The weekend of 22-24 April inaugurates the all-year-round UNESCO World Book Capital programme, one the major literary projects to celebrate Wroclaw as the 2016 European Capital of Culture. Throughout the weekend, you can select from a variety of meet-the-author sessions, workshops, exhibitions, performances, concerts and dance parties.
Friday 22 April brings Korean Evening, a preview and a meet-the-author session with Iwona Chmielewska on her "Maum", the first edition of which was published in South Korea and received the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award, which also called the Noble Prize in Children's Literature.
Goethe-Institut Pop Up Pavillon in Plac Nowy Targ opens in the evening. The culture pavilion is expected to host Filip Springer and Olga Grasyanova, a Baku-born German writer. Mariana Sadovska will perform as part of the Lviv Month, while the NON STOP Ukrainian Night of Music and Poetry will be held at Przejście Garncarskie.
Saturday brings a variety of workshops and events for children in Barbara, which also serves as the ECC Wroclaw Information Centre. A meet-the-author session with Norwegian detective story writer Jo Nesbø will be held on the day, while the European Literature Night is expected to start at 7 pm. Wroclaw's literary audience are already looking forward to night-time readings to be delivered in unusual places by actors and culture personalities, including Tomasz Karolak, Bartosz Porczyk and Ewa Skibińska. This year's focus is on Shakespeare to celebrate the 400th anniversayr of his death. The readings will be followed by BOOK IS A DJ, a duel between two DJs Agnieszka Szydłowska and Michał Nogaś.
The Ossolineum is also planning to commence the permanent exhibition at the Pan Tadeusz Museum. The Ad Spectatores Theatres will take you on a trip to Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles, while Adam Mickiewicz is going to meet his readers in Rynek.
An outdoor theatre performance called "Shakespeare - Speranza" will be delivered on Sunday 24 April by an ensemble from the Modrzejewska Theatre in Legnica. Wearing costumes designed by Małgorzata Buland, they are going to take over Rynek and present excerpts from Shakepeare's plays to the music of Kormorany. In the evening, classical music lovers can choose to attend "Singing Shakespeare" by the NFM Choir conducted by Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny. The choir will be accompanied by interpretations from Shakepeare to be delivered by Tomasz Lulek.
Literary events are going to continue until the end of the year. There are also plans to organise special festival editions, activities in urban space, workshops with librarians, children and young people as well as activities using modern technology.
Wroclaw is also preparing an international event to be performed to conclude its tenure as World Book Capital. In several dozen cities throughout the world, a UNESCO book anthem will be performed. "Włosek poety" by Tadeusz Różewicz is going to be used as lyrics, while music is now being composed by Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz.
