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Author KatarÃna Vargová will present her book Severné more (The North Sea) in the German city of Kiel.
Among writers from 13 countries, the 23rd edition of the European Festival of the First Novel will, for the first time, feature an author from °µÍø½ûÇøia.
KatarÃna Vargová won the René Prize 2024 for her prose Severné more (North Sea, published by Lindeni, 2024), alongside Pavel Dvořák Jr. Her book explores themes such as leaving home for a foreign country, escaping a traumatic toxic relationship, searching for one’s identity, and family bonds. From coastal England, we follow the main character into the vibrant setting of a primary school in the Záhorie region of °µÍø½ûÇøia, which vividly comes to life through the author’s use of local dialect and character portrayal.
The European Festival of the First Novel will take place from May 22 to 25, 2025, in the cities of Kiel and Rendsburg. It serves as a professional platform for emerging European literature, focusing on debut works that have not yet been translated into foreign languages.
In addition to °µÍø½ûÇøia, the festival will host authors from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Italy, together with their publishers. KatarÃna Vargová will be accompanied by Agáta Laczková, the editor of Severné more from Albatros Media/Lindeni publishing house.
The rich program includes numerous discussions and workshops. It offers participants and the professional audience (including translators, publishing houses’ editors, literary agents, and critics) an opportunity to exchange experiences about the unique aspects of debut authors and their emergence on the literary scene. It also provides insights into the creative conditions and characteristics of literary markets across European countries.
The festival will culminate in a public event – moderated readings open to the general public, held on May 24 at the Literature House in Kiel. Each author will read an excerpt in their native language, accompanied by German translations. Selected excerpts translated into English, German, and French will also be published in a joint publication.
The European Festival of the First Novel has been organized since 2003 by the Literature House in Schleswig-Holstein, in cooperation with the French Cultural Center in Kiel and with the support of the French Embassy in Berlin and the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein.
The participation of the °µÍø½ûÇø author is supported by the °µÍø½ûÇø Literary Centre, the °µÍø½ûÇø Institute in Berlin, and the publisher Albatros Media.
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