamin (DE) | Nicolaie (RO) | Buffat (SUI) | Rodrigues Ferreira (PT) |
| 8:15 – 8:40 | Drabik (PL) | Benjamin (DE) | Platzová (CZ) | Buffat (SUI) | |
8:40-9:00: Break.
9:00-9:15: Closing remarks by the Ukrainian Institute of America (UIA).
A special staged reading from The Southern Chronicle by Rimantas Kmita, featuring Lithuanian-born American actress Rita Sistrunk, with musical accompaniment by Šiauliai native Julijus Aleksovas followed by musical performances by Nuno Marques and Maryel Mayz of Portugal.
PANEL DISCUSSION TOPICS
The Novel as Social Commentary – moderated by Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, Chief Program Officer, Literary Programming at PEN America
This thought-provoking discussion will center on the power of the contemporary European novel. Novels not only depict how people live – they describe the societal forces that gird individuals’ lives. Not simply just an art form, the novel shines a light on familial, political, and communal structures, exposing the limits of convention and causing the reader to ask how people live and how they could live. In this thought-provoking discussion panelists will discuss their works and how the contemporary European novel speaks to the cultural moment Europe finds itself in today. The panel will feature Romain Buffat (SUI), Paulo Rodrigues Ferreira (PT), Ioana Nicolaie (RO), and Magdaléna Platzová (CZ) .
Reflections on the Page: Diaries, Autofiction and Memoir in European Literature – moderated by Sabir Sultan, Director, Literary Programs and World Voices Festival
Discover the rich history of modern Europe through the intimate lens of diaries, memoirs, and autofiction. In this compelling discussion, translators and novelists will unravel how personal narratives reveal the heart of tumultuous times. This panel will showcase a selection of remarkable works, including an acclaimed new translation of Kafa’s diaries during the lead-up to World War I, the evocative notebooks of Andrez Bobkowski-a self-styled cosmopolitan Pole navigating life in occupied France in 1940-and a compelling novel offering a glimpse into post-Soviet Lithuania. The panel will feature translators Ross Benjamin (DE) and Grażyna Drabik (PL) and novelist Rimantas Kmita (LT).
When the aspiring young writer Andrzej Bobkowski, a self-styled cosmopolitan Pole, found himself caught in occupied France in 1940, he recorded his reflections on culture, politics, history, and everyday life. Published after the war, his notebooks offer an outsider’s perspective on the hardships and ironies of the Occupation. This translation, published as Wartime Notebooks: France, 1940-1944 (Yale University Press, 2018) by Grażyna Drabik and Laura Engelstein, brings Bobkowski’s voice to an English-speaking audience.
In the face of war, Bobkowski celebrates the value of freedom and human life through the evocation—in a daringly untragic mode—of ordinary existence, the taste of simple food, and the beauty of the French countryside. Resisting intellectual abstractions, his notes exude a young man’s pleasure in physical movement—miles clocked on country roads and Parisian streets on his trusty bike—and they reveal the emergence of an original literary voice. Although Bobkowski was recognized in his homeland as a master of modern Polish prose only after Communism ended, he is just beginning to be discovered in the English-speaking world.
Grażyna Drabik is a translator and scholar dedicated to bringing Polish literature to English-speaking audiences. She teaches World Humanities and Immigration Literature at City College, as well as a seminar on Arts in New York at Macaulay Honors College, CUNY. Her scholarly interests focus on cross-cultural exchanges and the challenges of literary translation. Drabik’s notable work includes the translation of Andrzej Bobkowski’s Wartime Notebooks: France, 1940-1944, co-translated with Laura Engelstein and published by Yale University Press in 2018. Currently, she is preparing a selection of poems by Brazilian poet Adélia Prado for publication in Polish, further showcasing her commitment to bridging cultures through literature.
This special evening is organized by the Czech Center New York and EUNIC New York with 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, Ukrainian Institute of America, Villa Albertine, and the support of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations.
About EUNIC New York
EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture – is the European network of organizations working in 90 countries worldwide through a network of 125 clusters and acting as a platform for promoting European values, sharing knowledge, building capacity amongst its members and partners, and engaging local partners in dialogue and common cultural projects. Created in 2007, the New York cluster of EUNIC, bringing together around 40 cultural missions from the European Union, is working in partnership to strengthen the transatlantic dialogue and cultural cooperation and showcase European values and creativity.
