Peter Jones: Czechs have a lot to teach ScotlandJanuary 13, 2016Source: The Scotsman www.scotsman.com / By Peter Jones / Prague airport is a bit of a shock for those of us who like to think that Scotland, and indeed Britain, are open cosmopolitan nations keen to engage with the world, especially emerging economies such as China and Russia. Prague’s confidence …
The West is losing the battle for the heart of EuropeJanuary 13, 2016Source: Reuters blogs.reuters.com / By John Lloyd / A little over a quarter of a century ago, Europe celebrated the healing of the schism that Communism enforced on it since World War Two, and which produced great tribunes of freedom.Lech Walesa, the Polish shipyard electrician, climbed over his yard wall …
Pehe: Era of Havel’s legacy promoted in Czech politics is overDecember 2, 2015Source: Prague Daily Monitor / www.praguemonitor.com / By ČTK / www.ctk.cz / Prague, Nov 28 (CTK) – The era of prominent politicians who promoted the legacy of Vaclav Havel and occupied leading posts in major Czech political parties is over, Jiri Pehe wrote in Saturday’s issue of Právo in relation …
More Havel letters publishedNovember 28, 2015Source: Prague Post / www.praguepost.com / By Czech News Agency / New book of Václav Havel’s texts reflects his persecution, stay in jail Prague, Nov 26 (ČTK) — A new book of texts by former Czech president Václav Havel (1936-2011), including some that were never published before, reflects his persecution …
Refugees and responsibility in Central EuropeOctober 22, 2015Source: Today’s Zaman / By Michael Zantovsky / Fifteen years ago, the Czech statesman and playwright Václav Havel noted that some Czech politicians “recognize two different kinds of violence, genocide, terror and mafias: one that is better, and one that is worse. The better kind is pan-Slavic, and the worse …
Czech stance on refugees could risk gains of last 25 years, says IIR’s Benjamin TallisOctober 8, 2015Source: Radio Praha www.radio.cz / By Ian Willoughby / Englishman Benjamin Tallis heads the Centre for European Security at Prague’s Institute of International Relations. An expert on European affairs, including the EU’s border-free Schengen zone, he is also the editor-in-chief of the IIR’s recently rebooted academic journal New Perspectives. When we spoke …
Václav Havel: Personal Truth as Political TheatreOctober 6, 2015Source: HowlRound / www.howlround.com / Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred. Václav Havel, playwright, former Czech President, leader of the Velvet Revolution, personal idol, was sitting in the front row of the Ohio Theatre in New York. I was sitting in the back. He was about to watch The Memo, the kickoff …
Edinburgh Fringe 2015 Review: AntiwordsAugust 31, 2015Source: Nouse www.nouse.co.uk / By Joel Down, Arts Editor / Spitfire give a new beauty to the big-headed in this perceptive play set in an era of communist rule Vaclav Havel was a hugely influential man, not just in theatre, but in office: eventually becoming the president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, 26 …
Three Finalists Named For 2015 Vaclav Havel Human Rights PrizeAugust 27, 2015Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty / By RFE/RL / The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced on August 25 that human rights activists from Russia, Afghanistan, and the Balkans have been named as the finalists for the 2015 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize. The finalists …
Czech Film Week brings a fine festival to Israel.August 13, 2015Source: The Jerusalem Post www.jpost.com / By Hannah Brown / The Czech Republic has had one of the world’s most vibrant cinema industries for the past 50 years, and the Czech Film Week in Israel will present the best in contemporary Czech cinema, as well as a few classics. The …
An Independent Leader Put to the TestAugust 13, 2015Source: Transitions Online www.tol.org / By Martin Ehl / With a tough parliamentary election campaign ahead, will the Slovak president’s exceptional politics prove successful? Slovak President Andrej Kiska has now been in office for more than a year. I never imagined that so many Slovaks – and Czechs too – …
Remembering E. L. Doctorow (1931–2015)August 4, 2015Source: Pen America www.pen.org / “Fiction is democratic. It reasserts the authority of the single mind to make and remake the world.” —E. L. Doctorow PEN American Center mourns the passing and celebrates the life of acclaimed author E. L. Doctorow, who died yesterday in Manhattan of complications from lung …
Infinite Possibility: 5 Authors In Need of BiopicsAugust 2, 2015Source: word&film www.wordandfilm.com / By Tobin Mitnick / Photo By Brigitte Lacombe / This week, with “The End of the Tour” and “Paulo Coelho’s Best Story,” we see the emergence of two long-gestating films that belong to a marvelously fraught genre of cinema – the writer biopic. While it may …
Lessons in Revolution from the Republic of ProfessorsJuly 31, 2015Source: The First Things www.firstthings.com / Blog By Matthew H. Young / Photo By Premysl Fialka / Revolutions can be notoriously violent. However, in a brief few months in 1989, a landslide of peaceful revolutions replaced authoritarian dictators with democratic governments, defying the brutal legacy of popular revolution. In a period of …
Ladislav Kantor has died at the age of 69July 27, 2015Source: Cesky rozhlas www.radio.cz / By Jan Velinger / The former head of Czech Philharmonic as well as aide to Václav Havel, Ladislav Kantor, has died at the age of 69. Kantor was the co-founder and singer for CK Vocal. Post-1989, he worked at Prague Castle for dissident turned president Václav …
Peter Jones: Czechs have a lot to teach Scotland January 13, 2016 Source: The Scotsman www.scotsman.com / By Peter Jones / Prague airport is a bit of a shock for those of us who like to think that Scotland, and indeed Britain, are open cosmopolitan nations keen to engage with the world, especially emerging economies such as China and Russia. Prague’s confidence …
The West is losing the battle for the heart of Europe January 13, 2016 Source: Reuters blogs.reuters.com / By John Lloyd / A little over a quarter of a century ago, Europe celebrated the healing of the schism that Communism enforced on it since World War Two, and which produced great tribunes of freedom.Lech Walesa, the Polish shipyard electrician, climbed over his yard wall …
Pehe: Era of Havel’s legacy promoted in Czech politics is over December 2, 2015 Source: Prague Daily Monitor / www.praguemonitor.com / By ČTK / www.ctk.cz / Prague, Nov 28 (CTK) – The era of prominent politicians who promoted the legacy of Vaclav Havel and occupied leading posts in major Czech political parties is over, Jiri Pehe wrote in Saturday’s issue of Právo in relation …
More Havel letters published November 28, 2015 Source: Prague Post / www.praguepost.com / By Czech News Agency / New book of Václav Havel’s texts reflects his persecution, stay in jail Prague, Nov 26 (ČTK) — A new book of texts by former Czech president Václav Havel (1936-2011), including some that were never published before, reflects his persecution …
Refugees and responsibility in Central Europe October 22, 2015 Source: Today’s Zaman / By Michael Zantovsky / Fifteen years ago, the Czech statesman and playwright Václav Havel noted that some Czech politicians “recognize two different kinds of violence, genocide, terror and mafias: one that is better, and one that is worse. The better kind is pan-Slavic, and the worse …
Czech stance on refugees could risk gains of last 25 years, says IIR’s Benjamin Tallis October 8, 2015 Source: Radio Praha www.radio.cz / By Ian Willoughby / Englishman Benjamin Tallis heads the Centre for European Security at Prague’s Institute of International Relations. An expert on European affairs, including the EU’s border-free Schengen zone, he is also the editor-in-chief of the IIR’s recently rebooted academic journal New Perspectives. When we spoke …
Václav Havel: Personal Truth as Political Theatre October 6, 2015 Source: HowlRound / www.howlround.com / Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred. Václav Havel, playwright, former Czech President, leader of the Velvet Revolution, personal idol, was sitting in the front row of the Ohio Theatre in New York. I was sitting in the back. He was about to watch The Memo, the kickoff …
Edinburgh Fringe 2015 Review: Antiwords August 31, 2015 Source: Nouse www.nouse.co.uk / By Joel Down, Arts Editor / Spitfire give a new beauty to the big-headed in this perceptive play set in an era of communist rule Vaclav Havel was a hugely influential man, not just in theatre, but in office: eventually becoming the president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, 26 …
Three Finalists Named For 2015 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize August 27, 2015 Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty / By RFE/RL / The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced on August 25 that human rights activists from Russia, Afghanistan, and the Balkans have been named as the finalists for the 2015 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize. The finalists …
Czech Film Week brings a fine festival to Israel. August 13, 2015 Source: The Jerusalem Post www.jpost.com / By Hannah Brown / The Czech Republic has had one of the world’s most vibrant cinema industries for the past 50 years, and the Czech Film Week in Israel will present the best in contemporary Czech cinema, as well as a few classics. The …
An Independent Leader Put to the Test August 13, 2015 Source: Transitions Online www.tol.org / By Martin Ehl / With a tough parliamentary election campaign ahead, will the Slovak president’s exceptional politics prove successful? Slovak President Andrej Kiska has now been in office for more than a year. I never imagined that so many Slovaks – and Czechs too – …
Remembering E. L. Doctorow (1931–2015) August 4, 2015 Source: Pen America www.pen.org / “Fiction is democratic. It reasserts the authority of the single mind to make and remake the world.” —E. L. Doctorow PEN American Center mourns the passing and celebrates the life of acclaimed author E. L. Doctorow, who died yesterday in Manhattan of complications from lung …
Infinite Possibility: 5 Authors In Need of Biopics August 2, 2015 Source: word&film www.wordandfilm.com / By Tobin Mitnick / Photo By Brigitte Lacombe / This week, with “The End of the Tour” and “Paulo Coelho’s Best Story,” we see the emergence of two long-gestating films that belong to a marvelously fraught genre of cinema – the writer biopic. While it may …
Lessons in Revolution from the Republic of Professors July 31, 2015 Source: The First Things www.firstthings.com / Blog By Matthew H. Young / Photo By Premysl Fialka / Revolutions can be notoriously violent. However, in a brief few months in 1989, a landslide of peaceful revolutions replaced authoritarian dictators with democratic governments, defying the brutal legacy of popular revolution. In a period of …
Ladislav Kantor has died at the age of 69 July 27, 2015 Source: Cesky rozhlas www.radio.cz / By Jan Velinger / The former head of Czech Philharmonic as well as aide to Václav Havel, Ladislav Kantor, has died at the age of 69. Kantor was the co-founder and singer for CK Vocal. Post-1989, he worked at Prague Castle for dissident turned president Václav …