Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures - CUFA, Prague

Amazing result of the Charity Book Sale: it has raised over 12,000 CZK for Člověk v tísni and its SOS Ukraine appeal. Many thanks to Schwa student society for taking care of the stall and all the practicalities and to everybody who donated. 💛💙

This weekend, Centre for Irish Studies, Prague is hosting the conference "Theatre and Resilience", organised by Ondřej Pilný and Clare Wallace. https://cde2026.ff.cuni.cz

The conference is organised on behalf of the CDE, the German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English, and as part of the project CoRe: Beyond Security.

Keynote speakers include Tony Fisher (University of London), Miriam Haughton (University of Galway), playwright Deirdre Kinahan, Alice Koubová (Czech Academy of Sciences), and Louise Lowe (TU Dublin).

Congratulations to our own Justin Quinn on his professorial appointment! 🎉Yesterday, prof. Quinn received his decree from President Petr Pavel.

Justin Quinn was born in Dublin, and educated there at Trinity College (BA & PhD). With David Wheatley, he was a founding editor of the Irish poetry magazine, Metre. His translations of the Czech poet Petr Borkovec, From the Interior, appeared in 2008 from Seren. He also lectures at the Department of English, Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia.

In 2017 his translations of Bohuslav Reynek, 'The Well at Morning: Selected Poems, 1925-1971,' were published by Karolinum, with essays by Martin C. Putna and Jiří Šerých (read a sample). His translations of Jan Zábrana’s poetry, 'The Lesser Histories,' were published in 2022 by Karolinum/University of Chicago Press. Some of these have been published in BODY, the Fortnightly Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, LitHub, and the New York Review of Books; an excerpt from the afterword appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

With Gabriela Klečková, he edited 'Anglophone Literature in Second-Language Teacher Education: Curriculum Innovation through Intercultural Communication' (Routledge, 2021). It is based on the new program at the English Dept of the Faculty of Education at the University of West Bohemia.

His monograph, 'Literature in the Age of Lingua Franca English: The Zero Style,' was published by Routledge in 2025.

He has published seven collections of poetry; Tomáš Fürstenzeller translated his work into Czech (Vlny a stromy; Opus, 2009). A novel, 'Mount Merrion' (Penguin), was published in 2013; it was translated by his wife, Tereza Límanová, into Czech and published by Argo in 2015.

Blahopřejeme! 🎉👏 Letošním držitelem Ceny Růženy Vackové je náš absolvent Jan Kostohryz. Za svou vynikající diplomovou práci "Searching for a Spanish Joyce: Interactions between Anglophone and Spanish Experimental Fiction since 1962" získal již Cenu Viléma Mathesia. Tou byla oceněna také jeho bakalářská práce "Against His Own Theory: The Contradictions of B. S. Johnson’s Fiction".

Ceny Jana Palacha a Růženy Vackové znají své letošní laureáty 🏅

Jan Šebek získal Cenu Jana Palacha za disertační práci Vliv zevní radioterapie v oblasti krku na hlasový a řečový projev českého mluvčího. V rámci doktorského studia programu Fonetika realizoval výzkum zaměřený na vliv zevní radioterapie v oblasti krku na hlasový a řečový projev českých pacientů, který přinesl nová, dosud mezinárodně neprobádaná zjištění s přímým uplatněním v klinické praxi, zejména v onkologii a otorinolaryngologii při dlouhodobé dispenzarizaci těchto pacientů.

Cenu Růženy Vackové získal Jan Kostohryz, který v rámci svého studia Anglofonních literatur a kultur se specializací Literární a kulturní teorie, obhájil diplomovou práci Searching for a Spanish Joyce: Interactions between Anglophone and Spanish Experimental Fiction since 1962. Práce už dříve obdržela první cenu Viléma Mathesia za nejlepší diplomovou práci v celém ročníku.

Gratulujeme! 👏

New publications by DALC staff members: the essay 'The pastoral mode and uncanny intimacy: an ecocritical reading of Buile Suibhne' by Radvan Markus has been published by Irish Studies Review. 🇮🇪 📚 Thanks to support from the project CoRe: Beyond Security, the essay is available in open access. 🔓

The article undertakes an analysis of the Middle Irish prosimetric tale Buile Suibhne in the light of the current cultural resignification of the Irish-language tradition from a resource for nation-building to a locus of inspiration for modern ecological thought. The general theoretical framework is provided by Timothy Morton’s concepts of “ecology without nature,” “strange stranger,” and especially “uncanny intimacy.” The article contends that while many early Irish treatments of nature display features of the pastoral mode, favourably comparing idealised nature to civilisation, Buile Suibhne remains ambiguous in this respect. In addition, the tale contains exceptional passages where the main character blends into the environment in a disquieting, although often sympathising way. A possible explanation for the unique features of the text is the fact that it creatively combines material from various sources.

The pastoral mode and uncanny intimacy: an ecocritical reading of Buile Suibhne The article undertakes an analysis of the Middle Irish prosimetric tale Buile Suibhne in the light of the current cultural resignification of the Irish-language tradition from a resource for nation...

On 22-23 May, DALC hosts an international interdisciplinary conference on 'Disaster Nationalism' as part of the project CoRe: Beyond Security: Role of Conflict in Resilience-Building. https://ualk.ff.cuni.cz/disaster-nationalism/

The conference is open to students, alumni, and colleagues from other departments and faculties. The programme features presentations by DALC staff members and graduates, including Pavel Drábek, Mirka Horová, Radvan Markus, Petra Johana Poncarová, Martin Procházka, and others.

The student society Schwa is organising another charity book sale in support of the SOS Ukraine initiative by Člověk v tísni. Please visit the stall to buy English Studies books and magazines for bargain prices and to support an important cause. 📚💛💙

🇺🇦📚 | CHARITY BOOK SALE TO SUPPORT ČLOVĚK V TÍSNI IN UKRAINE!

Just as last year, we are bringing you another round of charity book sale. In collaboration with , we decided to support and put all the collected money to Ukraine through Člověk v Tísni — so definitely consider stopping by and browse through the books.

🗓️ | WHEN? 12.5., 10.00 — 15.00
📌 | WHERE? In front of the room P104

Looking forward to seeing you all,
Schwa 🇺🇦💛

Guest lecture by prof. Ian Johnson (School of English, University of St Andrews) - a unique chance to meet one of the leading Scottish medievalists in Prague. In person and on MS Teams, all welcome!

Prof. Johnson: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/english/people/irj/

MS Teams access: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/375892742205323?p=fKa3wMvNONqVqcJ4mF

K významným narozeninám našeho absolventa, překladatele a redaktora Petra Onufera, zpřístupnila Revolver R***e rozhovor o Eliotově Pusté zemi, jejím významu v anglofonním prostředí a o české recepci a překladech této vlivné básně.

„Věřím, že to nebyl promarněný čas, a další soud přenechávám budoucím čtenářům“ (jubileum Petra Onufera, nar. 1. 5. 1976) | Bubínek Revolveru Bubínek Revolveru 1. 5. 2026 RR „Věřím, že to nebyl promarněný čas, a další soud přenechávám budoucím čtenářům“ (jubileum Petra Onufera, nar. 1. 5. 1976) Významné narozeniny překladatele, redaktora, esejisty, pedagoga a stálého spolupracovníka RR Petra Onufera připadaj....

The Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures cordially invites everyone interested to a discussion panel and a poetry reading with three acclaimed poets based in Scotland: Annie Brechin, Rob A. Mackenzie, and Medha Singh. The panelists will share their experiences with writing and publishing and read from their own works. As Blue Diode Press, founded by Rob A. Mackenzie, has published several collections by Czech poets in English translation, the discussion will also touch on the links and exchanges between Czech and Scottish poetry.

Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Room 111, Jan Palach Square 2, Prague 1, Wednesday 13 May 2026, 14:15-15:45

The event is a great opportunity for everybody interested in contemporary poetry, be it as a reader or a writer. Free entry, all welcome!

PARTICIPANTS

Following periods in Prague, Paris and Dubai, Annie Brechin now lives, writes and performs in Edinburgh. Her first collection, The Mouth of Eulalie, was published by Blue Diode Press in March 2022. Her new collection, How To Make Love, a romantic tour of five cities, came out in October 2025.

Rob A. Mackenzie is a Glaswegian poet, editor and reviewer, who lives in Leith. His four full poetry collections are The Opposite of Cabbage (2009), The Good News (2013), The Book of Revelation (2020) and Woof! Woof! Woof! (2023), all published by Salt. He has also had poems and articles published in many magazines and anthologies. He runs the literary publisher Blue Diode Press.

Medha Singh is a poet from Delhi, based in Edinburgh. She is the author of Afterbody (Blue Diode Press, Edinburgh). She is a winner of the New Writers Award 2023 (Scottish Book Trust). Her works appear or are forthcoming in Poetry London; Irish Pages; The Dark Horse; Bad Lilies; The Bombay Literary Magazine; Indian Quarterly and The Robert Graves Review, among numerous others. She took her MSc in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Her work has been translated into Hindi, Spanish and French. She is editor-at-large at Pen and Anvil Press, Boston.