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Conrad Festival draws literary luminaries to Krakow

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 23.10.2012 16:48
The 4th edition of the Conrad Festival is under way in Krakow, southern Poland, drawing big-name literary guests from across the globe.

Exhibition:
Exhibition "Natural History according to W.G. Sebald, photo - Conrad Festival/Michal Ramus

Among the stars of this week's event are Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk (My Name is Red), aristocratic Hungarian scribe Peter Esterhazy (Celestial Harmonies) and precocious Polish novelist and playwright Dorota Maslowska (Snow White and Russian Red).

Although meetings with authors make up the main focus of the festival, the event also branches out into cinema, art and theatre, with a number of carefully chosen screenings, exhibitions and performances taking place across the city.

Heart of Darkness author Joseph Conrad (Jozef Korzeniowski) lived in Krakow as a young man, but his literary output is not a preoccupation of the festival.

Nevertheless, the event's executive director Grzegorz Jankowicz revealed at a press conference on Monday that festival organiser the Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation is aiming to create a separate museum devoted to Conrad and his oeuvre.

“Kafka is a permanent presence in Prague, Joyce is present on every corner in Dublin,” he said, adding that Conrad could occupy such a place in Krakow.

Jankowicz stated that the Tygodnik Powszechny Foundation would seek funding for the museum from local authorities, the EU and Poland's Ministry of Culture.

The 4th Conrad Festival runs until 28 October, chiming in with the 16th Krakow Book Fair 25 – 28 October. (nh)

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