Saturday, November 7, György Spiró, author of Captivity, will participate in an afternoon joint reading for the New Literature from Europe Festival at the Scandinavia House in Midtown East.
Where does Europe start and where does it end? Most countries share common historical experiences, but today with millions of refugees spilling across Europe, deep fault-lines are beginning to appear questioning our beliefs and testing our humanity. Tonight we ask some of our guests to reflect upon the power of literature by reading from work that has the power to either bring us together or tear us apart. Join us as we bridge geographical and cultural divides in an effort to come together. Book sales/signing and cocktail reception to follow.
Who: Niccolò Ammaniti, Tomáš Halík, Wojciech Jagielski, Josefine Klougart, Alek Popov, György Spiró, Bogdan Suceavă, Bettina Suleiman and Ardian Vehbiu, with introductory remarks from Sean Bye, NLE Festival President and TBC
Where: Scandinavia House, Victor Borge Hall, 58 Park Ave, New York, NY 10016
When: Saturday, November 7, 4:00 – 5:30
Free and open to the public
The New Literature from Europe Festival is an annual celebration of writing from across the European continent. Featuring readings and discussions between leading and emerging literary voices from Europe, and some of America’s foremost writers and critics, the Festival celebrates important new European literature in translation. Founded in 2003, the NLE Festival has quickly become one of New York City’s top literature in translation events, attracting hundreds of award-winning, best-selling and new authors from many diverse European countries each year. The NLE Festival is jointly organized by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) and New York-based European cultural institutes. Most Festival events are free and open to the public.
by György Spiró
Translated from the Hungarian by Tim Wilkinson
Named one of The Wall Street Journal's 10 Best Books of 2015
Winner of the Aegon Literary Award
“Captivity is a complex and fast-paced tale of Jewish life in the early first century, a sort of sword-and-sandals saga as reimagined by Henry Roth. The narrative follows Uri from Rome to Jerusalem and back, from prospectless dreamer to political operative to pogrom survivor—who along the way also happens to dine with Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate and get thrown into a cell with a certain Galilean rabble-rouser. Hungarian György Spiró’s deft combination of philosophical inquiry and page-turning brio should overcome that oft-mentioned American timidity toward books in translation.”
—The Wall Street Journal, Best Books of 2015
Paperback ISBN: 9781632061416
Hardcover ISBN: 9781632060495
Publication date: Nov 3, 2015